https://www.scmp.com/rss/323188/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Malaysia’s biggest Islamist party, long a whipping post for the country’s liberals, is finding itself newly popular with former rivals and estranged allies as it emerges as a potential kingmaker in upcoming general elections. Due to its hardline brand of Islam, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has traditionally had an uneasy relationship with the country’s non-Muslim communities, such as the ethnic Chinese and Indians, but the deep influence it has enjoyed with the majority Malay community... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2071876/how-one-islamist-party-could-sway-malaysias-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2071876/how-one-islamist-party-could-sway-malaysias-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Feb 2017 02:30:45 +0000 In his campaign against Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad has accused his successor of selling the country out by granting sweetheart deals to investors from China and encouraging mass immigration. To the cynical observer, such claims may appear familiar as the kind of racially charged rhetoric that has characterised politics in this multi-ethnic and multi-religious country ever since its independence from Britain more than 50 years ago – particularly given... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2067909/why-malaysias-hopes-post-racial-politics-are-fading-even-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2067909/why-malaysias-hopes-post-racial-politics-are-fading-even-if?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Feb 2017 12:00:45 +0000 After eight years with an influential friend in the White House, Malaysian civil society groups are bracing for the worst when Donald Trump takes over on January 20. During outgoing President Barack Obama’s two terms, human rights advocates, democracy groups and anti-corruption activists had cultivated warm relations with US officials in Kuala Lumpur, even meeting the 44th US president on his visit to the capital last year – the first by any sitting US president. In that time, Washington’s tacit... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2062025/why-president-trump-bad-freedom-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2062025/why-president-trump-bad-freedom-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jan 2017 02:00:45 +0000 The recent arrest of a militant Indonesian maid who had worked in Singapore has forced security agencies and experts to reassess how they counter violent extremism among Muslims in Southeast Asia and to rethink common assumptions of why people become radicalised. Poverty and ideology have long been assumed the two main drivers of militancy, particularly in the post-September 11 era, but experts are increasingly coming to a more nuanced view in which these are just two factors among many in a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2056555/what-makes-indonesian-maid-singapore-turn-islamic-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2056555/what-makes-indonesian-maid-singapore-turn-islamic-state?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Dec 2016 06:15:23 +0000 After a fractious year triggered by the 1MDB scandal, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak this week moved to consolidate his power within Umno by turning his guns on his mentor-turned-nemesis and stoking racial sentiments among the rank and file. At the Umno (United Malays National Organisation) yearly assembly this week, Najib attempted to show he still had the party’s backing, despite being at the centre of the worldwide graft probe into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and a very public... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2051325/why-malaysian-pm-najib-razak-playing-race-card?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2051325/why-malaysian-pm-najib-razak-playing-race-card?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Dec 2016 04:00:30 +0000 In a sleepy farming town in Southern Malaysia last month, Malaysia’s popular but beleaguered opposition saw encouraging signs that it had found the answer to defeating the Barisan Nasional (national front) coalition that has ruled the country since its independence about 60 years ago. The opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (the hope pact) has a new partner, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia or PPBM (Malaysian united indigenous party), which they believe is able to capture the rural Malay... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2046588/courting-rural-muslims-has-malaysias-opposition-found-key-winning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2046588/courting-rural-muslims-has-malaysias-opposition-found-key-winning?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Nov 2016 10:07:14 +0000 Malaysia’s stronger ties with China, forged over the past few weeks, will be key as the nation prepares to deal with a United States under President Donald Trump, a man who has disparaged both China and Muslims, analysts say. How will Najib’s golfing buddy Trump treat 1MDB probe? Muslims, who make up about 60 per cent of Malaysia’s population, are especially worried as the reality TV star has been criticised for tapping into undercurrents of Islamophobia in his campaign for the White... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2044449/will-trump-win-push-malaysia-chinas-embrace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2044449/will-trump-win-push-malaysia-chinas-embrace?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:00:00 +0000 After weathering brutal attacks on its supporters, Malaysia’s biggest civil society group, Bersih, has been hit by a scandal that threatens to derail its plans for another mammoth rally in the nation’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, on November 19. In an exposé not unlike the one provoking a storm in the US presidential election campaign, a tranche of hacked emails claimed that Bersih had received money from a foreign foundation helmed by controversial billionaire-philanthropist George Soros. Local news... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2042619/leaked-emails-george-soros-and-rigged-election-claims-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2042619/leaked-emails-george-soros-and-rigged-election-claims-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Nov 2016 04:30:30 +0000 While violence against a popular electoral reform group has stolen the headlines in Malaysia, a quieter yet more critical fight is brewing in the country’s heated political landscape. The attacks on supporters of Bersih – a coalition of NGOs seeking to reform the country’s electoral system to ensure free, clean and fair elections – come as the group attempts to drum up support for its rally in the capital on November 19 that will call for the resignation of scandal tainted Prime Minister Najib... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2028201/clean-and-fair-elections-malaysia-may-be-pushing-boundaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2028201/clean-and-fair-elections-malaysia-may-be-pushing-boundaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Oct 2016 02:00:30 +0000 Malaysia’s largest civil action group Bersih 2.0, also known as the Coalition for Clean Elections, will hold its fifth national rally on November 19 calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s resignation over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. But while past demonstrations have largely been well-received by activists and ordinary Malaysians critical of the Najib administration, Bersih is facing questions over its continued relevance and efficacy. Hisommuddin Bakar, from the Illham Centre... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2020028/another-rally-malaysia-suffering-1mdb-fatigue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2020028/another-rally-malaysia-suffering-1mdb-fatigue?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:00:00 +0000 Malaysians have been rocked by the arrests of various high-powered government officials and corporate captains in recent weeks, even as Prime Minister Najib Razak battles worldwide graft allegations regarding state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Though the arrests by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission have been praised, critics say the authorities continue to drag their feet on 1MDB. This is despite a US probe claiming that a “Malaysian Official No1” received US$700 million... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2017127/are-malaysia-arrests-bid-divert-attention-1mbd-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2017127/are-malaysia-arrests-bid-divert-attention-1mbd-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Sep 2016 07:57:18 +0000 As Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak becomes increasingly besieged by revelations in a US civil suit alleging fraud in his brainchild 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), his supporters are hitting back with a textbook tactic straight from classic psychological warfare manuals. Over the past several days leading up to Malaysia’s 59th Independence Day on August 31, senior leaders and operatives of Najib’s party, United Malays National Organisation or Umno, are claiming that the suit by the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2009577/american-conspiracy-oust-malaysias-najib-or-propaganda-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2009577/american-conspiracy-oust-malaysias-najib-or-propaganda-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Aug 2016 04:00:30 +0000 By spending about RM16 billion ringgit (US$4 billion) on troubled Malaysian state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), China has bought a lot of clout in the corridors of power in this Southeast Asian nation. Last month’s civil suit by US authorities against personalities tied to 1MDB and their assets comes as local leaders worry the global financial scandal will have a deeper impact. It is not just a question of whether Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak will serve out his term, or... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2004582/hidden-costs-chinas-lifeline-1mdb-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2004582/hidden-costs-chinas-lifeline-1mdb-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Aug 2016 06:45:00 +0000