To be 18 and green

 

The most dangerous threat to Perikatan Nasional is not an invading army, a nuclear threat, or the coronavirus pandemic. It is the thinking Malay.

Around the world, including in Asia, political parties which champion environmental causes, and a life based on justice and democratic principles are on the rise. These are the "green" parties.

In Malaysia, being green has nothing to do with environmental issues. Green is the colour of PAS.

With Undi-18, we now have around 1.5 million new voters. PAS achieved major gains from the youth vote. It made the other parties green with envy.

At the same time, are we sure that these young voters have the interests of multicultural Malaysia at heart? Are they politically and socially green, meaning immature?

A person is shaped by his personal interactions, communal integration, education as well as life and work experience.

How do you think this particular 18-year-old will vote? He mixes predominantly with people of the same religion and race. He has been told since he was a child that the Chinese, the communists, the Jews, the Christians and the DAP are out to destroy him, steal his job and seize his country.

He is warned that a good afterlife is his goal, and that to vote for any party other than what his preacher has advised him, will fast-track him to hell.

The ‘green wave’

In GE15 we were told that many political analysts had been caught unawares by the 'green wave'. Perhaps, one person who was not surprised is Dominik M Müller, of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.

Whilst most of us thought that it was the senior clerics/politicians in PAS who opposed a moderate system of governance, Müller's research showed that the PAS youth had a burning desire to establish syariah-based Islamic rule.

Many young professionals in PAS were constantly looking for the next innovation to turn new concepts into commercial successes. They took advantage of celebrity-endorsed products to promote their cause. Being media savvy, they used social media to promote their ideas.

In GE15, we were told that TikTok was successfully used to spread Bersatu and PAS' propaganda.

A relative alleged that PAS developed apps which would alert the Malay/Muslim traveller that it was time to pray, wherever he was in the world. There was also an app to show the kiblat, or the direction of prayer towards the kaabah. This is useful for the person who finds himself in a new environment.

In Kelantan, it is alleged that despite the ban on string instruments by senior clerics, the enterprising PAS youth did not give up. Aware that rock music is popular among the young, they decided that playing the guitar was permissible.

They said the guitarist should not hold the guitar above his head, or adopt any other wild antics at guitar showmanship, like some western rock guitarists are wont to do.

Whilst most Malaysians were distracted by the side shows of the four Rs (race, religion, royalty and rasuah), PAS was quietly cultivating the young, and penetrating the middle classes and the urban population.

Religious and tahfiz schools, and extra-curricular religious lessons mushroomed. The government school curriculum was dominated by religion.

Older people, or those who reached their late forties, who wished to prepare to meet their maker, would enrol for religious classes in mosques. This insidious quest to dominate the socio-political scene started decades ago.

Blame the politicians

Some of you may wonder why many comfortable and professional Malays from middle-class backgrounds appear to support PAS and despise all that multicultural Malaysians stand for.

Blame the politicians who use the politics of fear to remind us of May 13. They kept us under control with the first three 'R's (race, religion, royalty).

As many Malays are disgusted by the last 'R' - rasuah (corruption)- they turned to and voted PAS, thinking that PAS was not riddled with corruption, unlike Umno-Baru. These naïve dolts are like turkeys voting for Christmas.

PAS or Bersatu voters want to elect a government that will penalise the Malaysians who have worked terribly hard to build a multicultural Malaysia.

The non-Malays didn't just come to Malaysia in the 19th century. They have occupied peninsula Malaya and also Borneo, for as long as the monsoon trade winds and the spice/ceramics/minerals trade, have existed.

That means for centuries. Malaysia and our economy were built on the blood, sweat and tears of these non-Malays too.

Under PAS, it is not just the non-Malays or non-Muslim bumiputera who will suffer. Progressive Malays may have to constantly look over their shoulders, just in case the moral police think they are not behaving "Islamic enough".

The history taught in our schools is very selective and sadly, the young have no memory of what it is like to live in a truly multicultural Malaysia.

So, should we be concerned about the green tsunami that has flooded the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu, parts of Pahang, and the northern states of Kedah and Perlis?

More importantly, how will the unity government of Pakatan Harapan, BN and GPS address this green tsunami issue? For decades we were not allowed to discuss sensitive issues.

You may not think it, but PAS will harm democracy in Malaysia.

The lyrics from a classic 1960s Joni Mitchell song is especially appropriate, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone". - Mkini

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT