April 13, 2026
KUALA LUMPUR – A protest against rising fuel prices in Kuala Lumpur on April 4 drew barely a dozen people, a limp showing for an event that had generated outsized noise online and even promises of political backing. The streets, it turned out, were less animated than social media timelines.
On the steps outside the Sogo department store, the traditional focal point for protests, the small group held up a banner calling for diesel subsidies to be restored and petrol prices lowered. It was a familiar refrain in a country where cheap fuel has long been treated as an entitlement.
But as one protest leader tried to rally the crowd by asking who was to blame, passers-by shouted back: “war, Iran, Hormuz”.
The passers-by, it seems, had been reading their news.
Fuel prices have climbed worldwide since the United States and Israel struck Iran in late February, triggering tensions that disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow artery that carries about a fifth of global oil supply.
Yet in Malaysia, much of the political anger has been directed squarely at Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a convenient target in a crisis shaped far beyond Putrajaya’s control.
Fuel prices have long been politicised in Malaysia, including by Datuk Seri Anwar himself. Many still recall his repeated claims as Opposition Leader: “If we win today, tomorrow the price of fuel will go down.”
Old videos of him repeating that line have resurfaced on social media, drawing sharp retorts from a frustrated public.
Mr Anwar has since dismissed such criticism as “illiterate”, arguing that the statement was made when oil prices were low and does not apply in today’s uncertain geopolitical climate.
“If facts are ignored, all that remains is petty politics that fool the people,” he said on April 4. The defence, however, has done little to quiet the noise.
The Opposition’s attempt to pin the blame on Mr Anwar sits uneasily with the reality that Malaysia still maintains one of the region’s most generous fuel subsidy regimes.
Five weeks into the conflict, petrol remains capped at RM1.99 per litre, while diesel prices – affecting just 7 per cent of vehicles – have been partially liberalised in Peninsular Malaysia.
Even then, the government has had to tighten access, cutting subsidised petrol quotas from 300 litres to 200 litres per person in April as the fiscal burden swells.
1,300km of priorities
If there is a crisis, it has not much altered the Prime Minister’s schedule. While the streets of Kuala Lumpur have been kind to him, Mr Anwar has in recent weeks found himself on the defensive over a string of official trips that have drawn public scrutiny.
He defended a visit to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on March 27 as necessary for national security, saying the trip lasted just three hours before he rushed back to Kuala Lumpur.
“I am not a young person but I did this because I consider it a responsibility to the country,” the 78-year-old Prime Minister said.
But a helicopter trip on April 5 to view Pedra Branca in the Singapore Strait proved harder to justify.
Photos of Mr Anwar looking out from the aircraft, shared on Law Minister Azalina Othman Said’s X account, drew sharp criticism from users who questioned the necessity of the visit.
That same weekend, Mr Anwar travelled to Kuantan to launch a government-linked convenience store, before heading to Kuala Kangsar in Perak to visit his alma mater and address students.
Taken together, those trips – including the return to Kuala Lumpur – covered more than 1,300km, roughly equivalent to the distance the average Malaysian travels in half a month on subsidised petrol. That is before accounting for the convoy of officials and security personnel that trails every prime ministerial visit.
Two sides, same road
But it was not just the Prime Minister.
In the same week Mr Anwar toured three states and flew by helicopter, the chief ministers of four opposition-held states – Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu – converged in Kuala Terengganu to lead a convoy of some 1,000 motorcyclists.
Riding Lambretta scooters across the city’s drawbridge and along coastal roads, the convoy formed part of the biennial International Conference for Muslim Unity.
The decision drew criticism from Ms Nurul Izzah Anwar, deputy president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, who called it an excessive use of fuel.
“This is not just insensitivity. It reflects a worrying failure to set priorities,” said Ms Izzah, who is Mr Anwar’s daughter.
Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Md Nor pushed back against her criticism, pointing instead to the Prime Minister’s helicopter ride.
“That helicopter ride costs more money,” Datuk Seri Sanusi said on April 7. “Fuel for motorcycles is only how many cents compared to thousands for helicopters.”
For many participants, including some who rode nearly 500km from Kedah, the criticism felt misplaced. They were, after all, spending their own money.
“We are all allocated the same amount of subsidised fuel. Who’s to say how we use it? The government?” said Mr Hafiz Mat Hassan from Pendang, Kedah.
‘Dua darjat’, again
With the bill for subsidising fuel bloated from RM700 million (S$225 million) before the war to RM6 billion now, Mr Anwar has been urging Malaysians to tighten their belts. He has banned Hari Raya open houses by ministries and restricted overseas travel by government officials.
“This is because we cannot predict how long the economic situation will last,” he said on March 7. “Be smart about managing the economy… The people must all be aware and help.”
But for some, the message rang hollow.
The perceived disconnect between words and actions has revived memories of “dua darjat” – Malay for double standards – during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when politicians were caught flouting rules imposed on the public.
They included the then deputy health minister who, of all people, was caught on camera having a hearty communal meal during a visit to a school in April 2020, going against his ministry’s rule.
“We need real leadership by example,” said e-hailing driver Sufian Mohd Naim, 42.
For Mr Sufian, the frustration extends well beyond the Prime Minister, to those such as Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan, who preached prudence from the back seat of a motorcade.
“I am on the road every day and I see their motorcades – police outriders, three, four cars – forcing people aside,” Mr Sufian said.
“When are they going to change to a more prudent and simple lifestyle?”