As we are counting down to Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations, we must not allow extreme elements to undermine our multiracial, multireligious and multicultural society of moderation which we have built through decades of hard work.

The six state elections have drawn to a close, but political tussle between rival camps is still very much evident.

People have their own interpretations as to whether the so-called “green wave” has ebbed, or how “green wave” should be defined in the first place.

But first and foremost, this “green wave” is not really that terrifying, and there is no valid reason for us to develop any form of Islamophobia.

What is really frightening is the “pseudo green wave” that goes under the cover of religion to exploit sensitive racial issues in our midst. These people have attempted to expand their clout within their community by way of slandering or assaulting other ethnic communities, jeopardising national solidarity in their pursuit of personal gains.

These conservatives and extremist political interest groups have attempted to provoke hatred and suspicion among the Malays towards the Chinese or DAP, cajoling the Malay society into believing that their privileges are very much under threat.

Such pseudo green wave is like the eye of the storm that not only intensifies racial and religious confrontation, but also the negative sentiment arising from the mounting pressure faced by the public and civil servants, as well as widening wealth gap in the country, all because the government of the day has not done a good job.

That said, we are fortunate that there are still many in the Malay community who have been adopting an inclusive, liberal and accommodating attitude towards our diverse social fabric. If not because of them, the Unity Government would have lost even more voter support.

Pseudo green wave has already taken shape, and is now ravaging the Malaysian society in a big way. If the PH-BN Unity Government fails to garner more support from the Malays, or effectively address the day-to-day problems of Malaysians, there is a strong likelihood that it will lose the states of Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor come the next general election, possibly the federal administration too.

This is by no means an overstatement, because the role assumed by PAS today far outgrows its humble past, and it has evolved into a major political force within the Malay society, ready to send the beleaguered Umno packing.

Within the PN coalition, while Bersatu appears to be still the big brother, it is the second-ranked Islamist party that has slowly but surely risen as the dominant force given its fast-expanding strength and influences. Be it in the number of parliamentary or state seats held, PAS is the de facto big boss in the PN coalition, and the party is actually strong enough to go solo without its less successful allies.

PAS currently holds 43 parliamentary seats compared to Bersatu’s 31. And in the just concluded state elections, PAS swept a total of 111 state seats while Bersatu only managed 34.

I wrote in this column on November 20 last year: PAS is setting its sights not on near-term but long-term ambitions, and as such, the party can wait. Indeed, it is waiting to capture the strongholds of Umno and Bersatu. Since the very beginning, PAS has been adopting the strategy of making inroads from its rural holdouts towards the urban constituencies to eventually fulfil its goal of establishing an Islamic state not just in Malaysia but the whole region.

The party is forging ahead steadily towards this ultimate goal, and is slowly displacing Umno as the top choice of most Malays. What it is going to do next is to eat into the political clout of its ally, Bersatu.

Although we cannot tell for sure whether the Islamist party will eventually helm the central government five or ten years down the road, the countless sekolah tahfiz and religious schools it has set up in cities, towns and villages across the peninsula will constitute a vital platform for the party to consolidate its political clout among the Malays or Muslims.

During my meeting with Lee Kuan Yew back in 2005, the late Singapore prime minister told me he was concerned about the increasing Islamisation trend in Malaysian politics. If he were to live on today, he would have been even more alarmed by the development in the country’s political environment. Anything happening to Malaysia will have a major bearing on Singapore, our closest tiny neighbour down south.

Sin Chew Daily did an exclusive interview with Sultan Ibrahim of Johor on August 18. On the local Chinese community’s uneasiness over the repeated labelling of “pendatang” during the state elections, His Majesty replied: You have your Sultan!

During the interview, the Sultan also offered his views on other issues such as the Sino-Malaysian relationship, Bangsa Johor, racial and religious harmony as well as the development in Johor. Stay tuned for full report of the interview on Sin Chew Daily.

Besides the Johor Sultan, His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and the sultans of Perak and Selangor have also expressed their concerns at separate occasions recently about the increasing politicisation of 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues. They concurred that stern actions must be taken by the authorities to curtail such a dangerous trend.

We are thankful that the royalty is now the protector of national unity and religious harmony in this country.

With the blessings of their Royal Highnesses, PM Anwar Ibrahim can fight this emerging force steadfastly.

Any hesitation or delay will put Anwar’s career as well as the country’s stability in peril.

There are seemingly only two options Anwar can take in the midst of the ravaging green wave: to hold fast to his pluralistic approach in governance and resolve the rakyat’s day-to-day living problems as quickly as possible; and to jump into the pseudo green wave bandwagon in a bid to win more Malay support with “green policies” to counter the onslaught of PN.

Both options are equally challenging and will have far-reaching effects on the country and its political landscape.

If Anwar were to choose the second option, he would lose his fundamental support base and would likely plunge himself into a deep dilemma being not “greener” than his rivals.

As an ally, DAP would find itself under tremendous political pressure while the Unity Government could face the risk of collapse.

Anwar cannot afford to remain passively bound by the PN. He must try to take a third route: to proactively and uncompromisingly fend off the rapid expansion of pseudo green wave and simultaneously help Umno recoup itself through a change of party leadership.

Anwar must not allow the green wave to continue to wantonly destroy our intercommunity harmony before the situation gets out of hand.

Right now DAP has secured the staunch support of the country’s non-Muslim communities while the Malays are increasingly leaning towards PAS. Such a development nonetheless does not augur well for the existing racial harmony and unity, as it provides extremist politicians an excellent opportunity to infinitely amplify the misguiding and dangerous narrative that the rights of the Malays are under threat.

As a matter of fact, Anwar is in a dilemma. He must come to terms with the reality that the Unity Government is indeed losing the support of the Malays.

His PKR has never once been the top choice of Malay voters since its inception. Umno, on which the Malay society once pinned their hopes, is now being abandoned by the community it claimed to represent. Umno will need to overhaul its leadership to win back the trust and support of the Malay society.

The Unity Government needs a strong Umno because in Malaysia, only a government that has the support of majority of Malays can be stable.

Additionally, the government must not condone nor tolerate the political chaos built upon sensitive racial and religious issues.

As we are counting down to Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations, we must not allow extreme elements to undermine our multiracial, multireligious and multicultural society of moderation which we have built through decades of hard work.

The pseudo green wave which is sweeping across the nation like a tornado is sounding an alarm bell for this moderate, beautiful and harmonious multicultural society of ours.