Religion and politics in Malaysia: A new page turns as state elections loom?

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It is also difficult to parse how much of the “green wave”, a term derived from PAS’ party colours, is due to rising religiosity or, as political analyst Chandra Muzaffar believes instead, a rejection of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

“If you look at Malaysia electorally, no political party can afford to become too extreme. Because it won’t serve their interests. We’re not just talking about ideals … (but) about real politics,” said Chandra.

While PAS has questioned the legitimacy of the unity government, comprising Pakatan Harapan (PH), Umno and parties in East Malaysia, the state elections will not change the status quo, predicted International Islamic University of Malaysia associate professor Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri.

“PN will (continue) in power up north, and Selangor and Penang will still be under PH. But I feel (the incumbents in) Penang, and Selangor especially, are going to lose some seats,” she said.

“PH will win but (with a) reduced majority. … It’s difficult for PN to win over the Chinese and Indians, so that’ll stop them from getting a majority.”

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Ahead of Indonesia’s presidential race, how will politics, religion and identity play out?

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But, he continued, orthodoxy is occur” not only in Islam ,” but also in Christianity and different faiths.

In Indonesia, where non-Muslims make up about 13 % of the population, practicing a minority faith is typically an exercise in discretion.

Fernando cited a statement that the association typically includes in the books it prints as an example of this” unwritten principle of embracing Buddhism in Indonesia.” They are written for our own group, according to the caveat, he claimed.

This indicates that the purpose of publishing this book is not to influence others to follow our church.

PINING FOR A Passive Bulk

Analysts think Indonesia’s passive, moderate majority will be a barrier against extremist tendencies, maybe with people like shrine caretaker Maswi, in the face of identity politics fears.

He maintains the Luar Batang shrine in Jakarta. It is home to Al-Habib Husein Abubakar Al Aydrus’ grave, who is revered as the Prophet Muhammad’s son who traveled from Yemen to propagate Islam in Indonesia.

During the month of fasting, four days as many travelers visit the grave. However, the journey is contentious because some Muslims believe it to be Quranic grave worship.

Maswi said those who do not share his beliefs need not attend because he takes such viewpoints in pace.

Chinese and another non-Muslims live in his neighborhood, and they get along just fine. He declared,” We respect one another and don’t care what religions we practice.” ” That’s why, up until now, we haven’t witnessed fight.”

When they see identity politics and bruising political events, Indonesians may be” smart enough not to get government to brain ,” according to Dewi.

It was” as if Indonesia was going to bust up” at the 2017 Jakarta presidential vote. Similar events occurred in the 2019 national vote, but afterward, the political leaders” got back together ,” and Prabowo Subianto, who had lost, joined Jokowi’s Cabinet, according to Dewi.

” I hope that the social elites won’t cheaply exploit personality, which could be very damaging and polarizing, just to score factors.”

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Philippines’ new military deal with US: Will it tilt power balance in South China Sea?

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Meer has been fishing for 39 years but has gone only twice to Scarborough Shoal, even though fish are “really abundant” there.

The disputed reef in the South China Sea is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but effectively under Chinese control.

“I don’t go there any more because we’ve been prohibited. … There are Chinese guards at Scarborough,” he said. “We’d get scared because they have guns. That’s why we’d rather just go home.”

Although the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has rejected most of Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea in a case brought by the Philippines, small-scale Southeast Asian fishermen still find their right to fish under threat.

With greater US access to his country’s bases and facilities, “we have protection from those who want to occupy the Philippines”, said fisherman Jeremias Mesia.

“At the very least, (China) will be more careful in the way it treats us,” said Jay Batongbacal, the director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines.

“China is controlling almost the whole region. Our own fisher folk can’t even fish in our own waters because China prevents them from doing so.

“Because of that, we have no choice but to strengthen our security alliance with the US so we can protect our own interests.”

CHINA NOT THE ENEMY?

In northern Luzon’s Cagayan province, however, Governor Manuel Mamba begs to differ. China, he said, is “not an enemy”.

“We have intermarriages with them. We have good relations with the Chinese,” he said. During disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, China rendered help by giving rice, for instance, he added.

Cagayan is home to two of the four new sites the US military can access: Camilo Osias naval base and Cagayan North International Airport, or Lal-lo airport. Mamba worries that this will “invite more enemies” and drive away Chinese investors.

His priority is to reopen Cagayan’s Aparri port for it to be a gateway to Northeast Asia. He sees China as the “biggest market” for his province’s agricultural, fishery and livestock products.

“I’d rather trust this neighbour than somebody who’s far, far away,” he said.

“What I’m saying is, most of the people do not discuss EDCA on the streets here. What the people discuss here is how they’d be able to fill their stomachs every day.”

The rehabilitation of Aparri port would require dredging the sea floor to allow bigger ships to dock. Part of the Cagayan River Restoration Project, this also aims to mitigate flooding.

In 2020, news outlet The Philippine Star reported that two companies, Riverfront Construction Incorporated and Great River North Consortium, had been accredited for the project and would foot its cost. But controversy has erupted since.

Environmentalists, fishery representatives and Aparri’s mayor have claimed the dredging is a cover for black sand mining, and there is concern that the black sand is being shipped to China, news site Rappler reported in 2021. Extensive extraction of the resource elsewhere in the Philippines has caused coastlines to recede.

In response, Mamba challenged the critics to prove their allegations.

Like him, International Peace Bureau co-president Corazon Fabros disagrees with the “Western narrative that the enemy is China”.

“Who gains in (the) billions of dollars when there’s war? The one who (would make) a killing (from) a situation of war is the US,” she said.

“They sell the arms, they sell all these fighter jets and everything, including what the soldiers will wear.”

Analysts noted, however, that former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s pivoting towards China did not ultimately benefit his country’s strategic interests — “particularly in the West Philippine Sea”, cited Aries Arugay, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.

“Because Chinese incursions … not only continued but … intensified, despite the gesture of cordiality being extended by the Duterte administration.”

During much of his term from 2016 to last year, Duterte distanced himself from the US. He even threatened to suspend defence pacts including the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the annual Balikatan joint military exercise.

In the final months of his presidency, however, the Philippines and the US held their largest joint military exercise in seven years.

NOT A ZERO-SUM GAME

Under the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Junior, ties have grown warmer, and he was welcomed to the White House this month by US President Joe Biden.

But Marcos Jr has not turned his back on China, which he visited in January and returned from with US$22.8 billion in investment pledges.

Maximising the benefits from both superpowers will be a “balancing act”, said Batongbacal. “They have an offer, but that always comes at a price.”

There is always apprehension that each time the Philippines “gets closer to the US”, there would be a “corresponding deterioration” in relations with China, said Arugay.

But other Southeast Asian countries have shown it is possible to manage relationships with both superpowers, “so Philippine foreign policy and strategic policy should be clear that there’s no zero-sum game here”.

When it comes to the EDCA, first signed in 2014, the Philippines has also struck some sort of balance.

It fulfilled its constitutional requirement that bars foreign troops from having a permanent presence in the country, by allowing for the rotation of American forces stationed at its bases.

And it skirted the “very unpopular” notion of having foreign bases in the country, as the sites and facilities remain under Philippine control, Arugay noted.

Fabros’ opposition to the VFA and to the presence of foreign forces in her country stems from the fact that US troops are given “a lot of privileges”, like where they are detained if convicted of a crime and being allowed to remain in US custody while judicial procedures are ongoing.

In 2005, US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was accused of raping a Filipina and was allowed to be detained at the US embassy while his case was under appeal. Eventually, he was acquitted.

In 2014, another Marine, Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, killed a transgender woman. He was pardoned by Duterte in 2020 after serving less than six years of his sentence in an air-conditioned cell at a Philippine military base.

These cases show the “asymmetrical relationship” between the Philippines and the US and can stir negative sentiments, adding to the “historical trauma”, said Arugay.

But Batongbacal reckoned that with smartphones and social media, such incidents “won’t happen easily any more”.

Technology has occasioned a bittersweet ending in one case at least: Last year, Bulawan’s son, Edmark, saw his father for the first time after she used DNA testing to track him down.

“I’m happy for him now, for his future, because we found his father,” she said.

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China’s private tuition ban brought down the industry overnight — but parents won’t let it die

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‘SNEAKY COMPETITION WILL PERSIST’

The crux of the problem, experts agree, is the intense competition in schools.

For one thing, there are “too few paths” for students after streaming, said Chen Zhiqin, an educational software developer.

One’s grades in the Zhongkao, for example, determine whether one continues in academics or enters vocational school. Students who did not do well go to the latter and are taught technical skills for employment, such as hairdressing and catering services.

To some parents, the choice is as good as none, seeing that vocational schools have been stigmatised in the country for a long time.

“If a child enters high school, even if it isn’t an elite one, there’d be a good learning environment. But if (children) enter vocational institutions, they’d basically stop learning,” said Yuan.

Hoping to boost the image of vocational schools, China revised the Vocational Education Law last year.

It now states that vocational and general education are equally important and that China encourages the development of various forms of vocational education, Xinhua News Agency reported. This was the first major revision of the law in 25 years.

But parents such as Yuan will not be moved. “Many parents know vocational education doesn’t get the same emphasis,” she said.

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