“Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous.” ― Frank Herbert
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s attacks against the DAP come at a time when the Malay uber alles establishment is at its lowest.
Corrupt political kingpins engineered an election, which the establishment knew it could not afford (politically) but had no choice because there was no centre (politically) to begin with.
The good news is that Hadi and ilk are sacred. The fact that PAS was stabbed in the front by Umno – how many times has Umno done this to PAS? – and every Malay political operative in the ketuanan establishment is scrambling for votes, should tell us that PAS is attempting to position itself as a worthy addition to a possible coalition of like-minded bigots and racists after the election.
This pandemic and the failure of PAS-led governments in certain states have demonstrated that PAS political operatives are more than willing to lead the Malay community to the slaughterhouse - as long as PAS political operatives can benefit from the gravy train that powers the ketuanan bureaucracy.
In claiming that Malay DAP political operatives are being used by the DAP, what Hadi is saying is that the only people who can use the Malays are other Malays.
Specifically, Malays who are part of the ketuanan system or ketuanan adjacent.
Hadi’s atavistic version of Islam is predicated on the belief that non-Muslims can only be pak turut.
This is why non-Muslims in the PAS supporters club, for instance, are treated as they are because the only imperative they have is to follow the orders of the religious clerics of PAS.
Remember when Utusan Melayu claimed that the former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and now Pejuang head was working with the enemies of Islam because he hooked up with the DAP in 2016? PAS’ then-spiritual adviser the late Haron Din claimed: "When you befriend the enemies of Islam, you will become just like them."
Haron did not believe in that “wall of separation” between mosque and state. Indeed, he believed that the enemies of Islam - always Islam, never his political adversaries - were those who believed in “the wall”, liberalism, freedom of religion and speech, in “Western” human rights, those things that the spiritual leader told his flock were anathema to Islam.
Indeed, Hadi, like Haron, views the DAP not as a political adversary but as an existential threat to not Malay hegemony but rather Islamic hegemony.
This is why, historically, the Malays who leaned left were persecuted and ironically, the leftist underpinning of the old PAS has been totally eradicated for the kind of Wahhabism that is currently out of favour.
As someone who has been close to various “deviant” groups and I am not talking about groups that are called deviant by PAS, but rather, what the establishment has labelled deviant. What is evident is a strong strain of independent thinking and a rejection of mainstream Malay culture.
Yes, most of them were delusional, but in some cases they were extremely entrepreneurial and successful.
Slaves to ketuanan system
All this is anathema to Hadi. What he wants is for the Malays to be slaves to the ketuanan system forever.
This is why someone like Zakir Naik is free to spew his nonsense all over the country because he reinforces core beliefs of the ketuanan system, which states that Malay leaders, even if corrupt, are preferable to honest non-Malays or Malays who would work with non-Malay leaders.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli talked about this attitude when he returned to politics, especially on the issue of corruption and the Malay polity.
“For example, when I first came back in 2010, one thing I really wanted to change was the Malay attitude towards corruption. Generally, Malays back then said corruption is okay because at least Malays got it, rather than the Chinese.
“That really annoyed me. I was ashamed of that attitude then, so I wanted to prove to the Malays that corruption is bad, it affects you and you can’t say so long as the government is Malay, as long as those who profited from it are Malays, we’re okay.
“Hence, the series of exposes I did was to build a story and narrative that it (corruption) is harmful even to the Malays. I think by now, Malays, by and large, and to a certain extent, actually care about corruption,” Rafizi said.
All this propaganda by the ketuanan state is designed to deflect from the failure of Malay uber alles parties.
Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir said it best when he was Bersatu deputy president:
"Looking at Umno, when there were big issues which we could not address, we would talk about DAP, Chinese chauvinism, and how Lim Kit Siang becoming prime minister would destroy Malaysia, that the Malays would disappear, and the mosques can no longer air the azan.
"I admit that I too have said such things, in front of a 100 percent Malay audience. Thinking back, I feel guilty and a sense of regret."
All this is about controlling the Malays and the only people who should control the Malay (according to Hadi and his ilk) are religious and racial supremacists. And this feudalistic belief is what powers the narrative of ketuanan types.
Rafizi was spot on when he dissected the Johor defeats of Pakatan Harapan.
“As those voters who reject Umno’s track record of corruption don’t mind giving Bersatu and PN a protest vote.
“It is precisely because Malay voters are a lot more sophisticated that Harapan must work its narratives to convince voters it has solutions and competence to resolve the key economic issues the people are facing.
“Just as Malay voters can switch to Bersatu and PN (after voting for Harapan in 2018), they can easily swing back to Harapan when they are convinced that Harapan can become a better government.”
The reality is that Hadi does not want the Malays to have a better government - especially if it comes with the DAP. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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