Malaysia’s Anwar chats with US Muslim streamer – is it a populist move?

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is usually seen in carefully choreographed meetings with presidents, kings and regional leaders in Putrajaya. So it was striking to see him instead riding through the city on a casual live stream with Sneako, the controversial 27-year-old American streamer and Muslim convert whose appeal to mainly young male audiences has made him an unlikely cultural figure. For more than an hour on Friday, the live stream gave Anwar a rare chance to sell Malaysia, his governing philosophy and credentials in the Muslim world. At one point, Sneako mistook the Perdana Putra, where the prime minister office is located, for a mosque. He told Anwar that his nickname, PMX, “sounds like a rapper”, before adding that it was “a little bit like DMX” – referring to the American rapper and songwriter. Anwar laughed it off, explaining that PMX arose because he was Malaysia’s 10th prime minister. “So from prison to prime minister,” Sneako said, after Anwar told him Seri Perdana, the prime minister’s official residence, was completed in the year he was imprisoned. “Yeah, yeah,” Anwar replied. “A gangster,” Sneako quipped. Sneako, whose real name is Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, has a large online following, including 1.31 million subscribers on YouTube, and a history of controversy surrounding his alleged far-right and misogynistic views. He embraced Islam in 2023 and was in Malaysia with another Muslim content creator, I Am The Warner, for a faith-related tour aimed at “uniting the ummah”, or global Muslim community. “Because I love, I want to unite the Ummah,” Sneako told Anwar when asked why he had come to Malaysia. “I just came back from Bosnia, and before then, I went to Medina. I want people to be united right now, especially with what’s happening in Iran.” Sneako’s visit follows Anwar’s earlier Seri Perdana meetings with Muslim public figures, including Zimbabwean Mufti Menk in 2023, and former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov from Russia and Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab in 2024, adding to his push to plug Malaysia into the global Islamic community. Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country where Islam is the official religion, with Muslims making up 63.5 per cent of the population, according to the latest available data. It is also home to large Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and other communities. Asked by Sneako how Malaysia had kept the peace, Anwar said its approach was to “preach tolerance and allow them to practise their own religion”. “You can see churches all over, Hindu temples all over,” Anwar said. “We do allow them, and Islam is the official religion in the country.” The live stream also moved quickly into Palestine, Iran and Israel, global issues that have become central to Muslim public opinion in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia. Anwar told Sneako that Malaysia did not formally recognise Israel because of what he called continuing atrocities against Palestinians. “How do you recognise a state that colonises the other states?” Anwar said. “Effectively, Palestine and Gaza have been colonised. And so, we oppose colonisation in all its forms.” Sneako, who repeatedly praised Malaysia as “beautiful”, said he had arrived with an American misconception that Malaysia was a “third-world country”. Anwar did not let that pass. “The American mindset is very condescending,” he said. “It’s true.” He recalled hosting US President Donald Trump last year and riding with him in “the Beast” car from the airport, saying Trump was surprised by Malaysia’s roads and buildings. “He was, ‘Huh, beautiful roads. Look at those buildings. They’re modern buildings,’” Anwar said. “He’s just shocked.” One analyst said that beneath the awkward jokes and casual chatter from the live stream was Anwar’s “sharp” political calculation. Ahmad Mohsein Azman, a senior analyst at BowerGroupAsia, said Anwar’s appearance on Sneako’s live stream was “one of many other examples of politicians engaging in populist measures aimed at building stronger rapport with younger demographics”. The move comes as Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition is trying to woo more young Malay voters, a group that helped the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) win strong gains in the last general election. A 2024 study by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute found an increasing trend of young Malay voters backing PN, especially PAS, noting the rising influence of social media on their peers. “Anwar’s populist efforts are seen as particularly designed to woo young Malay voters, a voter base which his Pakatan Harapan coalition has yet to unlock,” Mohsein said. “In the last general election, young Malay voters were significantly captured by Perikatan Nasional’s ethno-religious appeals, which itself was significantly amplified by PN’s presence on social media platforms.” Mohsein said Anwar’s decision to double down on anti-Israel messaging in the Sneako live stream was one way of addressing PN’s “captive market head on”. But he added: “It remains to be seen how this current approach will resonate among Malaysia’s own youth demographics and how relatable engaging with foreign influencers would be for the general Malaysian public.”

Malaysia’s Anwar chats with US Muslim streamer – is it a populist move?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Anwar spoke with Sneako about issues ranging from Malaysia’s multi-religious society and Israel to the ‘very condescending’ American mindset

Anwar spoke with Sneako about issues ranging from Malaysia’s multi-religious society and Israel to the ‘very condescending’ American mindset