On March 18, at the height of the electoral campaigning in Malaysia, this writer and UKM's Prof P Ramasamy were invited by Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) to share our observations and opinions on the political situations with academics, journalists as well as political and security analysts from all over the region.

At that moment, nobody knew yet the exact outcome of the general election in Malaysia because voting was still three days ahead. However, like it or not, all of us agreed that Barisan Nasional would certainly be returned as the federal government with at least a working majority and the only question or subject for speculation is how strong would the opposition fare in the polls.

The focus was of course on PAS.

It seems that PAS has really given the outside world a rather negative image, although there were also acknowledgment that, in the political and historical context of Malaysia, PAS has also been playing positive roles in providing a constitutional and democratic platform to articulate and air grievances among marginalised and downtrodden Muslims, especially in time of political stress and crisis, since its inception in 1951.

This writer in different expressions, went further. To me and Ramasamy, PAS had been more tolerant of criticisms than the mainstream media in Malaysia and the Western press has been portraying. Both of us were invited by PAS to share our observations and opinions, including sentiments that are critical of some of PAS' ideologies and policies.

This writer pointed out particularly that PAS has been more consistently liberal and enlightened than Umno in its policies and attitudes towards the cultures, languages and mother-tongue education of ethnic minorities like Chinese and Indians. Also, since the mid-1980s, PAS has been consistent in adopting a non-racialist approach to poverty eradication.

Internal reformation

I also said PAS has been reforming itself in recent years, including under the top leadership of Abdul Hadi Awang. These reforms include the inclusion and promotion of more highly-educated and socially exposed Muslim intellectuals and professionals, including women.

There were also women in PAS' candidates list, like Dr Lo Lo Ghazali, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, Dr Halimah Ali and Kalsom Osman

I also offered critical feedback to a segment of Western and Singaporean media which tended to see the political situation in Malaysia from a black-and-white or bipolar paradigm in term of "Islamic fundamentalism vs secular liberalism".

I further suggested that the sources of this Manichaean view are multiple:

First, it is a mechanical continuation of the Cold War or 'in-box' worldview of seeing the world divided into two mutually exclusive camp between 'liberal capitalism' and 'totalitarian communism';

Second, the extreme fear and phobia of the urban and cosmopolitan upper-middle classes who are also opinion-makers, whose 'secular zeal' often mirror-images what they feel and perceive as 'religious extremism';

Third, the extreme fear and phobia of the rural and urban lower middle classes of Muslims, many of them form the hardcore of PAS, whose 'religious zeal' to defend Islamic identity, minimum social order and morality against corruption and decadence of all forms, also often mirror-images what they feel and perceive as 'secular fanaticism';

Fourth, the technical need for the mass media to reduce complexities to simple and easy-to-understand headlines and stories;

Fifth, the waste-no-time exploitation of the above-mentioned four factors by the Malaysian mainstream media as well as some pro-BN think-tanks to reinforce the claim that Umno-dominated BN is the only centrist force that is capable of running the country.

More credit

Now that the exact outcome of the polls is clear (although there are still many serious disputes to the playing field and the procedures or process whereby the outcome was achieved), but I still have no regret in defending the right things PAS has been doing, especially its commitment to the security, dignity and well-being of the mother-tongue education of the Chinese, Indian and other ethnic minorities, as well as the progressive inclusion of Muslim women and Muslims of liberal education and professions into its political mainstream and electoral process.

From the perspective of democratic politics as a dynamic as well as never-ending process (and not a static do-or-die point), both Abdul Hadi and Nik Aziz (photo) deserve more credit than given by the mainstream media in Malaysia and international press, although, in my personal opinion, they should also be more in tune with the overall sentiment of average voters nationwide when devising political and electoral strategies, public images, postures as well as languages or expressions in public discourses.

What I am certain is that I will never be punished or intimated by PAS leaders or members for offering criticisms against the party. Also, this is not PAS' first experience of crushing defeat: in 1986, it was reduced to only one parliamentary seat in Pengkalan Chepa and the only one MP of PAS conducted himself with dignity alone in the chamber. In the 1990 polls, PAS rebounded with vigor after reforming and rejuvenating itself in sync with the spirit of the time.

The spirit and example of the late Fadzil Noor in reforming, rejuvenating and progressively modernising PAS with patience, fortitude, justice and inclusiveness are now particularly valuable as a compass in the dark wilderness or stormy sea.

On the five-year old Keadilan, I also said in the Singapore seminar that whatever its actual strength on the ground, it has been playing a critical but not widely and fairly acknowledged role of reducing racialist sentiment and propaganda in Malaysian politics in the last five years because of its multiracial approach to democratic mobilisation at a critical time in the world as well as regional politics. In all honesty, the job has never been easy or enviable, especially for first-timers and novices in politics and on an uneven playing field.

Tasks ahead

The tasks ahead for PAS and Keadilan seem to be as follows:

One, continue to work to level the playing field and provide countervailing forces and opinions in Malaysian politics;

Two, uphold the principle of non-racialist approach to democratic politics in a multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual and multireligious society, and universal values and human rights;

Three, implement necessary and practical reforms in organisations, decision-making institutions and operational or mobilisational mechanisms after listening to feedback from both hardcore and non-hardcore groups of people;

Four, initiate changes in the public images and posturing of top leaders;

Five, institute centralised policy and strategy research units to identify problems, public issues, policy and strategic options with the principal objective of winning votes in polls.

Of course, this list is not complete or exhaustive but only serves as realistic points of departure or practical frame of reference. As democratic politics is never-ending or dynamic process of challenges and responses, even some or all ideas in this article are open to feedback and criticism.

JAMES WONG WING ON is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM). Wong is a former member of Parliament for Kampar (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily (now Sin Chew Daily). He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew, he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.