PUTRAJAYA The Prime Minister's Department (JPM) monthly assembly broke away from its tradition of being held at Dataran Perdana, Perdana Putra today, decades after the opening of the Putrajaya administrative capital.
Today, it took place in the comforts of Dewan De' Seri Endon, Puspanitapuri after Anwar took pity on his officers who stood under the scorching sun as he delivered his speech at the meeting last month.
Anwar had then said he had asked Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Zuki Ali (KSN) if the assembly must be held outdoors in the sun as he felt guilty for speaking too long because it is hot.
"Congratulations to Tan Sri KSN (Zuki). He took some time to think (of a venue). Meetings were held twice to determine where the meeting could take place," said Anwar.
Also present at the assembly were deputy prime ministers Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Others included Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and her deputy Ramkarpal Singh as well as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali
Meanwhile, Anwar said the country must be administered sincerely and urged his cabinet members to work closely with civil servants.
He said there had been successes in the last few months since he became Prime Minister.
He added he saw the will to resolve issues from insufficient foreign workers to the latest involving the deployment of Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) to aid the Turkey earthquake search and rescue mission.
However, Anwar said there was still room for improvement for the sake of the people and to deter possible future misconducts.
He said he had always tried to put himself in the shoes of the people whenever he read studies from the Treasury Department, Bank Negara, Khazanah and Economic Planning Unit on poverty rate and the percentage of hardcore poor.
"The people must be stopped from being fooled and impoverished, freed from any sort of oppression, slavery, taking people's wealth until they are denied their rights.
"I do not want to deny this. Some people say I always bring up the past, but the image, the country's economy and the misconducts cannot be denied. There must be strength and will from all to uphold the dignity of the country.
"Our success is not only determined by political figures, but there must be commitment holistically from civil servants to achieve Malaysia Madani," he said.