LOOKING for a fly in the ointment. The idiom indicates searching for the one small flaw that spoils an otherwise perfect situation.
This sentiment was perfectly summed up on Malay language daily Utusan Malaysia’s portal which shared news of impending influx of tourists from China during the upcoming Lunar New Year festive period.
This number is expected to increase between 30% and 50% from last year, thus placing Malaysia as one of the countries that receives the greatest global benefits during the holiday period.
Editor’s Note: Coinciding with the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY 2026) China and India citizens are eligible to enjoy visa-free entry to Malaysia for up to 30 days per visit until Dec 31, 2026.
This privilege covers tourism, business and social visits. Travellers must submit their Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) online within three days prior to arrival, hold a passport with at least six months validity and have return tickets.
Asian real estate technology (proptech) outfit Juwai IQI co-founder and group CEO Kashif Ansari has attributed such outcome to partly a result of the VMY 2026 campaign which has shown early success.
One-way ticket
According to him, Malaysia received 1.4 million Chinese visitors in the first four months of 2025, an increase of 38% year-on-year (yoy) while the authorities have set a target of 10 million Chinese visitors in 2026, an increase of 43% from 2025.
Such news would surely be greeted as early signs of success for VMY 2026 but not everyone is enamoured with such development.
This was clearly evidenced on the Utusan Facebook post which has generated 2.6K likes, 2.6K comments and 272 shares at the time of writing.
Top of the concern was that these arrivals had come with a “one-way ticket” and had no intention of leaving.
One commenter sarcastically wondered if these arrivals were “tourists” or “pendatang (illegal visitors)”?
Given that public confidence in public institutions, including the Immigration Department is at an all-time low due to high-profile corruption cases, there were insinuations that arrivals from mainland China could easily get their hands on Malaysian identity cards.
It was also claimed that corruption allowed such visitors to arrive and then find employment in China-owned factories, many of which are illegal enterprises dealing in e-waste in vast industrial estates.
Racist and xenophobic comments were aplenty with some right-leaning observers making it known what they thought of these China tourists. One even grumbled that they brought along their “disrespectful attitudes”.
One commenter simply didn’t hide his racist views by declaring that all Chinese arrivals since ancient times be classified as “pendatang”.
This is the crux of the matter when certain parties are constantly mining the fears of the Malay-majority be demonising the Chinese whether local or visiting tourists.
Yes, there is no doubt that there exists a problem with illegal aliens but as quite a few commenters pointed out, they are not limited to visitors from China.
Economic contribution
The country is already flooded with illegal immigrants from Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh but the issue isn’t dripping with racial innuendo the way it is when describing visitors from China.
As was pointed out, it is inevitable that there will be an increase in Chinese tourists given it is VMY 2026 or the very fact that China is Malaysia’s largest market for tourist arrivals from an economic standpoint. To ignore it would be, to put it mildly, madness.
Malaysians – whether they like it or not – have better be braced for this increase in Chinese tourists.
Perhaps the focus should be on strict enforcement to ensure “that if 100,000 Chinese tourists enter the country, the same number shall also exit instead of half end up residing here”.
Meanwhile, every effort should be put in to ensure that these Chinese (and every other) tourists are made to feel welcome during VMY 2026. Economic well-being should be the focus here – not the opportunity to stir up racist sentiments. – Feb 3, 2026
Main image credit: Osedapdotcom
