Another "PUS" from PAS

COMMENT | Well, of course, someone like PAS central committee member Nik Abduh Nik Aziz is terrified that the "white flag" movement will gain momentum and of course, political operatives would want to join this grassroots level movement.

What bothered me about the statement of Nik Abduh (above) is that the religious bureaucracy in this country is one of the most well-funded branches of government. Billions of ringgit flow through its coffers going to who knows where and for who knows what purpose.

This brings me to an important question. Recently a local preacher opened an orphanage in Gaza. If this is not a "white flag" movement, I do not know what is. So my question to Nik Abduh is, would he say to the preacher - and of course the orphans - "Raise your hands and supplicate to God. That is the flag of strength and optimism in facing life’s challenges. Don't surrender to these challenges by teaching the people to raise a white flag"?

But here's the thing. In this context, the white flag is more than just a symbol of distress. The Perikatan Nasional (PN) regime, the Islamists who support this regime and, of course, corrupt politicians, know what the white flag really symbolises.

What it symbolises is the abject failure of policies and agendas which have had a deleterious effect on the rakyat of Malaysia. Now, these policy failures of course go back decades but have reached fruition under this current Malay uber alles government.

While representing failure may not be the sole purpose of this white flag movement, the fact that some needy folks feel this is the only way to get help points to systemic failures in the government that have been exacerbated by this pandemic.

This may be politically incorrect to say, but even under BN, and yes, Pakatan Harapan, there was not this desperation felt by a large section of the polity. You cannot merely say this is because of the pandemic because this is really a question of how a government responds to the pandemic.

As mentioned before, what this pandemic does is ruthlessly point to the structural weakness of any given political and social system, and Malaysia is on the receiving end of a reckoning that has been a long time coming.

As the pandemic drags on in this country and the incompetence of the PN government in handling this pandemic gets even worse, no doubt we will see all kinds of online movements which may translate to actual grassroots level activism. However, not all of them will be beneficial to the Malaysian political ecosystem.

While religion may have made a section of the populace feel protected against the economic, social and political vagaries of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed otherwise.

This pandemic does not care about racial or religious privileges. Indeed, this pandemic has exposed the privileges as bupkis when faced with the reality of internecine conflicts among the political class who have, for a long time, championed the cause of race and religion.

You can blame foreigners, the Rohingya, or whoever else you think can deflect from your failures, but this pandemic does not care about any of that. When you have lockdowns, MCOs, EMCOs, and a host of other measures which cause economic distress because of haphazard and lax enforcement, you do not get the benefits such measures are supposed to bring.

Some folks have access to religious and bumiputera funds, while others have to rely on other NGOs to help them out. To them, it is not a question if the government is legitimate or not, but whether they can make ends meet for the day and then look forward to doing the same the next day.

What you get is a polity that is resentful of the affluence and privilege that money and political power bring. This polity would dare to flout health measures just to ensure the survival of their family.

There are people who withdraw money from safety nets such as the EPF and sell everything in their homes just to survive for another few months while political operatives not only flout SOPs but flaunt their lavish lifestyles - all this is reflected in the white flag.

This half-past-six MCO, like the faux emergency, is making this country a tragic lesson in what not to do in a pandemic and the public is rightly confused every time Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob issues his nonsensical diktats and feuds with Pakatan Harapan political operatives.

It is also a symbol of the failure of the political system in general. The same political system that tries to make Malaysians believe that race-based parties and policies will safeguard the interests of the majority and create stability for everyone.