This works so well that the opposition dares not come up with a counter narrative or ideology, fearing they would lose the majority Malay/bumiputera vote. It works so well that opposition supporters demonise personalities who advocate a fair and just society as “idealists” or worse, sub rosa rabble-rousers for the Umno establishment.

It works so well that Umno establishment personalities or proxies get to demonise entire communities and they suffer no sanction from the state. It works so well that there are numerous examples of the state security apparatus abstaining from carrying out the edicts of civil courts because it contravenes syariah rulings.

It works so well that the state refuses to acknowledge that there are thousands of stateless citizens in this country but hands out citizenship like confetti to Muslims, those pretending to be “Muslims” and other “immigrants” to bolster the Malay/Muslim demographic that apparently holds the keys to power.

It works so well that the hopes of some people who claim that Malaysia is an apartheid state lay in the hands of a race-based political party led by the man who these same folks claim is the architect of this state of apartheid. It works so well that non-Malays/non-Muslims dare not advocate and censure any non-Malays who advocate that a non-Malay/non-Muslim can aspire to the highest office in the land.

Trumpspeak

Most importantly, it works so well that no less than the Pennsylvania State University’s Wharton School (apparently Trump is an alumnus, although, in Trumpspeak, he was their “top student”) claims that Malaysia is "one of the best countries to invest in”. Since there has never been a counter-narrative to latch onto, the US has historically found it difficult to throw its support to oppositional voices in this country with any serious conviction without having the need to explain to the people exactly how the opposition differs from the ruling establishment.

When Najib claims that - “We have fought Daesh through the promotion of moderation, and through a deradicalisation programme that has had a 90 percent success rate”, my response can be read here – “With all the propaganda spewed against non-Muslims, we have been lucky that external forces have far more insidious designs than merely slaughtering non-Muslims in this region. These designs target Muslims and are about a specific Islamic ideology and a war against Islamic plurality.”

This issue goes deeper than taking potshots at the Umno establishment and the opposition, although both have played a part in why it works so well. Consider that “some Muslims take great pride in those acts of barbarity. Some Muslims I have talked to - not necessarily politicians - approve of how Islam is promulgated in this country and are supportive of those they claim to know what is best for Islam and Muslims in this country.”

While Najib says “we are a mix of ethnicities and faiths who celebrate our cultures while being united as proud Malaysians, just as every American is stirred by the sight of the stars and stripes”, the reality is that the kind of Islam practised in Malaysia is the kind of Islam that Americans stirred by the stars and stripes would find anathema.

They may find it anathema but they sure would not mind visiting. This, after all, is not Saudi Arabia, or at least for the time being, is not the kind of “Islamic” state that PAS and the Islamists in Putrajaya envision. This is still the functional Islamic state where one set of rules apply to the Muslim political elites, while the rest of the Muslim polity is subjected to a harsher mandate and the non-Muslim population is the fig leaf for democracy. More importantly, they do not have to worry about witnessing stonings, chopping off limbs or the occasional beheadings.

I mean, what are the regional issues (economic or security) that these two politically and intellectual unsavoury characters can talk about, which have not already been determined by the real power brokers in Washington and the machinations of the boys from Langley? This meet-up is merely window dressing for Trump to demonstrate that with all his anti-Muslim policies there will always be willing Muslim potentates who would seek an audience because they understand that his hypocrisy reflects their own.