The ‘green wave’ is deeply ingrained in the Madani administration

The ‘green wave’ is not something that will sweep the country when PN takes over Putrajaya, it is something that is already here.

From Wong Kah Beng, Free Malaysia Today

I am writing in response to the report titled “Malaysia can’t be a totally secular state, says PM”.

Since the last general election, non-Muslim voters have been told to be wary of the “green wave” engendered by Perikatan Nasional, where PAS is a dominant player.

PN had made much headway during GE15 and almost formed the federal government. We were told that if we are not careful at the ballot boxes, the country will slide further down towards Talibanism.

The unity government has a convenient bogeyman – PAS. Often supporters of the unity government characterise PAS leaders as turban-clad conservatives more concerned about nurses’ uniforms than the advent of artificial intelligence or globalisation.

There’s no denying that PAS leaders have themselves to blame, through their own words and deeds, for the anxiety and consternation they elicit from the non-Muslims. The recent brouhaha over the nurses’ uniform is a case in point.

But it would be overly simplistic to pin the so-called “green wave” only on PN, which is not even part of the unity government. Whether we realise it or not, the Anwar Ibrahim administration has also been strident in its Islamism agenda.

The latest example is the prime minister’s announcement that Malaysia is not an absolute secular country, meaning to say that religion and state cannot be totally separated. This is a very slippery slope as it throws open far wider floodgates for religious doctrines to come into our daily personal lives.

As it is, the non-Muslims already have to contend with creeping Islamisation, and today it is partly due to competition for the Malay-Muslim votes between the unity government and PN.

Whatever happened to DAP and the moderates in PKR who had in the past vehemently opposed the increasingly overt Islamisation? Didn’t they make a hue and cry when ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia was an Islamic state back when he was the PM the first time around?

In case the non-Muslims have forgotten, Anwar’s pronouncement of Malaysia not being a secular state is not his only political posturing to win over the Malay votes. His Cabinet had also approved the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, better known as RUU355.

According to the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, RUU355 was also approved by the DAP leaders in Cabinet and is now awaiting tabling in the Dewan Rakyat.

While RUU355 had been around for a long time, not even former prime ministers Najib Razak, Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin or Ismail Sabri Yaakob took it so far as getting it approved in the Cabinet, awaiting tabling in the Dewan Rakyat. But Anwar, confident that the non-Malay voters are behind him all the way, decided to push his luck.

Let’s not forget that recently Anwar had wanted Jakim to be empowered with a policy-making role.

His call came across as rather strange as the department is known more for controversial stances over issues such as non-Muslims’ use of “Allah” and unilateral conversions. Jakim is not known for its expertise in economic or education policies.

Even Anwar’s “Madani” concept is said to be inspired by the Quran.

No recent Malaysian prime minister has ever used Islamic-inspired slogans to stamp their mark in their respective administrations. In recent times, we’ve had 1Malaysia, Malaysia Baharu, Kerajaan Prihatin and Keluarga Malaysia.

To conclude, Anwar is pushing the envelope on Islamism as he desperately tries to establish his Islamic credentials in the run-up to the state polls. He’s probably confident that the non-Muslims will continue to back his unity government come what may.

But in doing so, he’s pushing the nation down the sliding slope of Islamism as the “point of no return” no longer lies in the distant horizon but approaches dangerously close and fast.

The “green wave” is not something that will sweep the country when PN takes over Putrajaya. It is something that is already here, and by the looks of it, is deeply ingrained in the Anwar administration.