The past few months in the Malaysian political sphere can be distilled down to two issues: one is a word, one is the economic well-being of the Malaysian populace.
If you haven't already guessed, the first issue is the famous 'Allah' issue, whereby the contention is whether or not non-Muslims are allowed to use the word if it does not refer to the God in Islam. This particularly affects Christians who worship in the Malay or Indonesian languages.
I will not focus on the issue itself in this article for a few reasons. One, I believe it is a non-issue, a frivolous matter that should have been put so far behind us it serves as nothing more than a bad joke. Two, even if I reason, with historical facts and scholarly statements from religious pundits, some people of faith are very often impervious to reason when it comes to their religion, hence it would be a complete waste of time.
I shall instead discuss the strategic application of the 'Allah' issue.
The 'Allah' issue is quite openly accepted among critics of the government as a distraction from the issue, or issues of rate hikes, subsidy cuts, rising cost of living, the government not delivering on the promises made before the elections etc. Even though I'm with the opposition, I must give credit where it is due and concede that is an excellent way of shifting the attention away from the array of unpopular policies that the government had pushed through in the recent past.
While these policies depletes what political capital that UMNO/BN still holds, the whole defender-of-Islam, more-Muslim-than-the-rest-of-the-world character would help them muster the support of Muslims, which make up the majority of the country. Best of all, it's free. Without needing to spend any money on campaigns or welfare handouts, UMNO stands to gain political mileage from just putting up a show. Brilliant plan?
Perhaps not. This whole maneuver banks on the assumption that most of the country's Muslims are ultra-conservative, insecure and narrow-minded. Every Islam-related incident in the country will always attract streams of froth bursting forth from the mouths of Perkasa, ISMA, and their ilk, that's a given, but what percentage of the Muslim population in Malaysia share the 'zeal' and 'piety' of these groups? I would like to think that they're a minority.
One particularly funny piece of news supporting my view is the 40-strong protest by the Klang Muslims Solidarity Secretariat against the use of Allah by non-Muslims. They even threatened to hold bigger protests if their demands are not met. I'm wholeheartedly convinced by their ability to garner more support, maybe they can even get up to 100 protesters the next round.
On the other hand, progressive Muslim groups have shown up at a church bearing flowers for their Christian brethren. Although I can't say how their numbers compare to that of the ultra-conservative, ultra-right groups, the fact that they have stood against the noise is an encouraging sight.
The 'Allah' issue also functions as a wedge between the Pakatan Rakyat component parties. If PKR and PAS decide to pander to the Malays to keep their base, the coalition will fall apart as DAP mostly represents non-Muslims and would likely not sit by as non-Muslims' rights to freedom of religion are infringed. On the other hand, if PKR and PAS take the more moderate and liberal approach, UMNO can proudly brush them off as not being as Muslim as UMNO, and PKR and PAS would lose support among Muslims. This is also dependent on the previously mentioned assumption.
As a Malaysian and with the country's best interests at heart, I hope that there are more moderate Malaysians than conservatives and collectively, we are able to put aside the frivolous and focus on the elephants in the room - rising cost of living, a failing economy, profligacy of government officials, etc. Our government needs to be held to higher standards, not just being verbal defenders of faith and it is high time we let them know about it.
Chong Yu Cheng
