Distance doesn’t make the heart grow fonder

WE are living in very dangerous times. This is the direct result of GE15, which did not give any political coalition a clear majority. In the end, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did prevail to finally become our 10th Prime Minister by getting Barisan Nasional to join forces with Pakatan Harapan and set up his so-called unity government.

But that really wasn’t the end, because those who are now relegated to the opposition bench in Parliament – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional-cum-PAS – have never accepted gracefully that they lost the general election. So they have never stopped trying to undermine and even topple the current government, as PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang openly stated.

Part of Hadi and Co’s confidence stems from the knowledge that the unity government is on very shaky ground where the Malays are concerned.

Anwar claimed that Pakatan won 31% of the Malay vote in GE15 and explained that while Malay support for Pakatan was low in states like Kelantan and Terengganu, it was over 50% in Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan.

Political analysts, however, have been less generous, estimating the support to range from 13% to 25%. Pakatan won because it was the choice of Indian and Chinese voters who didn’t want PAS in the government.

When the Merdeka Centre opinion poll results came along in February, mainstream media tried to spin it positively for Anwar and Pakatan. But it could not hide the fact that only 51% of the 25,077 respondents were satisfied with the new government. And that came from the non-Malays while a massive 71% of Malays were not.

All this has further fuelled the Perikatan-PAS’ frustrations as well as their ambition. To them, the election and Putrajaya were stolen from them by the non-Malays.

So now they have every right to take back what they lost, forget stability and healing, recovery and progress for the people and the economy.

With six state elections looming in the next few months, winning the Malay vote is crucial for both sides.

PAS has established itself as the staunch protector of Malay-Muslim rights, and is playing that tried and tested card – race and religion. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who at 97 still doesn’t know when to exit gracefully, is resorting to that as well. Now he says the Malays are in danger of losing political power to the non-Malays.

PAS and Co, at every opportunity will brandish their cudgel at anything and anyone they claim is anti-Islam. They want to dictate what Muslims can do, see, hear and say. Of course, they were against Blackpink’s concert, like they were against Oktoberfest and Bon Odori.

This tactic is so effective that these unscrupulous politicians think nothing of making the non-Malays the scapegoats, bogeymen, the bad guys who corrupt innocent Malays and lead them astray. Even in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial, Jho Low is depicted by the defence as the dastardly Chinese mastermind.

The extreme conservatives in our midst will also keep finding what seems to be innocuous to non-Muslims to be “eye-poking” – provocative and offensive – like women’s dressing as being too short, too revealing and against government dress codes.

It was reassuring to have Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa saying every patient must be treated regardless of what they wear, and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail stating that the police cannot stop people from making reports on the basis of their attire.

But the damage is done and the chasm between Muslims and non-Muslims has deepened further. Non-Muslim Malaysians cannot help but feel they are being deliberately targeted by bigots simply because the latter believe they have the right to do so in this country.

It has become so easy to accuse others of doing something that is offensive to Muslim sensitivities or can harm their belief in the faith. Even a programme organised under the auspices of the Youth and Sports Ministry aimed at fostering better interfaith understanding is being attacked, with Perikatan-PAS making claims that the minister, Hannah Yeoh, who has always been open about being a Christian, is insidiously trying to proselytize to Muslim youth.

We also have to suffer bigots like Perikatan MP for Kuala Langat Ahmad Yunus Hairi, who want houses of worship of other faiths to be built far away from mosques. He claimed that a newly-built Hindu temple in Klang had caused anxiety among the Malay community nearby.

Doesn’t he know both Melaka and Penang have star tourism attractions in their Harmony Streets where Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist temples are standing side by side with mosques and churches with nary a problem?

And then there was celebrity preacher Syed Mohd Bakri Syed Ishak a.k.a. PU Syed’s small-minded dismissal of Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh’s best actress Oscar award as “nothing to be proud of” because it doesn’t benefit Islam.

Such intolerant views from leaders will only encourage their followers to treat non-Muslims with contempt and suspicion.

In social activist Mariam Mokhtar’s mind, Hadi and “his wannabe politicians-cum-clerics”, as she calls them, are dangerous because they sow discord in Malaysia. I second that, and that’s why I say we are living in dangerous times.

In sharp contrast, Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak are so confident in their faith.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has long maintained that non-Muslims in the state can use the word “Allah” any time, unlike how Putrajaya opposed it and is still appealing against a High Court ruling overturning a ban on use of the word and three others by Christians in Peninsular Malaysia.

Non-Muslims would wholeheartedly support Sarawak’s Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah’s call to the Federal Government to “put a stop to all this nonsense” in response to Ahmad Yunus’ proposal.

If only it were that easy to stop such “nonsense”.

Anwar has a tremendously difficult balancing act. He needs to keep the trust of the non-Malay voters who brought him to Putrajaya that he will not let in PAS’ style of policies.

But he cannot be seen to be siding with non-Malays, as that would go down badly with the Malays and play right into Perikatan-PAS hands.

If Anwar wants Pakatan and its allies to do well in the state elections and prevent Perikatan-PAS from making further inroads, he can only try to neutralise the weapons that Perikatan-PAS uses.

You have issues with foreign acts, no problem; we tighten the rules and regulations to make sure they respect our religious values. No more male foreign artistes “cross dressing” to look like a woman when performing in Malaysia, and no big concerts by international acts on the night before Islamic public holidays. We can live with that.

Dr Mahathir’s attempt to frighten the Malays over losing power? Well, Anwar will keep hammering the message that “the real threat to the survival of Malays in the country did not come from other races but rather a corrupt system and greedy leaders stealing from the country” and there will be no protection for such leaders from the long arm of the law.

He is also trying to assure the non-Malays that they are safe with him by his strong stand against racism, bigotry and extremism.

But time is not on his side for him to convince more Malay voters that he is their man before the state elections. The only thing non-Malays can do for now is for them to pull back on their expectations and not demand that he delivers on GE15 promises.

Malaysians who want their country to remain multiracial and multi-religious don’t really have a choice but bet on their 10th PM. To paraphrase what Princess Leia said to Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Anwar, you’re our only hope ...The views expressed here are the writer’s own.