In all of my articles dealing with our clear and present enemy of good Malaysians, the Perikatan Nasional gang, readers would note the hard and no-nonsense tone of my pieces.

This is purposely done to make a clear statement of our critical crossroad in Malaysia’s history and the future of our children.

But in this article, I mean to deal “gently” with our “enemies within” in the hope they might understand and take some wisdom and patience, or I hope that Malaysians would ignore these people and decide on their own how they should deal with Malaysia.

The Perikatan Nasional is riding with the ideals and baggage of not only outdated racial politics of Ketuanan Melayu but has added a layer most lethal, and that is Ketuanan Islam.

The narrative that is led by PAS and allowed by PPBM and Gerakan is that the Malays will suffer tremendous setback when PKR has compromised with first DAP and now Umno.

Gerakan hopes to paint Anwar as still an Islamist but working willingly with Umno the corrupt party.

In Malaysia’s election, there will not be any talk on how to create a more sustainable economy that would last for generations. No discussion on food security, no discussion of welfare in old age and no discussion on how our children can be globally employed.

Malaysia is stuck forever, it seems, in a religion-race rhetoric that will never end.

I have written many articles to ask professors in academia, especially in public universities, to come forth and engage the public in mainstream media and social media to replace these two toxic narratives with the new narratives of 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations as well as a narrative of inclusiveness in religious faith discourses.

But so far the academics prefer to remain behind the curtain of caution, and wait and see which political party will rule so that they would know who to bodek for promotions, positions and titles upon titles.

Now, we see only Anwar himself trying his hardest to turn the universities around to change the narratives, but he is alone in this endeavor.

The university academics are lucky to have a kind Anwar and a gentle Khalid at the helm of the two top posts.

If it were me, I would make a drastic change of all the top leadership positions of vice chancellors, deputy vice chancellors and deans of all faculties, and place good Malaysians to turn the universities around and let them serve the country by forcing a new narrative in the place of the old and toxic one of race and religion.

Now, while we good Malaysians are trying our best to make sure the Unity Government survive and beat off the PN onslaught, I am sad to read that there are “enemies” from within ourselves.

These enemies are good Malaysians but lack wisdom, patience and innovative thinking.

These good Malaysians who are now threatening our way of life in their narrow cause of “goodness” may become the secret virus that will destroy our faith and make an easy win for PN.

There are three kinds of enemies from within that I will discuss.

The first enemies from within us are our “good Samaritan Malaysians” who have been consistent in their fight against all kinds of injustices but now seem to me lack in wisdom, patience and innovation.

They know how to do one thing well and are doing it till now without thinking of the dire consequences of the future for our lifestyle and our children.

A few of these writers have suggested to the people that Anwar Ibrahim is as much a bad Islamist as Hadi Awang. They refuse to allow Anwar the time to prove his Madani construct of Islam in a global, inclusive and progressive ethos.

To them, there is no iota of good between Anwar’s Islam and Hadi’s Islam.

In addition to the clear and present enemy of good Malaysians — the Perikatan Nasional gang — there are some “enemies from within” who should best be ignored.

There are also Malay writers who do not understand or refuse to study Islam in a different perspective and prefer their own version of Islam that they inherited culturally in the days when Muslims drinking alcohol and praying were accepted.

Those days are gone and will never come back. We must now choose between Muslims who do not drink alcohol but allow others to drink at pubs, aeroplanes, hotels and have factories of alcohol, or we will allow a group of fanatical Muslims who will overrule others and disallow any form of association with alcohol at all.

Presently, if you were to ask 100 Muslims, I think barely 10 of the 100 will say they belong to the first group.

I am of the first group. I do not drink alcohol nor will I ever, but I can sit in a bar watching my Malaysian friends drink it.

It is easy for PN to hoodwink the 90 Muslims in giving them a Utopian “Islamic country” better than Saudi Arabia or the UAE which are now opening up and loosening their moral codes and laws in the interest of more inclusiveness and global spirituality.

If we trust the enemies within to destroy our faith in the Unity Government, I am afraid Malaysians who wish to drink alcohol openly in bars and hotels will have to travel to Sabah or Sarawak for that.

In the two nations across the sea, Malaysians would be free to wear knee-high shorts, skirts, and go to concerts and movies.

In Semenanjung, going to a concert inside a university will earn the university a RM25,000 fine.

So, please think about trusting writers who have little wisdom and no patience.

The second “enemy from within” is the recent statement by a senior DAP member who was not “respectful strategically” to the coalition partner, Umno.

Yes, we Malaysians know all the wrongs of Umno and there is very little chance we would forget. But showing the dirty laundry of the host at a wedding is not considered good decorum and is downright stupid.

Why did the DAP member do that? Was he angry that his team did not win in the DAP election? Was he disgusted that he was not chosen to be a candidate in the GE15?

What is his motive? To sabotage the Unity Government? Wasn’t he the one brokering a deal with Mahiaddin during the final days of the PM’s rule? What’s going on?

Malaysians are now being bombarded by cybertroopers and again good Samaritans telling Malaysians that Anthony Loke and the DAP are now in Anwar’s pocket.

As a Malay who tried to change my own race towards goodness, I have been accused of being a DAP puppet. That was why I had to quit DAP to show that all my ideas and thoughts about Islam and politics are my own.

Anthony Loke is a leader with wisdom and patience. These are the qualities of today’s leaders and the future attributes of all Malaysians.

Other DAP leaders are specialists in outspokenness and experts in tak kenal adab Melayu. Anthony and the new line-up are those that have matured.

Finally, the third enemies from within are Pemuda Umno leaders who do not seem to have any idea how to be leaders of Malaysia.

These Umno youth know only how to be leaders for the Malays who are unprogressive, even though many have PhDs and went overseas for their education.

These young Umno leaders do not understand that Umno has been given a lifeline to change.

They must understand that Umno is now lying sick at hospital while the doctor is telling it to stop smoking, get more exercise and stop blaming other people for its faults.

Disregarding the doctor’s orders will be fatal.

I do not have a problem if 70% of Malays abandon Umno. But if Umno can bring 100% Malaysians into their support base, I am confident they will be able to survive and forge ahead with a new Malaysian agenda the likes of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Dato’ Onn Jaafar’s vision of Global Melayu, not Pondok Melayu.

Make no mistake, dear Umno and Malaysians. We are all under threat of losing everything if we do not come out in full force to vote out the real and clear enemy, Perikatan Nasional.

Don’t let the good Samaritan voices of enemies within and narrow-minded young politicians distract us from the real battle ahead and for the future.

We must be together and strong for as Anwar like to say ‘membujur lalu melintang patah.’

We must form a battering ram of dignity and faith and resolve in fighting for our Malaysia.

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)