Opinion: When will Anwar kiss the hands and bend the knees to Trump?
17 Mar 2025 • 11:00 AM MYT
TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher
Image credit: World of Buzz
Two years ago, when Anwar first came to power, one of the first thing he hinted about was in regards to breaking the monopoly of Bernas, the sole importer of rice for Malaysia.
Bernas’s owner, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, then kissed Anwar’s hands and called him elder brother in public, and the next thing you know, Bernas’s problem disappeared and all became well with Bernas once again.
Well, Karma as they say, is a boomerang – what goes around will always come around.
Today, Trump is doing what Anwar did to Syed Mokhtar to Anwar, and like Syed Mokhtar, at some point Anwar will have kiss Trump’s hand and perhaps call him elder brother publicly too, to make Malaysia’s problem disappear and to make all well in Malaysia once again.
What is Malaysia’s problem, you might ask?
Well, according to foreign minister Mohamad Hasan, US president Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on automotive, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports could deal a heavy blow to Malaysia.
“This (the tariffs) will be a significant setback if we cannot resolve the issue quickly," Hasan said, to sound the alarm bell for Malaysia.
Also, according to the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap), it was a known fact that ever since Donald Trump won the presidency in November, Asean countries would “need to brace themselves for some pretty rough tariff seas ahead”.
According to Insap’s chairman Pamela Yong, our country’s trade balance of RM3.6 billion in January showed an alarming 64.3% fall- from the RM10.2 billion it recorded in the same period last year.
“And with such poor trade numbers to show, I fear Malaysia is hardly equipped for the greater global challenges ahead if we don’t act swiftly,” she said, to reflect of the gravity of the situation.
“All of our trading partners have already planned ahead for the so-called Trump tariffs but where is Malaysia’s direction?” Pamela asks, to suggest that we should be worried, because Trump has taken a call from all of our neighboring country’s leader, but he has yet to take a phone call from Anwar.
Of all people, Anwar should know what it means by Trump refusing to give him a phone call when he has given taken calls from Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.
He should know, because I would certainly be surprised if he hasn’t done the same thing to somebody, to let them get the message that they are not in a good place with him, and they need to do something to fix their relationship with him.
It is not a rocket science either as to what Trump expects Anwar to do to fix the situation – Trump expects Anwar to kiss his hands, bend the knee and perhaps call him Tai Ko or Abang Long, just like how Syed Mokhtar did to Anwar two years ago, in order to mend his relationship with Trump.
If Anwar does that, then we can be reassured that when Trump looks down the name of a list of country, to find one that he should hit with a tariff, either to send a message or to carry forward his “reshoring” plans, the name of our country won’t be on top of that list.
Trump might be white, but the man is as Asian boss as it can gets.
With an Asian boss, Guan Xi or personal trust in a business relation is of such importance importance, that it might even t be more important than the business itself.
If you develop a high trust with your business partner, they will still patronize you even if your product and services is not the best in the market, out of appreciation of the relationship that they have with you.
Conversely, if your guan xi is off, they might tell you to go fly kites, even if there is no one in the market that can equal or exceed what you have to offer.
A big part of guan xi, as Anwar surely knows, lies in knowing your place.
You must always know who you are speaking to, and not speak to someone as if they are your equal or subordinate, when they are in fact your superiors.
Is Trump superior to Anwar?
Yes, without a doubt yes. He is superior to Anwar in the same way that Anwar is superior to you and me. Just like nothing good is going to happen to you or me for as long as we criticise Anwar as if he is our equal, nothing good is going to happen to Malaysia for as long as Anwar keeps treating Trump like Trump is his equal or subordinate.
With Asian bosses, you must always know your place.
With an Asian boss, ego, or euphemistically called “networking” or “cultivating relationship”, comes before business. Unless you adjust your ego in reference to the ego of the Asian boss, nothing will happen, even if you can give them the best deal and you are the best in the market.
If you “cultivate” your relationship with an Asian boss, its not to say that they won’t exploit you – Asian bosses exploit everybody to their benefit, and by the looks of it, Trump is also definitely going to exploit the entire world for his benefit – but at least you will be able to talk to them to mitigate the exploitation that you have to endure and maybe even secure a concession from them to make up for the fact that you are being exploited by them.
If you are lucky, you might even end up in their “inner circle”, which is a the best thing you can hope for in the world that is ruled by an Asian boss or a Third World Boss, because then you will not only receive a lot of benefits, you will also be able to get away with a lot of things, and command a lot of respect and obedience from the people who lie outside of the “inner circle.”
Anyway, my point here is that Anwar should kiss the hands and bend the knees to Trump, for the same reason that everybody else in the country has to kiss his hands and bend their knees to him.
Right and wrong has nothing to do with it – it is all a question of being pragmatic and understanding how the world works.
We can say that it is insulting to have our leader, who is a leader of a sovereign nation, to humble himself in such way to another person, but to that, all that I will say, that even in our own country, everyday, thousands if not millions of people are humbling themselves to their bosses, in order to put food on the table and roof over their head for their family.
If you have so much self respect and dignity in a realm ruled by a third world boss, don't have a family, and be prepared to be poor.
This is the cold hard truth.
We already know why Trump doesn’t want to speak to Anwar.
Nazri Aziz has already said that it has do with Malaysia’s avowed stance in defense of Palestine. To that, I will also add that it has to do with Malaysia’s overture to China as well.
But regardless of the problem, the solution is the same.
Just like how Syed Mokhtar persuaded himself to make a call to Anwar and fix his relationship with him, although Syed Al Mokhtar is a billionaire in his own right, Anwar should do the same to Trump.
It is not hard to do it. He just has to praise Trump wherever possible, not criticise Trump even if he is 100 percent certain that Trump deserves to be criticized and talk vaguely about things that he cannot agree with Trump, instead of categorically telling Trump that doesn’t agree with Trump.
In short, he has to treat Trump the way that people around him are treating him.
In terms of Palestine for example, instead of calling Trump “Insane” , Malaysia should say something to the tune of “we have high hopes that President Trump’s reign will herald an era of peace in the world. We see his commitment in ending the war in Ukraine and we are confident that he will be just as committed to end the tragedy of Gaza. Washington can always count on the utmost support of Putrajaya, to bring peace to Palestine, and ensure the welfare and wellbeing of the Palestinians.”
As for China, I think that we should still incline ourselves to China, because at the end of the day, it will be China that will be more influential our part of the world, rather than Washington, but we should probably start being more vague about our inclination towards China.
We should perhaps say something like: “ While we regret the turbulence in the relationship between Beijing and Washington, we are confident that the sterling leadership that both countries possess will ensure that the differences will be worked out in the near future. President Trump and Xi both have great respect and admiration of each other, and they are both committed to make the world a better place under their watch. We should beware of any attempts to drive a wedge between China and America by irresponsible parties, but otherwise, we are undoubtedly sure that President Xi and Trump will do whatever it takes to secure their rightful interest and prospect, while being mindful of their responsibility and duties to the rest of the world.
Saying something like this itself will be equivalent to kissing the hands and bending the knees to Trump.
Anyway, I don't think anyone needs to teach Anwar how to mend his guan xi with Trump anymore than you need to teach a fish how to swim.
The only thing that Anwar needs to do, is swallow his pride and humble himself before Trump. This really shouldn't be hard to do, considering that he has made others swallow their pride and humble themselves before him.
The reason that he has to do it is also clear - he has to do it for the same reason why Syed Mokhtar had to do it.
the only question left is, when will Anwar do it.
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