‘Maybe I’ll Have to Charge a Little Royalty Fee,’ Anwar Jokes About Student Imitating His Style

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim joked that he might need to impose a “royalty fee” on a student who admitted to taking inspiration from his speaking style when delivering a speech at a graduation ceremony.

In the comments section on Threads, Anwar also congratulated the student, Awwal Azzudin Awang, on receiving the PERMATA@Pintar College 2026 Highest Award.

“Congratulations on the award, keep up the good work. A good speech. Maybe I’ll have to charge a little royalty fee,” Anwar wrote.

The Prime Minister’s light-hearted comment was made in response to Awwal’s post, in which he openly admitted to taking inspiration from Anwar’s speeches when given the opportunity to deliver a speech at his graduation ceremony.

In his speech, Awwal was also seen quoting Surah Hud, verse 88 – the same verse that Anwar recited when delivering his speech at the 2026 National Justice Congress recently.

The verse, among other things, conveys the meaning that a person does not intend to do anything contrary to what they forbid, but instead only intends to make improvements to the best of their ability with Allah’s help.

According to Awwal, he often watches the Prime Minister’s policy speeches and found that some of the things Anwar conveyed aligned with his own thoughts and the message he wanted to deliver.

However, the student explained that he did not copy the speech word-for-word, but instead used it as a learning resource from a leader he admired.

“I took inspiration from something that was indeed close to what I was thinking and wanted to convey.

“It’s not a word-for-word copy; I just learned from someone I admire. I learned from Datuk Seri’s speeches,” he said.

In the same post, Awwal also expressed his hope to meet Anwar one day to share stories with him.

Based on the poster shared, Awwal Azzudin Awang from class 5K6 was the recipient of the 2026 Highest Award at the PERMATA@Pintar Negara College Graduation Ceremony, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the comments section of the post was also flooded with words of encouragement from netizens praising Awwal’s courage and speaking ability.

“Amazing young man. Keep being a great and knowledgeable person,” commented @roziyahmahamad.

Meanwhile, @fairoznasha described Awwal as a young man who is the hope of the nation’s future and urged him to continue inspiring others.

“Young people are the future of the nation. Keep inspiring!” she wrote.

Another user, @nrhafiza_fiez, praised Awwal’s speech style, describing it as having its own identity even though he took inspiration from Anwar.

“Great speech, not a word-for-word copy. It has its own style. Well done,” she said.

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