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By Mihar Dias (C) August 2024
Ah, the great romance that never was. Malaysia’s love affair with Elon Musk—stoked by none other than Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim—has ended in heartbreak.
Or, more accurately, in a video call that should have been a red flag but was instead treated as a victory lap.
You’d think that after years in politics, Anwar would know better than to hitch his wagon to a man who tweets more than he talks. But no, we had to witness our PM fawning over Musk like a starstruck fan, only to be left holding a bouquet of nothing.
Remember when Anwar was singing praises of Tesla during his election campaign last year?
The man couldn’t stop dropping Musk’s name, as if the mere association with the world’s richest man was enough to convince Malaysians that our economic future was secure.
The government even bent over backwards, giving Tesla exemptions from the Approved Permit (AP) requirement—a privilege most foreign companies could only dream of.
And for what? To be ghosted like an overeager Tinder date.
When the so-called “meeting” with Musk finally happened, what we got was a 25-minute video call that could best be described as awkward. Musk, ever the multi-tasker, seemed more interested in his Twitter feed than in the prime minister of a country he clearly doesn’t care much about. The timestamps don’t lie—while Anwar was passionately discussing Malaysia’s potential, Musk was busy tweeting about anything but Malaysia.
The only tangible outcome? A purchase of 40 Starlink internet devices, a move criticized not just for its impulsiveness but for its disregard of local alternatives.
But hey, at least we got those shiny gadgets, right?
Then came the news that Tesla was not, in fact, setting up shop in Malaysia. Not in Thailand. Not in Indonesia. Not anywhere, really, except in markets that actually matter to Musk—China, America, Germany.
For all the hype Anwar built around this supposed partnership, it turns out we were nothing more than a footnote in Musk’s global ambitions, if that.
Social media, as expected, had a field day. One particularly cutting comment on Paultan.org summed it up: “The Malaysian government got absolutely conned by Elon Musk, bending over backwards for him in embarrassingly sycophantic ways...only to get jack shit in return.”
Harsh? Perhaps. True? Absolutely.
Anwar’s gamble on Musk has now backfired spectacularly, leaving him looking less like a visionary leader and more like a politician out of his depth in the world of billionaire egos.
Of course, this debacle could have been avoided. As some wryly pointed out online, perhaps the PM should have consulted his “team of experts and advisers” before announcing what was always a long shot. But this is Malaysia, where political theatre often takes precedence over substance. Anwar’s giddy proclamations about Tesla were never about real, tangible investments—they were about optics. And now, with nothing to show for it, the optics have turned against him.
In the end, what do we have to show for this dalliance with Musk? A showroom to import cars built in China, some overpriced internet devices, and a whole lot of embarrassment. Anwar might have hoped to ride the coattails of Musk’s fame, but instead, he’s been left to clean up the mess. And for the rest of us? We’re left wondering why our leaders keep falling for these empty promises, over and over again. Perhaps it’s time we stopped looking for saviours in Silicon Valley and started focusing on what we can build right here at home. But that would require something far scarcer than a Tesla factory—political humility.
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