COMMENT On Jan 1, everyone was talking about price hikes. The next day, this was no longer the case - everyone was talking about the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and the word ‘Allah’ (I hope I won’t get arrested for typing it).
The point that the whole exercise was merely a distraction has been made before, but it may bear repeating. The rest of this article will also explore some of the dynamics and confusion surrounding the issue, including Jais’ chain of command.
I can definitely sympathise with non-Muslims who are extremely concerned by the trend and tone that is being set by this month’s raid.
Amongst what may be Malaysia’s most visibly vocal community - the English-speaking middle class - there was loud anger, indignation and frustration across the board.
Many people seemed also to wonder, how could the powers-that-be so stupidly allow or implicitly condone an act that would surely further alienate a segment of voters they are already failing to appeal to so badly?
I believe that stupidity, complacency or ignorance have nothing to do with this whatsoever.
Instead, I believe that what is happening is being done purposefully, and not in ignorance of the consequences, but in pursuit of them.
Jais the biggest troll
Spending a lot of time on the Internet and on Twitter gives one a fair amount of experience in trolling - the phenomenon wherein a person (usually obsessed with attention) acts irritatingly with the objective, first and foremost, of eliciting an emotional response from their victims.
I often think of the hardliners at Jais and those behind them as the biggest trolls of them all.
In understanding their actions and motivations, it is important to understand the dynamics of the news cycle and the landscape of Malaysia’s electoral politics.
These people understand that there can almost always be only one dominant news story at a time.
I like to compare the increase in prices of petrol, electricity, toll and basic consumables on the one hand and the use of the word ‘Allah’ on the other.
When everyone was talking about price hikes, I think the government was hurting very badly. The simple but strong reason for this was that price hikes affect everyone.
Everyone was feeling the brunt - from the cities to the kampungs - and everyone was getting angry. Understandably so, especially since BN promised that there would be no price hikes after the general election.
I contend that economics and finances play the biggest role in determining an election, yet probably receive the least attention in proportion to its importance. The media simply does not find it sufficiently sexy.
The ‘Allah’ issue on the other hand - with its great emotiveness on the both sides - has the perfect flair for the kind of drama that sells newspapers.
There’s no doubt that the media loves to talk about it - a lot more than they love to talk about the cost of living.
‘Allah’ issue vs BR1M
The next question is, which issue has a greater effect on a) people’s lives, and by extension, b) elections.
Some hold the view that PAS’ stance on the ‘Allah’ issue cost them significant votes in the rural or Malay-majority areas. I strongly disagree.
I did some basic analysis earlier of GE13. In terms of state seats outside of Selangor as a whole, PAS won less seats than they did in 2008. Within Selangor however, they almost doubled the number of state seats they won - from eight to 15.
What in Selangor would account for such a difference?
To me, the answer is simple, the vast amount of social welfare programmes (Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor) done by the Selangor state government.
I feel that the battle for the Malay heartland is not about ideology - it is about BR1M. It was only in Selangor that such an alternative or addition to BR1M existed, proof that Pakatan Rakyat, too, could look after the welfare of the rakyat.
As long as BN can keep pumping enough money into these areas and create a sense of economic security, then there is absolutely no electoral need for it to try and appeal to urban centres. After all, they managed to maintain a convincing simple majority even while losing almost every single urban seat in the country (a trend that could end up with Malaysia becoming like Thailand).
To put it a little more crassly, BN doesn’t care about how many urbanites they piss off (in fact, the more urban voters that get disillusioned and leave the country, the better for them); they only care about maintaining the rural vote.
Tomorrow: Jais’s chain of command
NATHANIEL TAN is still unemployed, but is now finally actively trying to change that. He tweets @NatAsasi.
The point that the whole exercise was merely a distraction has been made before, but it may bear repeating. The rest of this article will also explore some of the dynamics and confusion surrounding the issue, including Jais’ chain of command.
I can definitely sympathise with non-Muslims who are extremely concerned by the trend and tone that is being set by this month’s raid.
Amongst what may be Malaysia’s most visibly vocal community - the English-speaking middle class - there was loud anger, indignation and frustration across the board.Many people seemed also to wonder, how could the powers-that-be so stupidly allow or implicitly condone an act that would surely further alienate a segment of voters they are already failing to appeal to so badly?
I believe that stupidity, complacency or ignorance have nothing to do with this whatsoever.
Instead, I believe that what is happening is being done purposefully, and not in ignorance of the consequences, but in pursuit of them.
Jais the biggest troll
Spending a lot of time on the Internet and on Twitter gives one a fair amount of experience in trolling - the phenomenon wherein a person (usually obsessed with attention) acts irritatingly with the objective, first and foremost, of eliciting an emotional response from their victims.
I often think of the hardliners at Jais and those behind them as the biggest trolls of them all.
In understanding their actions and motivations, it is important to understand the dynamics of the news cycle and the landscape of Malaysia’s electoral politics.
These people understand that there can almost always be only one dominant news story at a time.
I like to compare the increase in prices of petrol, electricity, toll and basic consumables on the one hand and the use of the word ‘Allah’ on the other.When everyone was talking about price hikes, I think the government was hurting very badly. The simple but strong reason for this was that price hikes affect everyone.
Everyone was feeling the brunt - from the cities to the kampungs - and everyone was getting angry. Understandably so, especially since BN promised that there would be no price hikes after the general election.
I contend that economics and finances play the biggest role in determining an election, yet probably receive the least attention in proportion to its importance. The media simply does not find it sufficiently sexy.
The ‘Allah’ issue on the other hand - with its great emotiveness on the both sides - has the perfect flair for the kind of drama that sells newspapers.
There’s no doubt that the media loves to talk about it - a lot more than they love to talk about the cost of living.
‘Allah’ issue vs BR1M
The next question is, which issue has a greater effect on a) people’s lives, and by extension, b) elections.
Some hold the view that PAS’ stance on the ‘Allah’ issue cost them significant votes in the rural or Malay-majority areas. I strongly disagree.
I did some basic analysis earlier of GE13. In terms of state seats outside of Selangor as a whole, PAS won less seats than they did in 2008. Within Selangor however, they almost doubled the number of state seats they won - from eight to 15.
What in Selangor would account for such a difference?
To me, the answer is simple, the vast amount of social welfare programmes (Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor) done by the Selangor state government.
I feel that the battle for the Malay heartland is not about ideology - it is about BR1M. It was only in Selangor that such an alternative or addition to BR1M existed, proof that Pakatan Rakyat, too, could look after the welfare of the rakyat.As long as BN can keep pumping enough money into these areas and create a sense of economic security, then there is absolutely no electoral need for it to try and appeal to urban centres. After all, they managed to maintain a convincing simple majority even while losing almost every single urban seat in the country (a trend that could end up with Malaysia becoming like Thailand).
To put it a little more crassly, BN doesn’t care about how many urbanites they piss off (in fact, the more urban voters that get disillusioned and leave the country, the better for them); they only care about maintaining the rural vote.
Tomorrow: Jais’s chain of command
NATHANIEL TAN is still unemployed, but is now finally actively trying to change that. He tweets @NatAsasi.
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