MALAYSIAN anti-LBGT campaigners should accord due respect by refraining from passing derogatory remarks on Australian Foreign Minister Penelope Wong Ying Yen just because of her Malaysian ancestry or her past ties with her country of birth.
This follows a post on the Sahabat Anwar Ibrahim Facebook page which featured the 57-year-old who is better known as Penny Wong with erroneous descriptions of “Australian Prime Minister (PM)” and “her wife First Lady Sophie Allouache”.
Fortunately, a Xavierian Penangite spotted the factual blunder by calling the post “fake news”.
Kota Kinabalu-born Penelope Wong is not the Australian PM but a senator/Foreign Minister. She is only acting as the Australian PM while the country’s PM and DPM (Deputy PM) are abroad between Aug 31 and Sept 3 on official business.
The Australian PM since May 2022 is Anthony Albanese while his Deputy is Richard Marles.
Here are the results of a google search: No, the wife of an acting PM doesn’t become a “first lady”.
Having showcased his/her stupidity by being unable to differentiate the roles of PM and Acting PM aside, what is more concerning about post of this nature in the Malaysian context is that certain so-called ultra-pious quarters would weaponise it to hit out at the local LBGT community.
Setting the record straight
True enough, one LBGT hater recounted how prominent Malaysian transgender entrepreneur, influencer and LGBT rights icon Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruz Zaman a.k.a. Nur Sajat “ran away to Australia to seek protection and continue being a bapuk (male homose*ual) there”.
“The higher-ups there don’t even care about the life of transgender. Hmm … Different worlds … May Allah spare us a calamity that can destroy us all.”
Thankfully, there were some commenters who stood up to contradict the somehow rightist’s sweeping statement.
“You care so much about other people’s sexual orientation yet aren’t bothered at all that our leaders are plundering wealth of the rakyat and nation?” jibed one netizen while another ticked off the LBGT hater for “not only interfering in the personal lives of others but also spread slanders along the way”.
Whatever the case is, the post has invited undesirable amount of anti-LBGT sentiment among the conservative and ‘busy body’ faction of the Malaysian society.
Truth be told, LBGT haters must accept that Australia both recognises and legalises same-s*x marriage since Dec 9, 2017 following the passage of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017
As for Wong who has two daughters (born 2011 and 2015) with Allouache via the IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) method, both she and her spouse officially tied the knot after nearly two decades together on March 16, 2024.
Her father is Malaysian Chinese of the Hakka dialect while her mother is Australian and of English ancestry.
When her parents separated when she was eight, she moved to Adelaide, South Australia with her mother and her four-year-old brother younger brother, Toby, who later died by suicide in 2002.
Wong formally renounced her Malaysian citizenship in 2001 before entering the Australian Senate in compliance with Section 44 of the Australian Constitution. Apparently, Malaysia’s National Registration Department (NRD) issued a confirmation letter verifying the renunciation.
As for her assuming Down Under’s Acting PM role, this Instagram post by Foreign Fillagadu who regularly shares news, community updates and Australian immigration information is noteworthy.
View this post on Instagram
All in all, instead of harping on her se*ual orientation, wouldn’t it be better if Malaysians join hands to be proud of Wong’s political success by being handpicked as Acting PM as espoused by this proud Sabahan? – Sept 6, 2026
