In the aftermath of the 2023 state elections in Selangor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Penang, Anwar Ibrahim, as the 10^th prime minister of Malaysia, faces an uphill battle to challenge the perceptions and deep-rooted biases.

In Malaysia, falsities are sometimes construed as truths and political alliances are constantly evolving as political actors see fit, while ordinary citizens go about our daily businesses.

Malaysia, especially the Klang Valley, where trust fund babies and politicians party together, is not unlike many other Southeast Asian nations, where power is wielded with gloved hands and iron fists.

Simple friendships are often based on socioeconomic status, and as Malaysians sip and enjoy overpriced hipster cocktails, we must ask what the future holds for our country, especially now that the Green Wave, a widespread political Islamist movement, has cemented itself into the public consciousness.

For the liberal, English-speaking Muslim and his and her non-Muslim friends in urban Klang Valley, the Green Wave that came on the coattails of the second win for Pakatan Harapan in November 2022 was a frightening reality: The Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) and its like-minded friends in Perikatan Nasional (PN) had arrived in Kuala Lumpur and were there to stay.

The Green Wave provides an allegory of Malaysia’s new political system, but as I mentioned earlier, it has been around since the 1970s. It did not come out of nowhere. Years of state sanctioned policies have created economic and social rifts among Malaysians. A visible number of non-Malay people are now listening to the PN, disillusioned by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the old politics. My colleague, Dr. Hew Wai Weng, put it succinctly, “...not all PN voters are Islamists or Malay nationalists; not all PN voters are of lower-class backgrounds.”

However, we must be cognizant that the term Green Wave is not used loosely to describe this sea of political change in Malaysia. As political scientists and writer-researchers such as I have been observing, Malay Muslim majoritarianism is the current reality. PAS itself changed from “PAS for all” to “Malay Muslim first”, which demonstrates a dramatic change in political direction.

PAS’s long arm of influence began in the 1970s, when it established pre-schools, Pusat Asuhan Tunas Islam (PASTI). Some things that the Islamists do very well include education, as they prepare young Khalifas (leaders) to take on leadership roles, global affairs and a national curriculum.

This educational jihad has spawned many schools founded by prominent Islamist groups, and in the past 15 years, private international Islamic schools, which are mostly attended by the offspring of the wealthy. 

Because of PAS’s emphasis on education, many of the young people who attended these schools get government scholarships to local and overseas universities, and not all of them take up degrees in Islamic studies. Many become doctors, engineers, teachers, white collar professionals or join the Malaysian civil service.

They may not wear the PAS logo on their sleeves, but inherently, they abide by the PAS manifesto and ideals. PAS has widespread support in Malaysia; for example, in the state of Kelantan, children of PAS members working in urban areas are happy to face the traffic to go back to their hometowns during elections to vote for the party. We are family!

PAS and Islamist politics has great potential to harm Malaysia’s already fraying multiculturalism. Unfortunately, years of state-sanctioned ethnoreligious policies have put minority communities on the edge, and since 2018, there has been an increase in racist attacks. During the last elections, minority communities in the country were attacked again on social media platforms, such as Twitter and TikTok.

For some outside observers, it might be a sign that Malaysia is being “Talibanized”. The truth is that Malaysia is suffering from a growing economic divide that is fueled by ethnoreligious discrimination. Correcting income inequality is not so straightforward. We are talking about decades of deconstructing failed economic policies that have not addressed the needs of the marginalized and the poor.

Malaysia’s never-ending political saga is not just about ethnonationalism, but also the people’s concerns about a tumultuous economic future for their families and descendants. This is despite Anwar’s reassurance that he will address issues regarding Malaysia's education system, economy and well-being.

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The writer is a casual observer of Malaysia, a writer and a co-founder of IMAN Research Malaysia. She has three books published, with another one titled Malayland, on the way.