While PSM and Muda may get protest votes and I sincerely hope they do, what fielding a candidate does is to specifically wean the non-Malay polity off the addiction to voting for a political party and coalition that is slowly but surely dismantling the secular and constitutional framework of this country.

An example of this would be the recent comments by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Mohd Na’im Mokhtar on the progress of Act 355, which would have serious consequences for the fading secular nature of this country.

If you really support change, then you must come to the realisation that alternatives to mainstream political parties are a vital part of that change.

However, if you think that they are just a distraction, then go on supporting political groups that have no incentive to genuinely carry out the reforms that Malaysia desperately needs. They assume they have your vote against a far-right coalition that unfortunately shapes how the coalition government thinks and ultimately the direction of this country.

People have to remember this. If PSM and Muda field a candidate, they would have done their part in the democratic process. If they lose, it would mean that a significant section of the voting polity is still not ready to do its part in safeguarding the secular and constitutional framework of this country.

Win or lose, this is the beautiful struggle.

That’s a politically charged comment. I apologise for being an unfit commentator in Anwar’s eyes at least and there are others like me, but this is by no means the final legal opinion. As in many other situations, the king acts under advice.

Not all lawyers agree with Anwar. Here is an article by lawyer GK Ganeson titled “Is the King’s power to grant a pardon, ‘personal’ and ‘absolute’?” that says the power to grant pardons by the king is not absolute.

Anwar’s response has raised more questions than answers. It looks like the disturbing direction that the government is headed as far as this is concerned, is house arrest for Najib, because “the federal government will not question the authority of the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong”.

He has already indicated which way he leans with regard to questions of law. However, the question he will be asked is whether he is leaning in this direction to satisfy Umno’s demands and not because the law says so. If he is, and it looks like he is, he is driving a political nail into PKR’s coffin.

When PKR unequivocally won the election of May 2018, the main rallying point for this was the billions of ringgit lost by the country, estimated at US$7 billion (a massive RM33 billion) by no less than the auditor-general in 2016, which report was suppressed by Najib.

And there were a multitude of allegations against other Umno leaders. In fact, it was reported at various times that many Umno divisions received money from Najib in the millions of ringgit. 1MDB was the final nail in the coffin for Umno, now desperate for a revival of their fortunes, ironically through a pardon for Najib.

Harapan could drown along with Umno

What’s dangerous is that Anwar appears to have bought into this fallacious argument pushed hard by Zahid and his Umno cronies. PKR and Harapan are now tethered to Umno over this issue. In the sea of outrage and scorn that will pour over the political landscape following Najib’s undeserved pardon and release, they will drown along with Umno.

Najib’s pardon and release will result in Perikatan Nasional - that coalition between PAS and Bersatu - winning the next general election. It was repeated corruption that resulted in dwindling support for Umno and it will result in a fatal loss for Harapan as well from which it will not recover.

Look at the track record of Umno under Najib. In 2013, he garnered 88 parliamentary seats for Umno. In 2018, when 1MDB was all the news and the public realised that Najib was a thief, it dived some four-tenths to 54 seats. He lost the elections, the first time ever for Umno.

Under his crony, Zahid, it declined further by a disastrous more than half to 26 in 2022, making it all but irrelevant. Zahid also campaigned on the platform of getting a pardon for Najib, which really backfired. Now Harapan has set itself up to go under together with Umno.

Just look at the extent to which the system has bent over for Najib. On July 4, 2018, just under two months after the Harapan government came into power, he was charged with offences of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering involving RM42 million.

After a long exhausting trial, dramatic appeal processes and rearguard delay tactics, Najib was finally, after four years, told to begin his sentence of 12 years in jail and a fine of RM210 million on August 23, 2022, when Ismail Sabri Yaakob from Umno was prime minister.

He has not even served two years in jail and his sentence has been halved through the pardon process and his fine reduced to RM50 million. Typically a person serves at least half of his sentence even before a pardon is entertained.

Najib has expressed no remorse for his actions, maintains he is a political victim and many allegations were made against the judge who convicted him and against the entire judicial system itself. However, no action has been taken against anyone for such blatant, unwarranted and unprecedented attacks on the judiciary.

All this effort is for a person who is facing multiple other charges. There are three other pending high-profile court cases against Najib, which include 25 charges involving RM2.3 billion, six criminal breach-of-trust cases involving RM6.6 billion and money laundering involving RM27 million.

In addition, Najib faces a colossal US$1.18 billion (RM5.5 billion) civil suit against him from SRC International, another government corporation.

What deterrence against corruption can there be?

In the wake of all of this, there is the unbelievable current move now about house arrest for a convicted felon who faces many other charges and is responsible for the greatest theft in the world at the time it was committed.

Coincidentally, of course, this comes at a time when the government, in its sudden unbidden compassion for prisoners, is thinking of allowing them to serve their last four years of sentence at home. Come August, Najib would have served two years of his halved six-year sentence, leaving four years remaining.

Talk about bending over backwards! Is it any wonder why the ringgit continues to decline? It’s partly because stretching the law to breaking point calls into question the very principle of crime and its attendant punishments with the looming prospect of a major criminal serving time at his home. Would anyone have respect for our legal system after this?

Najib has injured this country for far too long and far too much. The best thing to do is to put him away for a long time - legally of course - so that others won’t follow his lousy example.

What deterrence against corruption can there be when the most corrupt person the country has ever produced gets away with a rap on the knuckles, whiling away his time in the luxury of his own home?

Those who do not understand this are unfit to be political leaders. It's not a matter of whether he can be pardoned, it's whether he should be. The answer is as clear as crystal.

You fear that your vote would eventually be the path to a theocracy because you assumed that the party you voted for would be the bulwark against such an encroachment.

You are worried that Harapan is taking you for granted. Harapan political operatives will smugly assume that, especially if you are non-Malay, you do not have a choice.

Unpalatable options

Once the base starts realising that a change in a government does not mean a change in policy, people will stop participating in the process. What are people dissatisfied with Harapan regardless of their ethnicity supposed to do?

I sincerely hope there will be third-party candidates in this by-election and not just candidates who are proxies for the establishment.

But what if there are no independent candidates to vote for and the choice is between PN and Harapan? Then you have to make a choice of voting for PN or staying at home to make a point to Harapan.

Both are unpalatable options because one is a continuation of the transgressive religious policies that a certain section of the polity is resisting while the other merely doubles the voting power of those supporting PN.

Maybe this is the real lesson, that in a democracy, the rakyat need genuine options and it is the agenda of mainstream parties to limit those options.

A point still needs to be made though.

Connecting the dots

He has charted an unbelievably meteoric rise in his corporate career in a short few months, coinciding remarkably with Anwar’s ascension to the post of prime minister in November 2022. It is interesting to track his rapid ascent up the corporate ladder.

On Dec 27, 2022, he became the executive chairperson of Apex Equity Holdings Bhd, a troubled previously family-owned stock-broking company where there is a shareholder feud going on. Read about the problems here.

That should have legitimately raised eyebrows - what was a 41-year-old doing as executive chairperson of this group? This is what Apex had to say about him:

“Farhash brings with him more than a decade’s worth of experience in the field of business, consultancy, and advisory. On the business front, his illustrious career spans a broad range of sectors which includes construction, technology, hotel, food & beverage.

“Farhash is or has been a director and/or shareholder in at least ten private companies which include Swag Technologies Sdn Bhd, Salvador & Sons Sdn Bhd, and Pacific Samudera Sdn Bhd. He was also an independent non-executive director of Blumont Group Limited (now known as Southern Archipelago Limited) from 2014 to 2016, a public-listed company listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).”

There is no mention of any executive position anywhere that would justify parachuting him to the top executive position in Apex Equity. Incidentally, Blumont shares were pushed up in 2013 as part of a massive share manipulation exercise in 2013. Read about it here.

And then, days later on Jan 3, 2023, he was appointed non-independent, non-executive chairperson of convenience stores operator 7-Eleven Malaysia Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of B-Retail. The Berjaya group is controlled by businessperson Vincent Tan.

According to news reports, Berjaya founder Vincent filed a lawsuit in July last year against the Finance Ministry and Spanco Sdn Bhd regarding the termination of a letter of intent, alleging that the contract was awarded to Spanco despite their higher bid. Tan questioned why the government had agreed to pay RM700 million more to Spanco.

On April 3 this year, Spanco executive director Robert Tan Hua Soon was charged with cheating the government over a contract worth over RM3.9 billion by convincing the Finance Ministry that Spanco had at least 30 percent bumiputera shareholding.

Robert, a close associate of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, pleaded not guilty. Daim headed the powerful Council of Eminent Persons formed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his second term as prime minister from 2018 to 2020 when the new contract was awarded to Spanco.

Anwar has said that those in previous positions of power would be investigated for corruption. Daim had been charged in court on Jan 29 this year with failing to comply with a MACC notice to declare his assets.

The sequence of events has led observers to believe that there is closeness between Anwar and Vincent, reflected through Farhash’s appointment at 7-Eleven.

On May 9 last year, Farhash became executive chairperson of Excel Force MSC Bhd, another listed company. He was now in the unusual position of being executive chairperson of two separate unlinked companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. That could be a first. How was he going to manage his time?

Contracts galore

On March 11, HeiTech Padu announced that it had obtained an extension of a contract with the Immigration Department for a year from Feb 18 for RM13.1 million.

On the same day, listed MyEG Services Bhd acquired a 14.4 percent interest in HeiTech Padu through a subsidiary.

On March 14, three days later, Farhash became a major shareholder of HeiTech Padu with a 15.91 percent stake. He later clarified that he shared ownership of the shareholding in the company, held via private vehicle Rosetta Partners Sdn Bhd, with Kelantan’s Sultan Muhammad V.

The big announcement came on April 15 - HeiTech Padu had obtained an RM190 million contract from the Road Transport Department (RTD) for three years from May.

The contract is for the maintenance and technical support for ICT Infrastructure including the vehicle and driver information system at the data centre and RTD offices.

HeiTech Padu is now said to be the frontrunner for a new Immigration Department contract which could be valued at RM1 billion.

On April 16, a day after the announcement of the RM190 million contract, HeiTech Padu announced a teaming agreement with MyEG “to form an interim collaboration to explore services in relation to the information technology industry in Malaysia.”

The three companies mentioned in this article - HeiTech Padu, Excel Force, and MyEG - are linked by a complicated web of shareholdings and directors. They are in similar businesses and appear involved in getting government contracts and splitting them among themselves.

What’s clear from all this is that a new political crony - Farhash - is on the scene. The disturbing question: Is this new unity government led by PKR operating no differently from Umno and Bersatu in the award of contracts?

This, of course, did not preclude them from embracing indulgent Indian “cultural” societies or attending glittery Indian society events, both of which had the grubby handprints of the MIC.

What Hindraf managed to do - and did really well - was to wake up an apathetic Indian middle class to the plight of their less fortunate brethren.

How exactly does a community improve when its political leadership, either establishment or opposition, are constantly telling them that they are there because the votes of the Malay and Chinese effectively advocate on behalf of their community?

Politicians understand the problem but…

This is not to say that mainstream political parties like the DAP have not had Indian political operatives who understood the problem. Here is then Klang MP Charles Santiago in 2017 when another prime minister was throwing breadcrumbs at the underprivileged Indian community.

“In fact, (then prime minister) Najib’s (Abdul Razak) instructions came after a ribbing by MIC president Dr S Subramaniam, who brought up the issue of 745 eligible Indian students who were unable to get places in public tertiary education institutions.

“If I may ask, why weren’t they given a spot in the first place? Why do politicians and the prime minister have to interfere, if the system offered places based on meritocracy and not other considerations, such as race and religion? Vulnerable students from all communities should be given priority and not offered places as an afterthought.”

I can’t remember what happened to Santiago. Oh, that is right. He was canned but given a really good parting gift. Mind you, I am not saying that Santiago would not do a good job but this is politics and everyone eventually gets touched.

This is why when I hear that someone like former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy, who should and does know better than to attempt to start another party to champion the Indian cause, I just shake my head because it is another cynical attempt to manipulate a volatile class of people into voting (let’s face facts) against their self-interests.

I mean, start with this. Start small. All that money thrown at various alleviation programmes for Indians could be funnelled into something like an education project.

There are enough NGOs and pressure groups representing the underprivileged of the Indian community who could point to students who desperately need help either in the public or vernacular school education system. Just start there and build on that.

I’ll end with another BR Ambedkar quote - “Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle.”

Unfortunately, after one and a half years as PM - a position he got to after many trials and tribulations, doubts and misgivings, a quarter of a century of discord and strife, and the unwavering support and help of many Malaysians - Anwar has yet to prove that he is serious about what he wants to do.

Let’s take two issues - eradication of poverty irrespective of race and the fight against corruption.

Unfortunately, a serious discussion of both brings up the issue of Umno Baru, the most racist party in all of Malaysia and also the most corrupt. Anwar is too much in league with them to do anything serious about this so far.

Who is the one who is currently sowing the seeds of discord and hatred among races right now? He is the leader of Umno Youth who has now called a government minister stupid. Anwar’s tepid response was that he wouldn’t respond to the remark.

If he can’t control Umno and make its leaders behave in the interest of national reconciliation and progress towards the common objective of eradicating poverty among all Malaysians, he is already severely handicapped.

The issue of poverty cannot be tackled without increasing wages. Most Malaysians are wage earners, whether daily or monthly, whether with a contract or without. Unless this issue of wages is settled, poverty cannot be eradicated.

This issue is complicated by two factors - imported labour and poor productivity - a vicious cycle which pushes real wages (after inflation) down.

Previous governments were seduced by employers to allow the cheap import of labour to increase production, depressing wages for millions of Malaysians for decades after.

This was particularly vicious under the Umno government, during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s 22-year first reign as prime minister from 1981-2003.

The import of labour was not only uncontrolled but gave rise to many corrupt activities resulting in employers and workers paying huge amounts in service fees which benefited neither them nor the workers but instead made many Umno cronies rich and even some ministers.

The first step in fighting poverty is therefore a phased control of migrant labour so that local labour gets its due wages. Malaysia cannot depend on cheap labour for production but must instead, move up to greater automation and better trained workers whose productivity is better.

It’s a lengthy process, starting with education and changing employers’ addiction to cheap overseas labour to keep their costs down.

The issue of vocational training too needs to be addressed and measures to increase self-employment. Tough as it is, it has to be done.

For a start, training programmes in certain key industries may be needed as imported labour is phased out. Also, when corruption and the infamous middlemen are cut out altogether, even the cost of imported labour can go down and the benefits passed on to the workforce.

Commit to minimum wage, eradicate graft

The government should commit to the minimum wage and set a target to increase it yearly by say three to five percentage points above the inflation rate.

That will force employers to increase productivity, aided by government incentives and training programmes for locals.

Next, corruption. The key problem is that dirty word called patronage where people in power dish out projects to their cronies at ridiculously favourable rates.

Thus, we have concession holders who reap billions in profits in areas such as independent power production, water and tolled roads, as well as numerous construction projects.

Each of these has layers of corruption including political donations, money into individual pockets for awarding work, kickbacks in numerous contracts, etc - all of which cost billions to the people and result in inefficiencies. Even outright theft of borrowed money as in 1MDB is a problem.

The country simply cannot afford that scale of corruption, perpetuated and developed to a coarse art, rising to intolerable proportions under none other than Umno which Harapan does not seem to be able to control despite its 81 parliamentary seats against Umno’s 26.

We have an Umno deputy prime minister who faced 47 charges of corruption but received an inexplicable discharge not amounting to acquittal.

Many other Umno bigshots brought to court in Harapan’s brief first time in power post the 2018 elections in similar situations have been similarly fortunate. Why?

In short, there is little substance out there so far which has been proposed or which has been implemented to deal adequately and tellingly with either poverty or corruption.

With huge challenges facing Anwar and little to show after one and half years in power, one should excuse us if we show some scepticism over what he says. It’s up to the prime minister to prove us wrong – and we would be delighted if he does.

Now, of course, it is easy to dismiss Chua as just another politician who went down in a sex scandal but what we are really talking about here, is how the DAP is failing not only the Chinese community but the whole non-Malay/Muslim community, replicating the same mistakes MCA made.

We have to understand the political theatre that fights like these, between non-Malay power brokers, is a distraction for the non-Malay base, because what it covers up is that non-Malay participation in the fields of economic, educational, and social spaces is always under threat from the “ketuanan” (supremacy) system.

Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming is not stupid. Indeed, he is correct (even though he doesn’t seem to have the cojones to confront Akmal) that these boycotts are hurting workers and the national economy.

You have to wonder why Umno wants to hurt workers and the national economy and if the DAP were sincere in their efforts for a Malaysian Malaysia, they would publicly ask their partner (Umno) why they would want to hurt the economy and more importantly, jobs.

What people forget is that the extreme forces in this country have always held mala fide intentions to any non-Malay enterprise that would make it easier for the non-Malays to participate in this country.

I am sorry, but when Canning state assemblyperson Jenny Choy says - “We (DAP) will debate by showing our performance and we will refute with facts.” I have to ask, showing who?

I get that you believe your base will vote for you no matter what (and you may be correct) but what Akmal is doing is making it more difficult for the non-Malay/Muslims to operate within the already limited business ecosystem of this country.

And what facts are you talking about? The fact that your political partner Umno has got a taste of starting economic boycotts (whose effectiveness is debatable) but which has given more power to the state through the religious bureaucracy to disrupt business in this country?

The fact that domestic terrorist acts have not only happened to a DAP political operative but also to a business in this country? The fact that businesses are now being targeted by religious extremists in this country? Does all of this sound familiar?

The MCA and DAP really are a folly of two.

The Madani administration claims to protect the environment, but under the guise of “development”, they cut down swathes of prime forest, build mega dams, flood land, villages and ancient burial sites, and destroy precious flora and fauna.

It hurts the Orang Asli and indigenous east Malaysians to be denied their ancestral rights and their basic rights to water, electricity, housing and education; but converting to Islam opens many doors.

Telling us to eat cassava, instead of finding solutions to resolve the rice crisis, is lazy politics. It hurts to know we have clueless politicians.

Then, with Mahathir, what did Yeoh expect?

We were naïve or perhaps, desperate in 2018, to imagine that Mahathir would correct the many wrongs he started during his tenure, like institutionalised racism, cronyism and draconian laws. We were wrong.

Mahathir is good at political self-preservation. He knows that it is time-consuming and difficult to convince one man by logic and reason alone, but far simpler and quicker to convince a thousand men to believe in him, by appealing to their prejudices.

In January, he projected himself as the quintessential Malay when denouncing the loyalty of Indian Malaysians. He said, “No, I’m not an Indian. I don’t speak the Indian language… I’m now 100 percent a Malay, I speak Malay and practise Malay customs and traditions.”

‘Remember the Green Wave’

The United Kingdom is led by Rishi Sunak, a Hindu of Indian origin. The first minister of Wales is a black man. He is also the first black leader of any European country. Scotland is led by a Muslim of Pakistani origin, as is the mayor of London, a Muslim of Pakistani extraction.

In sharp contrast, Indian Malaysians are short-changed and given short shrift. Non-Malays are defined by quotas, from sports to scholarships and despite their citizenship are treated as second-class citizens. These hurt.

When we voice our concerns, we are shouted down with, “Remember the Green Wave!”

The same people forget that Anwar and his coalition government are undertaking the country’s Islamisation process on Abdul Hadi Awang and Muhyiddin Yassin’s behalf.

That hurts even more!

And this does not mean what Harapan supporters think it means. Do you know why Sock-gate was so damaging to Harapan? It is not because the non-Malay base was clutching its pearls the way how unity government provocateurs were clutching their pearls.

Winning over fence-sitters

Sock-gate demonstrated the difference in religious moderation between Harapan and PN.

PN was remarkably quiet about Sock-gate and was willing to give enough rope for Umno/Harapan to hang itself with. They remained quiet and disciplined, and even offered a few moderate words to the subject.

While non-Malay voters are sceptical of PAS/PN, the average fence-sitter would see how “moderate” PAS is and would even think this is how a moderate Malay/Muslim political coalition should behave.

Indeed, for these moderate fence-sitters, Umno/Harapan looked so detrimental to unity and harmony that even the Agong had to step in. So, for the fence-sitters, why not go with PN which does not create issues like this?

Harapan supporters think PN supporters are dumb for some reason. However, when DAP operative Hannah Yeoh claims the opposition plays up religious issues - when Umno did so, enabled by DAP, which stirred up religious issues and resulted in domestic terrorist acts - what do you think these fence-sitters will think?

This is the problem with the “don’t spook the Malays” mantra. PKR is always trying to champion bumiputera rights as if those rights are in jeopardy. Two years ago, Terengganu PKR wanted the party’s central command to address the “imbalance“ of awarding digital bank licences.

Terengganu PKR chief Azan Ismail, hoping the issue will gain traction, said: “We urge the finance minister and prime minister to state their stand on this matter and what will guarantee bumiputera equity ownership.”

This basically means PKR is attempting to accuse the government of not being Malay uber alles (over all) enough.

Playing the class card

The Malay vote is all-important, which is why PKR, as a supposedly multi-racial party, is struggling. Former prime minister (twice) Dr Mahathir Mohamad has demonised PKR as being unacceptable to the Malay community because of its multi-racial component.

While PKR may never play the race card well, they can and should play the class card. There is a reason why PN/PAS are deathly afraid of the class card.

Anwar is at his best when he is rabble-rousing with the class card and pursues populist narratives like this: “I want to tell the leaders with the titles of ‘Tun’ and ‘Tan Sri’ who are rich - if you really want to save Malays, give them half of your billions in profits tomorrow”.

It is talk like this which frightens the more intelligent members of the religious extremist coalition going up against this coalition government. For instance, former Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan wanted to know if Anwar was attempting to instigate class warfare.

Wan Saiful, as part of the Malay political elite, really does not want any raising of class consciousness among the disenfranchised Malay classes but has no problem providing them with crumbs from the table through racial and religious entitlement programmes to keep them dependent and with a sense of racial and religious superiority.

Yes, going after the big fish when it comes to corruption is good optics, especially for middle-class or urban voters.

However, tackling corruption in entitlement programmes at the state and federal levels is more important to the voters that Harapan wants to gain traction.

This is because going after bureaucratic malfeasance like this actually improves their lives because the delivery system is made more efficient.

However, the government is afraid to seriously address corruption within the ranks of the civil service because they are afraid they may lose this vote bank - which they are already losing.

This again is part of the class conflict which would suit Harapan better than toxic religiosity that Harapan thinks will gain favour with fence-sitters.

In the end, I believe it would be better if Harapan fails as a reformist government than succeeds as a theocratic state.

Your mileage may vary.

Was it incompetency, an indifferent attitude or simply making things easy for themselves to tap the forward button for someone else to handle?

Nevertheless, I sent an email the following day, and on Monday, I received a call from a friendly officer who said a reply had been sent, via email of course.

It was a lengthy reply that included the following: “The Commission collaborates closely with the police which is the leading law enforcement agency on sensitive matters involving race, religion, and royal institutions.

“We provide technical expertise, including intelligence and forensics analysis, for the police to expedite investigations and ensure appropriate action can be taken under relevant legislation like the Sedition Act 1948 (Act 15) and Penal Code (Act 574).

“The collaboration is also expanded through the establishment of the ‘Police–MCMC Investigation Task Force of 3R Cases’ in combating online content that threatens national harmony.

“In addition to requests from other leading law enforcement agencies and public complaints, MCMC also proactively monitors, takes down, investigates, and enforces the law against any content violating Section 233 of Act 588, regardless of background, ideology, or political affiliation.”

No action on complaint

Satisfied that there had been corroboration with the police, I decided to wait for a further response before I put pen to paper.

Imagine the surprise when on April 3 - a good 10 days later - Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said no reports had been lodged against Akmal over his Facebook post that showed him wielding the sword.

This means that the MCMC had sat on my complaint and did not refer my complaint to the police or the Police–MCMC Investigation Task Force for appropriate action, as claimed.

Do I have reason to believe the complaint was classified as “no further action” and filed in a steel cupboard to gather dust?

Certainly. Why else would the IGP say that no report was made? And it leads me to believe that MCMC is selective in the application of laws and their enforcement.

The drama continued. On April 4, Akmal confirmed on his Facebook page that he was arrested in Kota Kinabalu, saying he was held despite being scheduled to record his statement at the Dang Wangi police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur the following day.

But who came to the fore to comment after weeks of silence?

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stepped on the plate to say Akmal was not arrested but called up to facilitate an investigation.

Akmal himself confirmed he was arrested but did Anwar know better?

Different strokes

On March 22, Ricky Shane Cagampang, 33, pleaded guilty in the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court to making a Facebook post deemed insulting to Islam concerning the sale of socks bearing the word Allah.

He was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 with misusing network facilities on March 17 and sentenced to six months jail and an RM15,000 fine.

The case was investigated, the offender was arrested, got the nod from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, produced in court, convicted and sent to prison - all in five days.

Surely, it must be a record of sorts and the police force must be proud of itself. Will it be emulated in other cases involving the offence of misusing network facilities?

We wait with bated breath but something still lingers in my mind.

Chin has yet to be investigated for the post. He was not the maker or publisher of the video and yet MCMC wanted his post removed.

My complaint about a sword-wielding politician was ignored.

Are lesser mortals Chin and I treated differently from the loud-mouthed politicians who can do or say anything with total disregard for the law?

Different strokes for different folks or are we headed for a police state?

Take this powder keg Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh issue for instance.

Loke claims to have spoken to Umno big cheese Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Malacca grand poobah Ab Rauf Yusoh and “expressed DAP’s position on the matter”.

Two questions - what is DAP’s position on this matter because the central command really has not put out any statements, while factotums of the DAP have been speaking up but have been told to put a sock in it by the dear leader’s party. And secondly, why are you speaking to Umno?

Now some would argue that DAP is speaking to Umno because Akmal is their problem child. However, that is nonsense.

The prime minister is supposed to be the most powerful or influential figure in this unity government, so why didn’t the DAP, who has the bigger voting bloc, just bypass Umno and tell the prime minister to control his rabid handmaidens to power?

Loke said, “I don’t know how MCA conducted themselves while in government but for us (DAP), there are matters that we will raise directly with the prime minister” which means shouldn’t the DAP be raising this issue with the prime minister himself?

But then again, seeing as how the prime minister was silent when the cars of a DAP political operative were firebombed, perhaps running to the prime minister about a Chinese businessperson being targeted for a mistake his company made and which he has profusely apologised for is not such a great idea. 

Loke reminisces of how as a young person he was firmly in the DAP camp and his rivalry with an MCA kid has some sort of totemic symbolism of the fight the party was waging for the soul of the Chinese community at the time.

The struggle between the towkay class and the average Joe. What he forgot to mention is that everyone from the working, middle, and plutocrat classes was voting for the MCA, and demonising the party now is merely indicative of the behaviour of DAP supporters who were steeped in the toxicity of identity politics that the DAP seems to encourage.

The reality is that DAP has bent over backwards to support pro-Islamic and pro-Malay policies, not to mention pro-Malay political operatives, all while being subject to the anti-Islam and anti-Malay propaganda that they should have tackled decades ago, instead of playing the victim card while engaging in the same behaviour they accuse the MCA of.

This is why, no matter what the DAP does, no matter how much they bend over for the Malay political establishment, it will never be enough. This is why we have these tensions within the DAP.

The identity politics in the DAP, like most forms of such politics, is reactionary. And do not for one minute think that the Malay uber alles establishment does not know this.

Akmal is the smug poster child for the Malay uber alles crowd. While political operatives from Umno have claimed they have told him to stop these provocations, while the Agong has told everyone to cease and desist and while he is under a sedition investigation, he understands that he has the power to give the middle finger to everyone.

Political operatives like him understand that it really does not matter what they do because the DAP support base will not punish the DAP, unlike the Malay majority polity who have demonstrated their willingness to shift their support to whatever reactionary Malay/Muslim party they think best serves their interests.

DAP supporters’ deflection game

The DAP, through its minions online, always harass and attempt to deflect from their failings. DAP asks if not unity government, who else? Would you rather see Perikatan Nasional take over?

Ok, hold it right there, you disingenuous cretins. The DAP has worked with every race-based party that has come into creation, so do not for one minute think this card plays with rational people.

Unfortunately, as Loke demonstrated with his “I don’t like the MCA” card, partisan politics is not rational. Rational people ask themselves why continuing supporting a party which is slowly eroding the secular and egalitarian foundations of this country.

I mean PN did rule the country and when the general election came, they had ruled so badly, that the vote albeit in a small way swung to Harapan and Umno was decimated. This is what should have been built on. However, it wasn’t and a rational person has to wonder why.

DAP supporters always ask what you expect the party to do. This is the problem right here.

You mean you do not know?

Did his aides inform him about the socks issue and Akmal’s racist rhetoric? The threatening and abusive remarks had the potential to cause unrest.

Are the home minister and the police clueless about managing conflict? Akmal’s provocations could have easily spilt over and snowballed into ethnic-religious conflict.

Anwar, his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Umno president, and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail are rather naïve to imagine that Akmal did not present a danger to the nation.

Since 1969, ordinary Malaysians have been swiftly investigated for making allegedly seditious comments. Can it be right that one lacklustre politician who defied the king, be allowed to provoke the public without being censured?

The socks scandal has spectacularly proven that semenanjung MPs just want to play politics and cling to power. Three ministers did try to rebuke Akmal but he dismissed their concerns.

The other MPs did very little, as most were thinking of their own selfish agendas, rather than thinking of the good of the nation.

More importantly, they put the interests of their own party first.

National problem

Two people who made innocuous remarks on their social media profiles were swiftly investigated and then punished, but the vigilante squads which harassed them and the people who exposed the personal details of the factory owner remain free.

An Israeli man who entered Malaysia, allegedly to assassinate a gangland rival was swiftly arrested together with the locals who supplied him with firearms; but the domestic terrorists who firebombed the three KK Mart stores, remain at large.

The Malaysian two-tier level of policing is loathsome.

Akmal is a national problem for creating mass fear beyond just the call to boycott KK Mart. His intransigence will destroy the nation.

He damaged community relations, firebombers damaged property and the rakyat was crippled with fear.

The business community is afraid that anyone who bears a grudge against them may feel empowered by Akmal’s hate speech and use it as a cover for their own malicious intent.

It does not take much for a pyromaniac, or a juvenile vandal who is egged on by gang initiation or peer pressure, to commit arson.

Akmal’s hate speech may motivate an emotionally unstable, or aggrieved person, to firebomb a business, out of hatred, revenge, or a perceived slight.

The lone-wolf religious extremist may feel that Akmal has given him the go-ahead to defend Islam through violent means. He is prepared to become a martyr because controversial clerics have promised rewards in the afterlife.

Is it any wonder that across Malaysia, millions of people increasingly feel that the Madani government has lost its direction?

A bad political rerun

Many could couch these actions as a repeat of the past; it has been common for Umno Youth leaders to use racial resentment and provocation to gain standing.

From other Umno medical doctors including Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former Youth chiefs, now-imprisoned Najib Abdul Razak to now-suspended Hishamuddin Hussein, this use of Malay chauvinism has been a well-trod path to rise inside the Malay nationalist party of Umno.

Many older Malaysians recall the language and symbolism used in the past by younger ambitious politicians and the trauma they caused.

Today, however, the violent imagery and messaging have worryingly been ratcheted up; instead of writing a book or holding a kris, the emotive video sharpens a blade after violence has already occurred.

Deeply concerning, the messaging goes well beyond legitimate criticism of a handful of socks stocked in a supermarket. It is an outright appeal to negative emotions - to anger and fear - that divides communities that should have no place among responsible leadership of a multiethnic society.

As Perikatan Nasional/PAS learned in the 15th general election, videos go viral and may glean support but they are not forgotten for their hurtfulness. In this era of instant social media, this is not a time where messaging can be contained or controlled.  

By comparison, PAS has wisely called for restraint at a time when emotions are high rather than using the KK Mart incident for political capital. It is after all a holy period for many faiths, a time for reflection and understanding.

A rise to national prominence

Akmal, however, has chosen his gambit. When the Umno Youth chief first entered politics as a candidate, he was seen as a moderate professional who would strengthen Umno’s professional image.

He was highly respected and popular in Merlimau, winning the state seat in Malacca handily in November 2021 and rising rapidly into state leadership.

Akmal was appointed to the Malacca executive council for Health and Anti-Drugs after the state polls through April 2023 and now holds the exco position for Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Security.

Akmal received his national leadership position due to his loyalty to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. While he easily won the Youth party election in March last year, winning 102 out of the 189 divisions, he did so with the tacit support of Zahid and leaders close to him.

In the KK Mart response, Akmal has opted to come out of Zahid’s shadow, shedding his earlier political persona.

Now, Akmal is becoming known as a rabble-rouser and is arguably overshadowing Zahid, who allowed the KK Mart attacks to gain traction within the party and only spoke out after Akmal’s actions escalated.

The dynamic showcases Zahid’s weak leadership as Umno president, as he seems unable to control the young party leader.

Umno Youth has been a platform in the past to challenge and criticise sitting presidents as well. One cannot ignore this as Akmal overshadows Zahid.

Umno divisions over strategy

Within Umno, there are differences in how to position the party.

Since 2022, Zahid has been trying to position the party as “moderate” in the “middle ground” compared to PAS. He has also capitalised on being Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ally, not least on his own corruption charges.

The strategy has not worked effectively among the electorate, with Umno continuing to lose support in the six state elections last year, with considerably more erosion of the Malay vote compared to Pakatan Harapan. Zahid remains the least popular Umno president in that position.

PAS/PN has made electoral gains out of traditional Umno support. It is no wonder that Umno is now competing using more extreme confrontational discourse, hoping to out-PAS/PN in emotional racialised appeals.

Some in Umno - especially those dissatisfied with the Anwar government - see Akmal’s “fighting” as strengthening Umno. For some, he is indeed Umno’s new hero.

Others suggest the strategy has more immediate pragmatic goals. As the Sabah election is on the horizon - either later in the year or (more likely) next year - some in Umno see racialised rhetoric as a means to shore up support for the party.

Sabah was where the party gained ground in 2020 after losing power in 2018. Ironically, they do not fully appreciate that a racialised approach will not help them to the extent they think it will in Sabah compared to Peninsular Malaysia.

This sort of peninsula politics is off-putting for most Sabahans. It is an electoral miscalculation out of a lack of knowledge of political dynamics in Borneo and alienating politicking.

Divisive rhetoric, nevertheless, is what is known (and easy as they have little to point to in terms of deliverables in office), so racialised rhetoric continues.

Targeting Anwar

Others see Akmal’s actions as an indirect attack on Anwar’s government. Not only is Zahid being overshadowed, but so is Anwar.

No question, the attack on KK Mart hurts support among the unity government’s largely non-Malay base and it has extended to Sarawak, where the owner of the convenience store chain is from.

Some in Umno are deeply unhappy to be part of Anwar’s government and support efforts to undercut the administration and showcase Umno as a party focused on itself/more independent rather than as part of a broad unity coalition.

Some in the federal coalition government are even seen to be willing to let Akmal speak out as they see Umno as one of the weakest parties in the federal coalition government, electorally, with the hope that this can strengthen the connection of Umno leaders to their base.

This has come at a cost to racial tensions. Unfortunately, Anwar’s government has not effectively promoted racial unity while in office and this has allowed for an empowering of racialised narratives.

Poor communication strategies have made this more challenging. Words unnecessarily used by those in government have been hurtful toward minorities.

The initial days of silence by senior leaders in the administration amid the KK Mart incident did not help, as others were allowed to control the narrative. Now, racialised rhetoric is dominant and feeding on raw emotions.

The ethnic polarisation evident in GE15’s heated campaign is not far from the surface and is now being fanned irresponsibly. Ethnic conditions on the ground remain quietly but palpably tense.

It is an emotional time, as economic conditions and inflation are having an impact on society.

While many recognise Akmal’s actions as politically calculated, some buy into the anger being fuelled, as shown in the violent incidents to date and the support it has garnered.

It is easier to channel anger and frustration than to address more difficult underlying issues that promote insecurity and differences.

Akmal continues to speak out, basking in the heat of growing and worrying chauvinistic resentments. It is almost as if this is a political “game” rather than where lives are livelihoods are at stake.

Rather than base the discussion on issues that directly influence the well-being of Malays and can find a middle ground among all Malaysians, following the tradition of Malacca educationist and long-time grassroots politician Abdul Ghafar Baba, Akmal’s approach seems to seek political gain and to return Umno to its divisive racialised rhetorical past.

In Akmal’s gambit, Umno is gambling its past for its future, putting Malaysia as a whole at unnecessary risk.

Or how about if you were told to convert because it would make things easier? Remember what the Pahang mufti said after his kafir harbi statements all those years ago - “We are not forcing but I urge non-Muslims to convert to Islam to be safe in the afterlife and for unity in Malaysia. There will be no more chaos and we can focus on development.”

Imagine if the religion of the state was a non-Muslim religion and a preacher said the same thing the Pahang mufti did. Would Muslims still respect non-Muslims?

Imagine if non-Muslims mocked your religion and the authorities would not do anything about it. For instance, if reporters went undercover in your religious ceremony and disrespected your religion in the most public manner. 

Remember what the then attorney-general said when undercover reporters went to a church and then spat out the holy sacrament? He said: “The actions of the two reporters may have hurt the feelings of the people but I was satisfied that they did not intend to offend anyone. It was an act of sheer ignorance.

“Therefore, given the circumstances at that particular time and in the interest of justice, peace and harmony, I decided not to press any charges against them.”

If the shoe was on the other foot, would Muslims still respect non-Muslims?

Freedom of worship being chipped away

What if you were constantly told not to interfere in the affairs of non-Muslims even though these issues affect us as fellow Malaysians? Think about it. The Federal Constitution guarantees free speech and freedom of worship but the reality is those freedoms have been chipped away for decades.

While on the surface we have those rights, slowly but surely, the supremacy of the non-Muslim religion of the state - not as some sort of state religion but as a means of control - sublimated the intent of the Constitution. Would Muslims still respect non-Muslims?

Imagine if the gerrymandering and disproportionate weightage of votes meant that as a Muslim you were disenfranchised from the political system.

Imagine if your vote was diluted because of the machinations of the state and what you were left with were political operatives and a government that did not accurately reflect the will of the people? Would Muslims still respect non-Muslims?

This is not about respecting each other. It is really about control and power. This is what is happening in Malaysia.

Muslims in Singapore are thriving so we do have an inkling of what it would be like if the shoe was on the other foot.

Excuse me, why isn’t the Madani government taking responsibility and detaining Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh under Sosma or whatever draconian laws that Harapan political operatives now claim are needed to protect racial and religious harmony?

And why ask people like Akmal to take responsibility when you are essentially saying the same thing Akmal is saying?

When Akmal called for a boycott, the government should have distanced itself from Umno Youth and Umno’s provocations and instead called for people to respect the investigative process.

The prime minister’s response only after the second attack was no better. These were terrorist attacks enabled and emboldened by the polemics coming from his unity government.

By warning people not to take the law into their own hands, he is implying that there’s a rational and justifiable basis for their anger.

This is not the right approach to terrorist attacks. Anwar should have practised the moderate Islam he likes to preach about.

Instead, the Madani regime - which included the DAP - simply said nothing and stood idly by, and in some cases, encouraged aggrieved feelings within the Malay polity.

You do not get to condemn the arsonist when you did nothing to prevent his act which led to the fires that everyone is now attempting to distance themselves from.

Non-Malays have no alternative

Anwar is very well aware that although non-Malays rant and rave on social media, the reality is that when it comes to the ballot box, they will vote for his proxies because they believe that as flawed as he is, there is no alternative.

This is why Rafizi Ramli so confidently said “If you want to talk about the trust deficit of non-Malays, I can confidently say that more than 90 percent of non-Malay voters have full confidence in today’s unity government. If there is a trust deficit, it is a trust deficit in the opposition, not the government.”

Take the KK Mart issue, for instance. Now, you can make the argument that there is inter-party political chicanery afoot and Akmal is merely a proxy for interests within Umno hostile to this unity government, but the fact that Anwar - for whatever reason - is not willing to publicly rebuke a young upstart causing not only religious and racial issue but also economic issue demonstrates how ineffective he is as a leader or how much say he has in what Umno does.

This is why PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang laments the old timers, who desperately attempt to replicate the success of BN when the political terrain has changed.

Hadi understands that the fear of the “Green Wave” in the non-Malays is so powerful, that they will let Anwar, supported by the DAP, hasten the Islamisation of this country, thus doing his job for him.

Remember when Anwar expanded the budget and role of Jakim because he wanted to introduce a more “moderate” form of Islam in the Malaysian body politic?

Dissenters who were appalled by this move were dismissed by the prime minister who reportedly said: “I want Jakim not only to talk about religion and Islamic law. Jakim is to expand its duties, talk about economic issues, look at digital programmes, and look at the education curriculum.

“The responsibility is broader, so that the values of Islam can be applied, and this is opposed by those who do not understand, a small group of non-Muslims who write that ‘Anwar is now displaying his strong Islamist attitude, which he has tried to hide all this time by ordering Jakim to control all the systems’.”

It’s all about power

Look at how nobody in the mainstream political or religious establishment can bring themselves to admit that the people causing racial and religious tension are political operatives within the unity government. Keep in mind that the issue is not an issue about religious sensitivities.

If non-Malays reacted the way some Malays reacted to the Allah socks issue when it came to their sensitivities, there would immediately be a crackdown and political operatives would be detained under the various laws that Harapan promised to ditch.

Can you imagine if a Malay political operative’s cars were firebombed because the non-Malays perceived that he had insulted their religion? What do you think the outcome would be?

The KK Mart issue is not about faith. It is about power.

The fact that the prime minister cannot outright condemn these terrorist acts and he and his allies play into the narrative that the Allah socks issue is an egregious stain on Islam in this country is indicative of the direction this country is heading towards when it comes to the theocratic state project.

At this point, does it really matter if it is Harapan or PN leading the country if the destination is the same?