APRIL 18 — “The Malays don’t have any money,” he said — dismissing an entire people during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit as if geopolitical nuance could be reduced to a bad punchline.
It wasn’t commentary. It was contempt, dressed up as analysis.
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t economic critique. It was lazy, loud-mouthed condescension — the kind that says more about the speaker than the subject.
Worse, Bill O’Reilly dragged an entire ethnic group into the mud, reducing “the Malays” to a stereotype of poverty, mid-broadcast, with the smirk of someone who thought he was being clever.
Imagine, for a moment, a Malaysian pundit scoffing, “Why visit America? Half their citizens can’t even afford healthcare.” It would be crude, unnecessary —and beside the point.
That’s exactly what O’Reilly did: hijacked a state visit and turned it into a drive-by insult.
He’s not alone. Just days earlier, US Vice President JD Vance claimed Americans were “borrowing from Chinese peasants” to buy goods — another window into a worldview where entire peoples become props for applause.
What’s on display here isn’t just ignorance. It’s a collapse of basic civility. In international relations, tone matters. Timing matters. Manners matter.
O’Reilly’s comment didn’t reveal anything about Malaysia. It revealed the rot in a certain genre of American punditry — loud, lazy, and increasingly devoid of grace.
In Malaysia, we still teach our children to speak respectfully, even when they disagree. We honour our guests. We know that diplomacy without manners is just noise.
Perhaps it’s time some broadcasters across the Pacific were sent back to kindergarten — not to be punished, but to relearn the fundamentals: Listen. Don’t interrupt. Be kind. And if you don’t understand something, ask — don’t sneer.
If you can’t offer insight, at least offer silence.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
