Of late, many with some degree of political sensitivity have started to sense an impending storm brewing, and have privately consulted me for my take on the current political climate.

My reply is: If a storm were to descend, it would start from Sabah! As for any perceivable federal or national changes, things will only clear up after the dissolution of parliament.

That being said, the gust is blowing, and indeed continues to show its effects. A spate of unusual political moves—be they in political alliances or within certain ruling or opposition parties—have begun to show up.

The Sabah state assembly is about to dissolve anytime soon, and the Zara Qairina incident has only expedited Sabahans’ autonomous awareness, galvanizing more intense duel between native and peninsular politics.

Whether the upcoming state election can bring about an administrative change depends very much on how Shafie Apdal’s Parti Warisan Sabah is going to bring about stronger cohesion of native Sabah sentiments, and how it will, after winning the election, effectuate a Sarawak-style negotiation with the federal government in order to reclaim the state’s long-lost autonomy and rights.

Over this side of the South China Sea, parties from BN, PN, PAS, Bersatu, PKR, MIC to MCA all have their fair share of problems as well as own calculations. And as such we don’t have to feel bewildered by the presence of MIC’s deputy youth chief K. Kesavan at Bersatu’s assembly, or the subtle interactions between MCA and PN, or any other indicative political developments—as anything can change last-minute!

After all, political parties are known to be expert in creating smoke screens in a bid to enhance their prospects in negotiations, while others may create illusions simply to distract public attention or allay their own pressures.

If we are overly concerned about such illusions, we could end up neglecting delicate political changes quietly taking shape in our midst!

The just concluded PAS assembly, for instance, has conveyed the following five key messages:

1. PAS no longer acknowledges Bersatu’s “tai kor” status in Perikatan Nasional, and could likely exit the coalition and turn to PKR or PM Anwar Ibrahim anytime, or patiently wait for Najib’s return to BN.

Simply put, PAS believes it has enough political chips to just wait for suitors to come up and talk.

2. PAS’ infinitely boosted confidence. Ever since the Rockets helped bring the party from its rural east coast enclave to urban and semi-urban seats across the peninsula in 2008, the Islamist party has quickly, and continually, expanded its clout by deflecting the votes of PKR, Umno and Bersatu supporters.

3. Waiting is no longer an option for PAS; instead, it now wants to have all the powers in its own grip.

Externally, it elaborately protrudes its strength and is ready to negotiate with any like-minded camp, while internally it blatantly shows its uncompromising dominant stature that could push its collaboration with Bersatu to cliff’s edge.

4. Time to seize the prized PM seat. I used to say that PAS was patiently waiting for its time and was in no hurry of any sort to ascend to the top administrative post.

But now, the party sees that its dream of taking Putrajaya, either on its own or in a team it leads, is well within reach, and is no longer prepared to wait or concede. The party now makes it crystal clear that it, too, has its own PM candidate!

5. PAS has now come to terms with Malaysia’s multicultural reality. Open declaration by the party’s leaders that Chinese and Tamil should be taught at national primary schools to promote national unity shows that the party has recognized the importance of support from the local Chinese community. It is therefore within everyone’s expectation that this party is going to increasingly show its kind gesture to the community in the days ahead.

That said, Chinese Malaysians will still need to cautiously watch its every move, as experiences show that party leaders’ past behaviors and talks have been largely unsettling.

As a matter of fact, a growingly conservative Malaysia is fast taking shape, and for their own gains, political parties have been constantly outfighting one another for superiority in conservatism.

In light of the ever-changing domestic political landscape, the local Chinese community needs not just to once again put all eggs in one basket, but to sensibly come to terms with the reality that this country has always been—and will remain very much so—dominated by Malay parties.

Meanwhile, there have been signs of a crack between the Islamist party and Bersatu within the opposition alliance. And soon after PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin appointed Azmin Ali as the coalition’s secretary-general, PAS’ vice president and Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar quit his PN treasurer-general post in protest.

There is no secret that Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin is at loggerheads with sec-gen Azmin Ali.

PAS’ strong reaction to Azmin’s appointment, and other hiccups in the recent Bersatu assembly, including Azmin’s fiery remarks and Hamzah’s denial of a plot to oust Muhyiddin, have shown that claims of power struggle within Bersatu and among PN component parties are not totally unfounded.

There are even allegations that PAS is secretly supporting Hamzah’s ambition, further deepening the fissure between Muhyiddin and the Islamist party.

In view of this, there is hardly any chance a divided PN could possibly unseat the Unity Government at this juncture.

But at the same time, it is wholly unrealistic to fantasize that the bond among Unity Government parties will remain cohesive forever, or that BN will never part with Pakatan Harapan.

Political gains are paramount to the survival of parties, who will go separate ways once conflict of interest emerges.

It is anticipated that alliances on both sides of the divide will see tremendous shift in the run-up to the next general election. And often the climax officially pops up only after the dissolution of parliament.

Because of that, there is no reason whatsoever for MCA to hastily exit BN right now!

Given the current doldrums MCA is in, the party has only five options to choose from, followed by versatile adaptions in response to changes in the prevalent political climate:

1. Exit BN in the footsteps of MIC (still a big unknown now), and choose to part with its longstanding allies.

2. Go solo in the next election, unbounded by any political affiliation.

3. Keep the status quo, and let BN and PH do the allocation at their own discretion, hoping for “miracles” of Umno’s generosity in seat allocation.

4. Join PN, and hopefully with DAP’s past experiences will continue to bask in widespread approval from Malaysia’s Chinese community. Joining PN or fighting alongside PAS against PH could be an option so long as PAS comes up with a relatively open-minded and progressive PM candidate.

5. Forge a new alliance with leaders sidelined by Umno such as Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin, MIC and MUDA.

In light of the ever-changing domestic political landscape, the local Chinese community needs not just to once again put all eggs in one basket, but to sensibly come to terms with the reality that this country has always been—and will remain very much so—dominated by Malay parties.

It doesn’t matter whether there are two, or three, rival mainstream Malay political camps in future, Chinese Malaysians will need to put their eggs in different baskets in order to protect their own rights and safeguard the integrity of the country’s multicultural, multiethnic and multireligious fabric.