Anwar: Titles and positions not important

(The Star) – In an apparent reference to Selangor Palace’s decision to revoke his state award, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said positions and titles were not important to him.

Speaking to a group of Catholics at Church of the Holy Family here, Anwar said that God did not care about the power or a position of a person.

“God does not look at the power. He does not look at the positions we hold, but the kind of deeds we commit in the name of God,” he said.

Citing an example, Anwar said even the most powerful person in ancient Egypt, the Pharoah was despised by God despite possessing power, position and wealth.

“What God considers is our kind deeds towards each other, regardless of skin colour and religious beliefs,” he said.

On Thursday, Anwar, who is also PKR adviser was stripped of the title of ‘Datuk Seri’ conferred upon him in 1992 by the Selangor ruler for questioning the integrity of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and the royal institution in the Mentri Besar crisis.

Anwar then said he never requested for the title, but was however grateful for the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah’s grace in according him the title.