Similarly, please stop the religious cosplay by the DAP. This does absolutely nothing for rural Malay communities and while it may warm the hearts of out-of-touch urbanites it merely reinforces establishment propaganda about the hypocrisy of the DAP.

DAP should drop the Bangsa Malaysia kool-aid and instead rely on Malay grassroots-level activists and act as handmaidens for policies which benefit rural communities even though it may befuddle its urban bases.

Nobody is saying that a political party cannot use religion. The question is how do you use religion? And I'm not talking about feel-good rhetoric about how religions are equal and everyone's the same but rather policies that actually help rural communities instead of restricting them transmitted by a reformed religious bureaucracy.

I am talking about using religions as a means to transmit ideas of good governance by building better schools which in turn equips young people to deal with the vagaries of changing geopolitical and environmental landscapes. And not using religion to restrict women - rural women suffer the most from this kind of religious agenda even though the brunt of family welfare is borne by them - and using religion to stifle free speech.

Rural voters

Caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob acknowledged the wastage (and we know the corruption) which entitlements programmes meant to “uplift” the Malay community but instead were part of the cosa nostra endeavours of the political elites.

We know why the use of English, modernising rural schools, healthcare and environmental policies that affect rural Malays were not given the attention it needed simply because for the elites, these reliable vote banks needed to be dependent on the political apparatus.

I did an interview with PSM’s Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj in which he articulated the reality of rural voters: "Some communities have scolded the BN types who admonished them. Sometimes their overt support for us decreases for a bit, but if their main grievances are not handled by the BN, then it's a matter of time before they come back to us for assistance.

“So, in this game, timing is crucial. Sometimes we have to give them room to explore the options offered by the other side, and not try to hold them back by threats or ‘emotional blackmail’. But we must maintain contact so that we know when there is a need to mobilise them to protest some blatantly unfair decision of the government.”

When Umno says it has a strong grassroots, what it means is that it has the cash to sustain a system of feudalism that was an asset when it comes to elections. Umno does not have that now or at least it is severely crippled.

With Perikatan Nasional slowly chipping away at its bases and the money train mired in internal schisms, this is an opportunity for Anwar to redefine the narrative.

The best way to deal with those marginalised groups who seem cut off from mainstream oppositional politics is to make an alliance with political parties like PSM. Grand national narratives do not get any traction with the voting groups that PSM engages with.

This is another world, and it is this way because the Umno hegemon set it up this way and the opposition has never had a genuine agenda to bridge this world and mainstream oppositional politics.

Howard Lee, for instance, is better off listening to the strategies of PSM operatives in his upcoming political rumble in the heartland rather than relying on counsel from the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur.

Unlike some, I think the Perak Gateway gambit is a good political play if risky. But If Anwar and Harapan remain disciplined and provide a policy in which the Malay benefit after decades of Malay uber alles rule, Anwar could be the Malay leader Mahathir always envisioned himself as.

This is not about not spooking the Malays. The Malay elites want Harapan to be a chintzy substitute. This is about spooking the Malay elites.

Happy Deepavali, Malaysia.