PUTRAJAYA, Jan 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants monthly progress reports from government agencies starting this year instead of the quarterly or yearly reports as has been the practice.

He said he was fine that the ministers often meet him either to explain their plans or to ask for more allocations, but he wants government agency staff to be more proactive.

"I want monthly reports. I want to know what your contributions are and these monthly reports will be sent to the chief secretary of the government and this is for my perusal.

"We're doing this so we can have a different approach and not have to wait every year for reports, which always ends up being too late, and we can see if there is progress on a monthly basis.

"Not only that, with these reports we can ascertain if our policies and plans are working properly, that our energy transfer process is smooth and our digital transformation is on track with our national policies,” Anwar said in his first address of 2024 with staff from the Prime Minister's Office today.

Anwar said he wants every ministry to change their mindset and approach to work.

He said he doesn't want any more direct negotiations and hopes ministerial staff will be more confident and willing to work for the country and its people.

He said the old ways have to go and new ways of thinking is a must to ensure his Madani concept is a reality and corruption can be eradicated.

"This why I always say we must change our way of thinking. For example, I've been saying lately that we should emphasise mastering English.

"Our digital adoption must be more drastic and aggressive compared to before because as we are, we will struggle to compete with the other countries, hence the formation of the Digital Ministry.

"In spite of all that, I hope all of you will also have good morals and values. Don't think like the old days and say, ‘it's my department’, ‘it's my ministry’. This cannot go on. For example, the law ministry, it must involve all parties.

"Or say Jakim. Jakim must be inclusive of others as well or else they're just a branch of a religious body that's not attached to the rest of us. This must change, he said, referring to the Islamic Development Department by its Malay acronym.

Anwar said this also applied to the education, health and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, among others.

He said all government ministries and agencies must start working together and foster better harmony so that it'll speed up Malaysia’s progress.