When It Comes To Muslims Pmx Speaks For Gaza But Mutes Considerably On Rohingya Sudan Xinjiang

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PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently pledged RM100 mil to ease the plight of war-torn Palestinians (bringing Malaysia’s total funding towards Gaza to RM200 mil).

The applause was immediate, the headlines glowing, the rhetoric soar

Because while PMX thunders about Gaza, the silence closer to home is deafening. The Rohingya crisis has been dragging on for over a decade, spilling into Malaysia’s own backyard.

Refugee boats landed on our shores, stateless children roam our streets yet the government’s boldest contribution is the occasional deportation exercise. Apparently, defending Muslims is easier when they are thousands of miles away rather than stranded in your own country.
A crowd of 20,000 attended the Ummah Solidarity Rally for the Rohingyas at the Titiwangsa Stadium on Dec 4, 2016 which was attended then premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak and PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang (Image credit: Bernama)Sudan? An unfolding catastrophe where landslides, famine and war have combined into a humanitarian abyss. Millions displaced, thousands dead.
Yet from Putrajaya, barely a whimper. It seems that PMX’s humanitarian GPS only has one location pinned: Gaza. Every other crisis reads as “signal lost” even if they are all Muslim nations.
Glaring double standards?
And then comes Xinjiang. If Palestine is the stage for moral outrage, Xinjiang is the graveyard of principles.
Muslims detained in “re-education” camps, mosques demolished, entire communities under surveillance.

Prime Minister Datuk’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim made a courtesy call on China’s president Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of People, Beijing, China 0n Sept 2, 2025 (Image credit: Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook)Yet PMX beams when shaking Chinese president Xi Jinping’s hand, declaring unbreakable friendship. Nothing says statesmanship like looking the other way while Uyghurs are herded into vocational camps that nobody graduates from.
Speaking of looking the other way, the US remains the chief enabler of the carnage in Gaza. American weapons, American vetoes, American cover for Israel at every turn.
Yet when US president Donald Trump announced he would attend ASEAN in Kuala Lumpur, PMX practically rolled out the red carpet.
Suddenly the great moral compass swivels towards Washington, ready for photo-ops and handshakes. Principles are optional when waiting for the Air Force One to land.
Moral compass erratic?
The cognitive dissonance is staggering. One day, Malaysia is the loudest critic of genocide in Gaza. The next, it is mute on Rohingyas plights silent on Sudan’s humanitarian crisis, deferential in Beijing and servile before Washington.


This is not a coherent foreign policy. It is a performance – loud on the global stage, mute where it matters or one which is choreographed to impress foreign capitals while ignoring inconvenient truths.
Malaysia prides itself on moral leadership in the Muslim world. But what does that leadership mean when it is only deployed selectively?

When Palestine is a rallying cry but Uyghurs are sacrificed for trade deals? When Rohingya are treated as a nuisance rather than fellow Muslims in need? When the US – chief arms supplier to Israel – is suddenly a welcomed guest?
Perhaps the cruellest irony is that all of this posturing is done in the name of moral clarity. Clearly, one wonders whether Malaysia’s foreign policy is a beacon of justice or one that mirrors her our own convenient hypocrisies. 
Johan Abu Bakar is a reader of Focus Malaysia.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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