Anwar’s nutmeg story: PM says grandmother’s childhood lesson on theft behind his anti-graft stance

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim emphasised his commitment against corruption, using a childhood lesson about stealing nutmegs to illustrate the importance of honesty.

He urged Malaysian youths to reject corruption, emphasising that theft, regardless of context, is morally unacceptable and damages the nation.

Anwar criticised the notion of accepting corruption within one's own race and highlighted significant financial losses due to malpractices in national bodies like 1MDB and Felda.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said he, as the prime minister, would not allow anyone to embezzle or steal money, recalling a lesson from his own childhood as he continued his firm stance against corruption in Malaysia.

Anwar today described a lesson he had learnt from his when he was a primary school student aged around eight or nine, after he took nutmegs from a small farm on a hill in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

Anwar described his grandmother’s questioning, where he confirmed he did not buy and also did not get permission to take those nutmegs from a farm.

“But I said ‘Chinese farm’. So I thought Chinese farm, Malay steal, it’s ok. I was aged eight or nine,” he said in his speech at the Youth Economic Forum (YEF) 2026 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

“My grandmother said ‘No, if they are taken without permission, from whoever it is, even if they were four nutmegs, it is theft. And stealing is a sin,” he said.

Anwar said he had then decided to not eat the nutmegs and to return them the next day, but said his grandmother had insisted that he return them the same day itself.

Recalling that it was nearly 7pm and with all his friends having already returned home, Anwar said he then ran uphill in the dark and that he had felt afraid when he heard the sound of dogs.

“I took the four nutmegs and threw them back to that area. I ran back and cried, because I did not understand why my grandmother was so firm in ensuring discipline, because I stole four nutmegs and I can return them tomorrow.

“But that taught me, when (I) become prime minister, don’t steal and don’t allow others to steal,” he said to loud claps from the youth gathered at the plenary hall in KLCC.

He said he hoped youths would understand why it is important to master knowledge and also know what is considered wrong, and also urged them to maintain their values.

Before sharing his childhood story, Anwar had alluded to those who are corrupt when saying that Malaysia is not poor, but that the country had lost billions of its riches due to the practices of “ penyakau ” (thieves).

He urged youths in Malaysia to rise up to reject corruption, urging them not to compromise against “penyakau”.

Countering those who might accuse him of highlighting politics to youths, Anwar said youths may not be vocal, but are aware that theft is wrong.

He pointed out that even stealing a pencil or pen in school would result in reprimand from teachers, and questioned how stealing billions of ringgit when one has grown up to be a leader would be morally or ethically acceptable.

Earlier in his speech, Anwar emphasised the importance of morals and criticised those who may consider corruption acceptable as it involves their own race.

“There are people who told me, ‘This Datuk Anwar highlights corruption issues — 1MDB, Tabung Haji, Felda. These are Malay bodies. Don’t criticise, these are Malay bodies’. So if it’s Malay bodies, can ‘ songlap ’, ‘ sakau ’? Where did you learn this from? This is a damaged way of thinking,” he said.

The words “ songlap ” and “ sakau ” are generally used to refer to theft, with Anwar saying that Malaysia has the capability to rise further but that billions had been lost through 1Malaysia Development Berhad, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Felda.

Anwar said he was highlighting all these to the youth as he believes they still have idealism and want the country to be dignified, also believing that they “hate misappropriation, corruption and leaders who use their powers to gain riches”.

“Because the youths know many are still good, will uplift those who are good and reject those who are clearly corrupt and abused their powers,” Anwar said to loud cheers and claps from the youths gathered here.

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安瓦尔·易卜拉欣总理强调了他打击腐败的决心，并以童年时偷肉豆蔻的经历为例，说明了诚实的重要性。

他敦促马来西亚青年拒绝腐败，强调无论在何种情况下，盗窃在道德上都是不可接受的，并且会损害国家利益。

安华批评了接受本族内部腐败的想法，并强调了由于 1MDB 和 Felda 等国家机构的不当行为造成的重大经济损失。

吉隆坡，10月3日讯——拿督斯里安华·易卜拉欣今日表示，作为首相，他绝不允许任何人贪污或盗窃公款。他回忆起自己童年时期的一段经历，并继续坚定地反对马来西亚的腐败行为。

安华今天讲述了他八九岁时，还是个小学生时，从父亲那里学到的一个教训。当时，他从槟城武吉默塔占山上的一个小农场里摘了一些肉豆蔻。

安瓦尔描述了他祖母的质问，他证实自己没有购买，也没有得到许可从农场拿走那些肉豆蔻。

“但我说的是‘华人农场’。所以我当时想，华人农场，马来人偷窃，没关系。我当时才八九岁，”他在吉隆坡会议中心举行的2026年青年经济论坛（YEF）上发表讲话时说道。

“我奶奶说，‘不行，如果未经允许就拿走，不管是谁拿的，哪怕只有四个肉豆蔻，也是偷窃。偷窃是一种罪过，’”他说。

安瓦尔说，他当时决定不吃肉豆蔻，第二天再退还，但他的祖母坚持要他当天就退还。

安瓦尔回忆说，当时已经快晚上7点了，他的朋友们都已经回家了，于是他摸黑跑上山，听到狗叫声时感到害怕。

“我拿了四个肉豆蔻，把它们扔回了那个地方。我跑回去哭了，因为我不明白为什么奶奶要那么严格地管教我，我只是偷了四个肉豆蔻，明天就可以还回去。”

“但这教会了我，当我成为总理时，不要偷窃，也不要允许别人偷窃，”他在吉隆坡城中城大会堂的青年们热烈鼓掌时说道。

他说，他希望年轻人能够理解掌握知识的重要性，也希望他们能够知道什么是错误的行为，并敦促他们坚守自己的价值观。

在分享他的童年故事之前，安华曾暗指那些腐败分子，他说马来西亚并不贫穷，而是因为“penyakau”（盗贼）的行为，导致该国损失了数十亿财富。

他敦促马来西亚青年奋起反抗腐败，敦促他们不要向“penyakau”（指贪污腐败）妥协。

针对那些指责他向年轻人灌输政治观点的人，安华表示，年轻人可能不善言辞，但他们知道偷窃是错误的。

他指出，即使在学校偷铅笔或钢笔也会受到老师的训斥，并质疑一个人长大后成为领导者，偷窃数十亿令吉在道德上或伦理上如何能被接受。

安华在演讲早些时候强调了道德的重要性，并批评了那些认为腐败可以接受，因为腐败涉及他们自己的种族的人。

“有人跟我说，‘安华揭露腐败问题——一马发展公司、朝圣基金局、联邦土地发展局。这些都是马来机构。不要批评，这些都是马来机构。’所以，如果是马来机构，就可以‘songlap’、‘sakau’吗？你们是从哪里学来的？这是一种扭曲的思维方式，”他说道。

“songlap”和“sakau”这两个词通常用来指盗窃，安华表示，马来西亚有能力进一步崛起，但通过一马发展有限公司、朝圣基金局和联邦土地发展局损失了数十亿。

安华表示，他之所以向年轻人强调这些，是因为他相信他们仍然怀有理想，希望国家保持尊严，并且相信他们“憎恨挪用公款、腐败以及利用权力敛财的领导人”。

安华说：“因为年轻人知道很多人仍然善良，所以他们会提拔那些善良的人，并拒绝那些明显腐败和滥用职权的人。”此言一出，聚集在这里的年轻人报以热烈的欢呼和掌声。

女儿在柔佛车祸后表示，视频通话中看到父母被困在车里，让我们崩溃了。

安华暗示2027年财政预算案将帮助饥饿的大学生，并敦促青年人现在就发挥领导作用。

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