Malaysians joke they have ‘no oil, only palm oil’ after US embassy shares space photo
The embassy’s International Space Station image prompted self-deprecating jokes about oil, US power and being strategically uninteresting
Within hours, the comments section kicked up its own storm, with hundreds of Malaysians leaning into sarcasm to portray the country as too rural, too spooky or too lacking in petroleum – offering only palm oil – to be of any strategic interest, a joke shaped by wider debates about US power, resources and foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
“Sorry, we don’t have oil, we all live on a tree, all those lights you see are bonfires,” commented user Aimin Razali.
Amin Muthalib added: “We don’t have any oil here … only palm oil.”
Some commenters widened the joke beyond oil to questions of surveillance and intervention. “With no warning at all, it’s quite strange that the US embassy released a satellite image of Malaysia,” wrote user Ina Abd Rahman.
Many joked about “freedom” and intervention, a recurring motif in global discussions about US actions abroad. “Nice and electric … imagine if it was oil? Here comes ‘freedom’,” wrote one user, echoing a recurring satirical framing of US foreign policy.