PUTRAJAYA: No government in the history of the world has ever fallen for helping its people, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said governments only fall because of greed, corruption, and misappropriation.
"I have never heard of governments - whether in Islamic history, Ancient China, India, Saudi Arabia, or Latin America - that have collapsed for spending their money to help the poor.
"Governments don't fall for aiding the poor or ensuring fair wages; they fall because of corruption, greed, and misappropriation," he said at the launch of the Residensi Madani Putrajaya project today.
He said therefore, he took the bold move to improve the salaries of civil servants in May this year, and increase the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700, which he announced during the recent tabling of the 2025 Budget.
"If I had to ask (private) companies (about increasing minimum wage), it would be impossible to reach a decision.
"So I discussed this with my cabinet, and I said no, the country is doing well, investments are coming in big ways and the nation is prosperous.
"The government cannot afford to see this sort of treatment to our workers."
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the government was giving more time for smaller companies to implement the new policy.
He also added that the increase in wages was not drastic, and said it was only an increase of RM200.
"We didn't hike it to RM2,500 or RM3,000. We increased it from RM1,500 to RM1,700.
"I hope companies will cooperate. Not everyone will agree, but this is the challenge that the leadership must face," he added.
He said civil servants had not seen an increase in their pay for the past 12 years, despite inflation.
Anwar added that the although this would cost the government an extra RM10 billion, he said this, to him, was "simple basic economics."
Meanwhile, Anwar said over 4,000 Residensi Madani Putrajaya homes would be offered to the people with a price tag of RM200,000 per unit.
He said the seven projects which would be built around the administrative capital are expected to be completed in 2028.
The seven projects would be built in Precints 5, 7, 11, 16, and 19, and the size is set at 800 square feet.
Anwar said the development of this residential project aims to provide affordable housing in the low-medium cost category in the Federal Territories.
This, he added, was one of the government's efforts to help targeted groups own comfortable homes in a safe, healthy, and prosperous environment.
"I hope there will be no delays in the project preparations, as delaying by three or six months burdens the people who are waiting and delays also increase costs.
"So ensure proper supervision, swift project implementation, and if there are any issues with bureaucratic hurdles, resolve them as quickly as possible," said Anwar.
Also present were Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.