A friend sent me an article “Social media and the manufacturing of Malay-Muslim insecurity” by Dr. Hew Wai Weng and Dr. Nicholas Chan.
This is an article that must be read by all Malaysians to understand why the first Pakatan Harapan government fell after 22 months as a result of the Sheraton political conspiracy, ushering in the first “backdoor” government under Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin.
The two authors noted that over the past few years, many politicians, activists, preachers, academicians, influencers, “opinion leaders” and cyber troopers in Malaysia had been active in drumming up Muslim insecurity and the narrative of “Islam under threat”.
It was this Muslim insecurity and the belief that Islam in Malaysia was under threat that toppled the first Pakatan Harapan government.
But was Islam in Malaysia under threat?
Islam in Malaysia was never under threat. What was under threat was national unity and political stability in multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-civilisation Malaysia.
This was why the Yang di Pertuan Agong suggested that the formation of a Unity
Government after the 15th General Election which was rejected by Perikatan Nasioal of PAS and Bersatu.
In its first year in office, the Anwar Unity Government had to fight for its life, as Hadi Awang and Muhyiddin Yassin were confident that the Green Wave triggered by the PN in the 15th General Election could topple the Anwar Unity Government and they were expecting this to take place after the six state general election in August.
But the Green Wave failed to develop into a tsunami in the six state general elections, although it was a force to be reckoned with as shown by the results of the Kemaman parliamentary by election.
The two writers of the article argued that efforts to understand the green wave must not overlook the social media dimension and in particular the role played by PAS through a network of party activists, influencers and preachers to spread the message of “Islam under threat” across various social media platforms, especially on TikTok, with race and religion central to their campaign.
The article referred to the negative campaign strategy, whereby calls to vote are paired with existential stakes who constantly evoke apocalyptic scenario for Islam and Muslims if PN loses the election (which did not happen, although proving a negative is almost impossible).
It said: “The real concern for Malaysian democracy is that such ostensible subscription to electoral norms is part of a dark participation, whereby uncivil activities that ranges from misinformation to hate campaigns and to cyberbullying only erodes long-term trust and functioning of democratic institutions.”
Let 2,024 be a Year for national unity and political stability.
Equally important, let it be a year when Malaysia carry out reforms to reverse the national decline in the last quarter of a century to become a great world-class nation.