The Madani government under PM Anwar has much to do in four years to prevent the ‘green wave’ from engulfing the country.
AMONG the viral messages shared after last Saturday’s state polls was one that ended with this grim prediction: “This is a tide no one can stop. Malaysia will become a complete Islamic State by 2027.”
It started with the claim that 80% of the seven million first-time voters aged between 18 and 22 were Malays, and most of them voted for the PAS/Bersatu Perikatan Nasional alliance.
“By focusing on religion and race alone, PAS has secured Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. The next states to fall under PAS will be Perak and Negri Sembilan.
“The only states to withstand the onslaught are Penang, Selangor and Johor but not for long.
“They are expected to fall by GE17 in 2032.”
A friend who voted in Kota Kemuning, Selangor, shared the message on Monday, describing it as “damn scary”.
Looking at the population statistics and the demographics of the east coast states and Kedah, which are now essentially deluged by the “green wave”, the dire forecast is plausible.
The Malay population in the peninsula has been increasing every year, while the numbers of the Chinese and Indians are diminishing. For the Chinese, the ebb is in double digits each year.
The latest data from the National Statistics Bureau shows that out of all live births, 68.4% are Malays, 9.1% Chinese and 3.8% Indians.
The population of Malays has risen by 15.5% as compared to a 17.1% drop for Chinese and 4.3% decline for Indians.
Based on the trend, Malays will make up 79% of every 100 Malaysians, with Chinese comprising 17% and Indians at 4%, by the time GE16 is due.
Saturday’s state polls showed that most Malays, including traditional Umno supporters, dumped the party and voted for Perikatan. The once formidable lynchpin of Barisan Nasional only managed to win 19 out of 108 seats contested.
It was the non-Malay voters in urban and mixed constituencies who saved the day for the PH/BN governments in Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan, albeit at a cost.
Perikatan grabbed 11 seats in Penang, 22 in Selangor – denying it two thirds majority – and five in Negri Sembilan.
Seats under the PN/BN coalition dropped from 114 to 80. DAP lost two seats, but the two other parties – PKR and Amanah, fared much worse.
PKR, which held 52 state seats before the polls, won 26 while Amanah’s 14 dwindled to eight.
As for Perikatan, its tally of seats rose from 88 to 146, a whopping 60.2%. PAS won 105 seats, 29 more than the 76 it held previously, while Bersatu grew from 12 to 40 seats. It is undeniable that Perikatan’s impressive performance is largely due to PAS.
As Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi aptly described in his Mysinchew column on Sunday, the “Talibanising” of Malaysia under PAS, though once an impossible scenario, is now real and as close as four years from now.
In other words, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government has just 1,460 days to stem the tide.
In addition to tangible evidence and not just rhetoric about good governance and fighting corruption, his administration must work harder to win back at least a third of the lost Malay voters.
In doing so, Anwar should forget about pandering to the extremists selling the “Malaysia is for Malays and Muslims only” narrative but work towards improving the education system and develop a core team of Muslim intellectuals to neutralise the prevailing hate-fueled sentiments.
Ironically, Anwar is facing his karma of sorts for his role in initiating political Islam in Malaysia.
It started in the 1970s with Anwar’s Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) at the helm. Among other things, Abim clamoured for the hijab to be worn by Muslim women, especially in universities, and for men to adopt the Arab form of clothing.
Over the decade, when PAS and Umno tried to outdo each other in championing Islam, Anwar was seen as being closer to PAS leaders. In the 1978 general election, he even campaigned for the party.
But four years later in 1982, just a week before the general election, Anwar joined Umno and was introduced to the party by then president and PM, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
After joining Umno in 1982, Anwar strongly pushed for issues with “Islamic branding”, making him the fastest rising leader in Umno through the 80s and early 90s, because of his Islamic credentials and his fiery rhetoric defending Islam.
He is credited with the setting up of the International Islamic University, Islamic Finance, the Islamic banking system and was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) in 1997, which took over the powers of a government division called the Bahagian Hal Ehwal Islam (Baheis).
Obviously, the role he played in promoting greater Islamisation of Malaysia was either snubbed or forgotten by the majority of Malays.
Over the next four years, he has to prove himself all over again as a proponent of the religion to the Muslim masses, and he has to do this without riling his non-Malay supporters.
Anwar also needs to better sell his still blurry concept of Malaysia Madani or Civil Malaysia.
Madani, representing the core values of sustainability, prosperity, innovation, respect, trust and compassion, was launched seven months ago to reform the country as one which promotes humanity and positive values, including fair and effective governance.
With no clear examples of how it is being practised, the concept has remained a slogan with little traction, especially among the Malay-Muslim majority.
Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this observation by Mark Twain: “I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.” The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
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