UMNO took a wrong turn

In the current status quo of racial apartheid in Malaysia, the non-Malays and non-Muslim minorities are discriminated against on the basis of race and religion in jobs, promotions, business and educational opportunities. Things won't be much different in a theocratic state in terms of the absence of meritocracy and third-class citizenship status for Chinese and Indians except that ‘syariah’ law will become ever more prevalent and intrusive.

Second-class Malaysian citizenship has already been reserved for Indonesians. Many political strategists feel the transition to ‘dhimmitude’ within a theocratic Islamic Malaysian state is inevitable. With the relentless mass media propaganda in the last 40 years, our political leaders have deliberately created a certain Malay mindset.

Umno has put Ketuanan Melayu at the core centre of Malay identity with its ‘demonisation’ formula. PAS intends to put Islam at the core centre of the Malay identity with its ‘ceramahs’. Wahhabists want to make the syariah the core centre of the Malay identity. Fringe extremists would try to make radical jihad the core centre of the Malay identity if they could.

The Malays are a devout group, and it does not take a genius to calculate that religion will trump Ketuanan Melayu as the new pivotal issue in Malay politics. PAS wants to outflank Umno by portraying a ‘more pious than thou’, ‘more Arab than thou’ and more ‘syariah compliant than thou’ image.

Umno has to respond with exactly the same claims to maintain its election-winning majority in the Malay-Muslim heartland. The transition to an Islamic state is inevitable. Umno and PAS are competing for Malay-Muslim votes by claiming to be more Islamic. Winning power is the only real consideration for our political elites. Islamisation is an inevitable consequence of the ongoing power struggle between Umno and PAS.

I predict the likely shape of the Islamic theocracy under Umno's one-party rule will be something as simple as this. The super-rich amongst Umno's corrupt political elites and families will become even richer.

The middle and lower classes will suffer continuing massive daylight robbery with more opaque (no-tender), wasteful (mega kickbacks and commissions) mega-projects benefitting a very thin crust of corrupt Umno elites and cronies; runaway inflation (resulting from Umno-directed government spending), a chronically weak ringgit, a rapidly widening gap between the haves and have-nots with the average citizen becoming progressively poorer even if they work harder.

The formula for Umno looking more religious and pious without being more religious or pious or ethical goes something like this. As long as the ‘dhimmis’ are relentlessly demonised as a threat to ‘bangsa’, ‘agama’ dan ‘negara’, and visibly discriminated against in education, university places, jobs, promotions, and business opportunities, then Umno can still claim to be doing a good job making Malaysia an Islamic state, at least in the eyes of the dominant ethnic Malay-Muslim community.

If the Umno-directed mass media can tell the Malay voters that this is what it means to be an Islamic state then everyone will be happy, except, of course, the ‘dhimmis’ but like I said, they don't count for much except as for useful scapegoats.

As to how Umno can install strict syariah compliance without all its cabinet ministers losing their hands and heads or being stoned to death for theft, adultery, corruption, abuse of power, and lies, it will be yet another work of sheer Malaysia Boleh genius.

I predict they will get strict on apostasy, heresy and blasphemy but never on corruption, cronyism, nepotism, abuse of power, judicial interference or lies. Nevertheless I suppose we won't be worse of than other Islamic theocratic states.

Under Umno, Malaysia will never be a technologically advanced, modern, progressive First World Nation with real respect for human rights, an independent judiciary, social justice, free and fair elections, and all those other ‘special privileges’ that the infidel West takes for granted. I believe Malaysia will be backwards, poor, corrupt, and riddled with ethnic discrimination in the foreseeable future.