“What frequently begins as a conspiracy frequently develops into conditioned response, with only occasional explicit coordination required.”
- American political activist Ralph Nader
In the past couple of months, we have seen how fanatical low-level custodians have attempted to enforce dress codes in various government agencies.
The top cop of the country Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani even invoked the fifth principle of the Rukun Negara to demand compliance, conveniently forgetting the preamble which encourages a liberal approach to the country’s rich and varied cultural traditions.
Indeed, no one in the political apparatus seems to pay much attention to the Rukun Negara. Everyone seems to be paying attention to what PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang advocates.
This includes political operatives – Muslim and non-Muslim – in Madani-ville which is slowly laying the foundation for a theocratic state that Perikatan Nasional may inherit. These are the hypocrites that are supposed to hold the line against a theocratic state?
Take the Michelle Yeoh Oscar win for instance, for her role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”. This is a queer-friendly film.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a supposed reformer, has publicly stated that LGBTQ, secularism and communism will never be recognised in this country - but yet he congratulated Yeoh on her Oscar win for an LGBTQ-friendly film.
Keep in mind that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Mohd Na'im Mokhtar has instructed the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) to help in the investigation of the women’s march because of LGBTQ elements, which he deemed were “efforts to promote or normalise deviant lifestyles which go against Islamic values and human nature.”
And while the police are harassing activists in Malaysia, the political elites in this country are hugging and kissing Yeoh’s mother for her daughter’s best actress win in a queer-friendly film.
Attacking marginalised group
This would not be so bad if they actually stood up and said something about the rights of certain Malaysians which are under attack by religious extremists. However, they remain silent, content with basking in the borrowed glory of Yeoh, an outspoken UN goodwill ambassador, and predictably not wanting to spook Hadi.
In other words, all these Malaysia Madani political operatives are crowing about an Oscar win for Yeoh, who acted in a film featuring gay characters but, in the words of religious extremists of this country, the LGBTQ are part of a marginalised group of people who are likened to animals or portrayed as going against the teachings of Islam.
At this moment, NGO Sisters in Islam (SIS) is attempting to appeal a 2014 Selangor fatwa that labelled them as “deviant”. In the richest and supposedly most progressive state of the country, the Islamic religious authorities with the sanction of the political class labelled a women’s group as deviant.
These are the actors, sub rosa or otherwise, who oppose the recent march by women standing up for their rights as enshrined by the Federal Constitution but which unfortunately, does not escape the purview of the Shariah court system.
Of course, using the LGBTQ as their point of attack is business as usual for them because they understand most political operatives would not stick their necks out for this community.
This is the reason why some in this country want Shariah law to supersede every other legal or constitutional avenue this country has. This is the reason why some have defined the narrative so that any non-Muslim advocacy on behalf of Muslims is deemed as going against Islam.
What this does is it neatly cuts off the majority from the minority and, in this way, genuine civil rights or ideological movements that upset the establishment are curtailed.
After that, what we are left with are castrated activists who either form incestuous cliques for self-profit or disparate groups of people mindful that if they publicly demonstrate together, they would invite the wrath of not only the state security apparatus but also the religious leviathan.
Gay Malaysians
When the Wikileaks cables scandal erupted many years ago, tongues were wagging at possible gay politicians within the Malay establishment.
LGBTQ people are everywhere and while this may scare some, the reality is that they are not going anywhere. What about the grassroots-level political operators from any party who are gay? What about the propagandists from DAP, Umno, PAS, PKR, Bersatu and Amanah who are gay?
All these gay people are Malaysians and the government has the audacity to lecture Malaysians about not following Western values?
The demonisation of marginal groups
In fact, whenever the state wants to demonise an opponent, they usually claim the opponent is attempting to propagate Western values which at the core are about freedom of speech or expression, sexuality being part of the latter.
The demonisation of marginal groups is a prelude to the subjugation of various voting polities. What we are dealing with here is a sustained effort by the establishment to subvert democratic traditions and in this coalition government’s case, having their cake and eating it too.
This means paying lip service to democratic traditions and principles but carrying out overt policies which are anathema to democratic principles. How much do we have to sacrifice to PAS/PN before this government becomes indistinguishable from the one that wants to turn this country into a theocratic state?
PAS and PN engage in a culture war like the Republican party in the United States because they are bereft of ideas. Both lead states which are mired in poverty and mismanagement, but religious values are used as a means of control and supposed “liberty” from the tyranny of secular values.
We - and by we I mean me - cannot say that PAS and PN are an existential threat to this country while this coalition government merrily carries out policies which hurt the most vulnerable of Malaysians in the name of religion.
What is worse is the hypocrisy. We have all these political operatives praising Yeoh’s Oscar win while carrying out policies or remaining silent on one of the more important issues the film raises.
From the land of endless possibilities to Malaysia Madani. - 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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