I have bad news for American commentator Bill O’Reilly, who thinks that Malaysians are barely eating, as a follow-up to his earlier rant that Malaysians are poor, in his attempt to ridicule President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia.
We are not starving as you want to believe. Our problem is that we are overeating. We eat even though we aren’t hungry. We just have too much good food.
The 75-year-old newsman has suggested that with our lower per capita income, it will be hard for Malaysians to even buy a small hat from China, as the United States household per capita income is eight times as much as Malaysia.
“You’re not getting Chinese take-out either in Kuala Lumpur. You’re barely eating. So, prime minister (Anwar), I wish you the best,” he said in a YouTube video.
He doesn’t deserve a response from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or any of our Cabinet Ministers for his latest condescending remark.
Last week, Anwar had rebuked O’Reilly for his recent remark on Malaysia and Southeast Asia, calling his statement both “arrogant and ignorant”.
The prime minister said the comment not only reflects O’Reilly’s lack of understanding of the current realities in Southeast Asia but also reveals a narrow worldview shaped by racial bias and colonialist ideology.
But we can’t let O’Reilly off without another response, can we?
It’s ironic that he is ranting that Malays or Malaysians are poor and starving, while the media, including the South China Morning Post, are reporting that Malaysia is a food-obsessed nation.
The Hong Kong-based news organisation described Malaysians as an overeating population, with half of its adults being overweight.
The reality is that there has been a surge in the number of overweight and obese Malaysians in the past decade, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023.
On Friday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said Malaysians were overeating and indulging in heavy late-night meals.
A Health Ministry’s survey also showed that a large number of Malaysians, including 41.8% of adolescents and 33.5% of adults, consume heavy suppers at least once a week.
It’s not something that Malaysians are proud of, but we simply have too much good food. Even tourists come to Malaysia for its diverse and delicious array of food.
Malaysia is not called the haven for food for no good reason, with CNN constantly picking Malaysia as a food destination.
O’Reilly has made it a point to say that he has visited Malaysia before, but he did not say when.
And again, he put his foot into his mouth when he made another error during the same video, claiming that former US president Barack Obama was partially raised in Malaysia.
What is factual is that Obama, who served as US President from 2009 to 2017, spent part of his childhood in Indonesia. Hello, it’s Indonesia, not Malaysia! Well, O’Reilly, do your research.
Newsweek has reported that Americans are feeling poorer because they are getting poorer.
USA Today has reported that a survey, published April 21, found that 53% of Americans believe that their personal financial situation is getting worse.
The last available figures, as in 2023, showed that 12.6% of US residents or an average of 42.1 million people per month, are on food stamps, which provides for food-purchasing assistance for people with low or no-income persons.
The average American is struggling with their household bills, as they become poorer, and it’s the American elites, who are in power, and the media, like O’Reilly, who cannot see it or refuse to see it.
These vulnerable Americans wouldn’t be buying a hat, not just because it’s not an essential item.
It’s also because they are simply struggling to put food on the table. — April 25, 2025
Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, a veteran journalist, is the chairman of Bernama, the national news agency.