Who hijacked Islam? The Chameleon!!

In 1984 as education minister, Anwar controversially renamed the national language Bahasa Malaysia to Bahasa Melayu. This was criticized at the time for giving the appearance the national language belongs to Malays only. Anwar and Mahathir together Islamized the government and education system. This had a great effect upon Malay culture. Secularism of government was ‘watered down’.

Anwar and Mahathir pursued the creation of crony capitalists with special favouritism, on the assumption that once they became successful, they would assist other Malay businesses rise. Anwar was appointed the finance minister in 1991. During the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Anwar supported free market principles, including deregulation, and a floating exchange rate. Anwar wanted to accept and IMF bailout like other nations in the region in exchange for hard austerity measures.

Anwar was strongly against bailouts of fledging companies and instituted spending cuts, amounting to 18 percent of the budget, ‘freezing’ some of Mahathir’s pet projects. These initiatives were against Mahathir’s philosophy of pegging the Ringgit to the US Dollar, and the introduction of strict capital controls. Anwar also introduced the Anti-corruption Act 1997, scarring many of Mahathir’s cronies at the time. Anwar made the front cover of Time Magazine, captioned as a new breed of Asian leader, Western in outlook and interested in democracy and human rights.

Anwar’s first tenure in government drastically ended with his sacking on September 2 1998 from all government and UMNO party positions. This was at a time when Indonesia’s president Suharto had just fallen from power, and students marched to the Indonesian parliament calling for the removal of all crony businessmen. Anwar’s sacking led to protests and demonstrations on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, where the slogan ‘reformasi’ was borrowed from the Indonesian protests.

The ’reformasi’ movement grew into the ‘Free Anwar’ movement after he was imprisoned, which grew into the formation of the Parti Keadilan Nasional, and later the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). PKR, along with the DAP and Amanah, under the Pakatan Harapan umbrella formed a ‘unity government’ in November 2022, where Anwar after almost 25 years struggle became the 10th prime minister of Malaysia. Anwar’s policies consistent with his first tenure in government After one year as prime minister, it is clearly evident that Anwar is following on from his policies of the 1990s.

Anwar has steered the government towards continued Islamization of government. JAKIM has been given new responsibilities in economic planning and development. There are plans to strengthen Syariah law in the near future. This has also occurred in education, where Islamic civilization is now taught at every level in school curriculum. A ‘Iman al-Nawawi’s 40 Hadiths’ module has been introduced into schools.

The university quota system is being continued implying the NEP affirmative action policies are firmly to stay in Anwar’s government. A Bumiputera economic congress is being organized for next year, along the same lines as the Malay Dignity Congress was held under Mahathir in 2020. The Madani platform Anwar introduced last March makes little mention of ‘reformasi’.

Malaysia’s foreign policy has shifted towards the Islamic world since Anwar became prime minister. In his first press conference as prime minister, Anwar publicly took a congratulatory phone call from Turkish prime minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan, who is considered the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The government’s direct relationship with Hamas in Gaza is testimony to the government’s consistent direction.

In economic policy, the last budget was modelled upon IMF and World Bank philosophies, very consistent with Anwar’s long held views on economics. Real economic reforms were absent, other than some peripheral announcements. The 12th Malaysia Plan mid-term review saw that the NEP framework still exists within policy. Anwar appears to be still in pursuit of completing the job he couldn’t finish as DPM and finance minister two decades ago, before his dismissal in 1998.

Anwar is very much maintaining Malaysia’s policy trajectory. From this perspective the Anwar administration is more of the same government the Rakyat have experienced under 60 years of Barisan Nasional rule. Only the style is different. Anwar has brought stability to government, not ‘reformasi’.