The Spirits of Ramlee & Aziz

If someone says the Obedient Wives Club is not a laughing matter, I would pay attention. The proliferation of this seemingly out-of-sync group is a hint that an unfamiliar theological cloak is surreptiously enveloping Malaysia.

Imagine a young Lim Kit Siang in the 60s having a good time in a coffee shop with a mix of friends and the affable Imam brings up the subject of Hudud. There would be guffaws of laughter and drinks all around, not to mention that the cleric even may have found the idea of an Anti-Apostasy legislation, a preposterous suggestion to begin with, in Malaysia's multi-religious and multi-cultural fabric, then.

That was the 'spirit' in the air. Call it the era of P. Ramlee or good-natured Sufism, if you must.

50 years later, the fattened polygamist with his wives in tow may still offer some comic relief to Malaysia's multi-faceted society, but to underscore the enveloping cloak, a mere mention of the Islamic legal code, wipes the smirk of Kit Siang’s face while his son, the Chief Minister of Penang, shouts himself hoarse protesting the imposition of the archaic law. The issue is now grave for the unsmiling descendant of Lim Kit Siang, but the irony is, the scion is not screaming at his political opponent but at his own Islamist partner, who happens to be proposing the imposition of the code. 20 years down the line, the son of Lim Guan Eng is literally crying out that his effiminate colleague is deemed a homosexual and is due for a whipping.

In a nutshell, the above describes the Smirk • Shout • Cry construct of the theological cloak enveloping Malaysia.

Understandably, Guan Eng is surprised that his partner is reneging on a gentleman's pact and is serious about installing the code which provides, inter-alia, an umbrella to ‘sanctify' his polygamy, not to mention a direct route to 'criminalize' apostasy, homosexuality and a host of 'crimes' ingrained in his tradition, but the secularist in him, will stand his ground from the point of realization that his 'divinely inspired' comrade was not camaraderie after all but a sophisticated political animal who fine-tuned its 'voice of public reason' to usurp the multi-colored fabric with scruples of a grey tone honed from centuries of tradition quite in conflict with his. He will realize that the degree to which he underestimated his Islamist partner was the degree to which he misread his doctrine. He will realize that juxtaposition of two conflicting traditions, rather than the partisan nature of Malaysian politics, defines the discourse. He will realize that his pursuit of political expediency with his Islamist partner was no excuse for naiveté, period.

That is the 'spirit' in the air. Call it the era of Nik Aziz or good-natured Wahhabism, if you must. 

Words - Tommy Peters