PAS-UMNO Himpunan Penyatuan Ummah (HPU) is not about Malays or Muslims but about saving UMNO from oblivion and keeping UMNO leaders out of jail and giving PAS the opportunity to be Big Brother in a PAS-UMNO alliance and for PAS President to have a shot to be Prime Minister of Malaysia

The PAS-UMNO Himpunan Penyatuan Ummah (HPU) at the UMNO Putra World Trade Centre last Saturday was not about the Malays, Islam or the Malay Rulers but everything about saving UMNO from oblivion, keeping UMNO leaders from spending the rest of their lives in prison for their corruption and abuses of power when they were in government, and the opportunity to give PAS the role as the “Big Brother” in a PAS-UMNO alliance and saviour of a kleptocratic UMNO – hence the alliance of klepto-theocracy - and to give the PAS President the first opportunity to become Prime Minister of Malaysia denied him in Pakatan Rakyat.

To achieve their respective objectives, the PAS-UMNO alliance have to create baseless and unfounded fear, alarm and hate among the Malays and Muslims, who comprise the overwhelming majority of the voters in Peninsular Malaysia, that for the first time in independent nationhood, the Malay race and Islamic religion are facing an existential threat, ignoring three basic facts:

Firstly, who was in government in the past six decades and how was it possible for the Pakatan Harapan government to undo in one, two or five years the six decades of UMNO hegemony in government, which was primarily used not to uplift the bumiputeras but to create UMNO-putras to be extent of creating Malaysia’s first global kleptocrat in a string of corruption cases, most infamously the 1MDB scandal. Pakatan Harapan will not do away what is good for the country but reform what is bad and detrimental to the nation;

Secondly, the monstrous lies that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Royalty; when the DAP had repeatedly, in Parliament and in policy documents in the past five decades, and in the fundamental policy pronouncements forming the basis of DAP political alliances, whether Gagasan Rakyat, Barisan Alternative, Pakatan Harapan and latest Pakatan Harapan, affirmed and reaffirmed DAP’s support and commitment to the fundamental features of the Malaysian Constitution, especially with regard to Malay as the official language, Islam as the official religion and the system of constitutional monarchy in Malaysia.

Thirdly, the demographic reality in Malaysia which is the surest guarantee that the Malays will not lose political power whatever happens to to UMNO or PAS in the next general elections.

In 1957, during Malaya’s independence, the population comprised 53% Malays, 35% Chinese, 11% Indians and 1% Others.

In 1970 Malaysia’s population comprised 44.32% Malays, 34.34% Chinese, 8.99% Indians, 11.89% non-Malay Bumiputeras, 0.67% others.

In 2010, the percentage of Malays in the Malaysian population increased to 55.07%, Chinese reduced to 24.34%, Indians dropped to 7.35%, non-Malay Bumiputeras maintained at 11.94% and 1.3% others.

In 2040, the bumiputra percentage will increase to 72.1%, the Chinese population will fall to 20 per cent, the Indian population drop to 6.4% with Others at 1.5%.

Undeterred by continuous demonization efforts to cast the DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, we have soldiered on and persevered in our political struggle to serve all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region, so that we are today more Malaysian representative than any opposition party, having Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan and Dayak representation whether in federal or state governments or legislatures.

It has been said that in politics, a combination of 1 + 1 may not lead to 2, as it may be upped to 3 or go down to 1.

PAS-UMNO leaders are hoping that their alliance consummated last Saturday could result in 3; but it could be 1 if Pakatan Harapan cleans up the dirt of six decades and start keeping to the pledges of the Buku Harapan in the last three years before the 15th General Election.

Recently, former UMNO Minister and leader, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, said that Datuk Seri Najib Razak only fulfilled 21 out of 60 election pledges in the Barisan Nasional manifesto in the 13th General Election – or an achievement rate of 35%.

I believe Pakatan Harapan would be able to register a higher percentage rate of achievement in the New Malaysia manifesto when the 15th General Election is held in 2023, but the Pakatan Harapan government must be committed to fulfil all the other election pledges even if it take a longer time-span than one electoral cycle.

A war of perception is being waged, and the PAS-UMNO alliance has launched an intense campaign of fake news and hate speech to create alarm, fear and hate among the Malays and Muslims that their rights and interests were under attack by a DAP-dominated Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya and that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has become a puppet of DAP.

It is ironic and most ludicrous that at the same time the DAP is being attacked by the PAS-UMNO alliance for posing an existential threat to the Malays and Muslims of their rights, the DAP is being attacked by the MCA, Gerakan, MIC and SUPP of having sold out the rights and interests of the non-Malays, in particular the Chinese, to the “Malay masters” and for being subservient to Mahathir.

None of the Opposition leaders have paused to consider the impossibility of such contradictory positions.

This is because none of them is interested about the fate of the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans or the various religions and cultures in the country, but only in their own survival, from having to spend the rest of their lives in jail or to ride back to power on an unconscionable and reckless exploitation and manipulation of the 3R issues!

The strategists of the PAS-UMNO alliance will succeed if they are able to drum into the minds of Malay and Muslims that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty and out to wipe them from the face of the earth.

This is the stuff of fiction and great lies, for DAP has proven that they are more Malaysian than either UMNO or PAS leaders.

We must never allow politics and public fear to reach a level, where through lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech, every community becomes irrational and fear and hate other communities – which will tear Malaysia apart and result in Malaysia becoming a divided, failed, rogue and kleptocratic state instead of being a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity.

Let Malaysia become an example to the world of the success from the Alliance of Civilizations instead of a failure from the Clash of Civilisations.

It is therefore important that Malaysians develop social media literacy with the critical thinking skill to identity fake news and hate speech, to differentiate between true and false, right and wrong, moral and immoral.

For this reason, the DAP will set up a special committee to promote social media literacy and combat fake news and hate speech, which will be headed by the Petaling Jaya Councillor and Subang DAPSY Chief Farhan Haziq Mohamad.