“Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.”
- American journalist Edward R Murrow
My top five news stories for 2023 are not individual news stories but rather themes that emerge in the era of Madani.
What we are witnessing is the crumbling of the old faux delusions of multiculturalism and the reality that this country is slowly arriving at its destination of a theocratic state.
Recent public comments by PSM chairperson Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj on meritocracy in the education system, where he said, “Any system must be fair to all. This is also not something politically feasible or acceptable. It’s going to cause a lot of unhappiness,” points to the destination we will eventually arrive at.
As usual, the good doctor’s prescription is concentrating on the underprivileged in the various Malaysian communities to cultivate an empathetic society but nobody is listening, of course.
With this in mind, here are my five main themes in the news cycle in no particular order.
Palestinians, propaganda, and boycotts
Let me be very clear. The Palestinian issue is one that divides Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia. Non-Muslim political operatives may don the kaffiyeh and scream slogans but the reality is that most of the base is not with them on this issue.
It is difficult to make the case that we should be against one kind of ethnocracy and be supportive of another.
The propagandisation of the Palestinian cause will have unintended consequences for this country for years to come.
When you allow the barbarity of one side to be camouflaged by the plight of innocents and when you wallow in anti-Jewish sentiment, you are allowing the extreme elements of the religious class to assume control of the narrative.
We have Muslims having to defend their business against the agitations of online mobs who claim to act on behalf of oppressed Muslims.
What is the point of these boycotts? It is certainly not for the sake of the Palestinian cause. What we are dealing with here, is that after years of indoctrination, some people are using the Israel-Palestine conflict to further highlight racial and religious divisions in this country.
Unilateral conversion and Loh Siew Hong
What unilateral conversion does is rob the child of the right of his or her religious freedom. This has far-reaching consequences in Malaysia because race and religion have legal obligations along with the so-called special privileges that place a Muslim in the harsh glare of federal and state Islamic authorities.
Never mind that the courts have ruled on this, but the reality is that the courts, the police, and political operatives are not going to do anything when non-Muslim children are unilaterally converted.
Now, I get that I should write more about Loh Siew Hong in this caption but the reality is that cases like these are going to continue because nobody, certainly not the political apparatus, cares enough about religious kidnappings of non-Muslim children to do anything about it.
Non-Muslims have no interest in interfering with Islam but how on earth can anyone claim that the religion of the state does not interfere with non-Muslims is beyond me.
Hadi defines the Islamic narrative
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang defines the Islamic narrative in this country. It really does not matter what the Madani religious establishment does, because what they are doing is essentially parroting what Hadi and his junior partners in Perikatan Nasional want.
Hadi and PAS have demonstrated that they will defy the royal institution when it comes to their religious beliefs or their religious agendas, as when Hadi openly defied the Terengganu ruler’s diktats that there should be no religious speeches in mosques and when PAS’ ulama wing encouraged the religious bureaucracy to defy the sultan of Selangor's diktats on the Bon Odori festival.
There is no counter-Islamic narrative in this country at the moment beyond enabling Hadi’s atavistic interpretation of Islam.
DAP dons the mantle MCA wore
Taking a page from Ong Kian Ming and his thoughts on the Bumiputera Economic Congress, maybe the DAP assuming the mantle of MCA isn’t a bad idea.
After all, for decades, the MCA played willing handmaidens to Umno’s power and the community voted for them and BN. There was some sort of moderation in that, right?
As former MCA leader Ti Lian Ker said, "In the 80s and 90s, Islam politics prevailed and politicians rode on religion, whereby Umno tried to outdo PAS and there were many positive developments such as the International Islamic University, Bank Islam, and so on. But there were also some negatives as a result of over-enthusiasm and radicalism."
Of course, what Ti forgets to mention is that back in the day, the DAP and PKR were attempting to hold albeit with varying degrees of success the moderate centre.
DAP does not have the luxury as the MCA did of merely relying on economic security to balance the Islamisation of their Malay “partners”.
What we have is a virulent opposition relying on institutions of the state to propagate their theocratic ideas coupled with a ruling coalition which is struggling not only with economic issues brought upon by the mismanagement of the mainstream establishment but also a prime minister who struggles to connect with the Malay polity.
Recent contradictory statements by political operatives from the DAP, public admonishments of “misunderstandings” and of course, the requisite mea culpas demonstrate that the DAP is not going to get the same treatment from its Malay power brokers that the MCA did.
The DAP base now is extremely fearful of spooking the Malays, which means that any DAP political operative who has the gumption to speak out on issues affecting the Non-Malay community is going to receive fire from all sides.
Advocating for a just secular Malaysia is now presenting oneself to a circular firing squad.
The ‘Green Wave’
The “Green Wave” is more than just propaganda used against PN. It is an idea that Malaysia is changing and not for the better.
Well, that is not fair. If you believe that the religion of the state should influence every aspect of your life, then Malaysia changing to fit those criteria is a good thing.
For those of us who do not believe this, the ominous news is that the “Green Wave” is already here. The thing to watch in the coming year is to see how much of the “Green Wave” will “submerge” urban centres which are populated by a slowly diminishing non-Malay polity.
I will end this piece and start the year with this rejoinder from TS Elliot -
“For last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice.
“And to make an end is to make a beginning." - 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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