https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/522585/feed The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is a prominent Malaysian political party, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, known for its Islamic ideology and focus on Malay dominance. Its primary mission is to establish an Islamic state based on Sharia law and integrate Islamic principles into governance. PAS actively participates in elections, governs several states, and engages in public education on Islamic values. As one of Malaysia’s oldest and largest political entities, it significantly influences... en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s Melaka will hold a state election on November 14 as the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition nears a pact with Islamist rivals, leaving Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s alliance facing another difficult contest after a string of recent defeats. The filing of nominations will begin on October 31 and early voting on November 10, Election Commission chairman Ramlan Harun said on Wednesday. A total of 687,897 registered voters are eligible to elect the state’s 28 assembly members, with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3370001/malaysias-melaka-sets-election-date-bn-pas-near-alliance-against-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3370001/malaysias-melaka-sets-election-date-bn-pas-near-alliance-against-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 06:31:11 +0000 Azmil Tayeb Azmil Tayeb A string of electoral victories in recent years has inspired the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to go for more urbanised and developed states in the run-up to Malaysia’s next general election. PAS’ strategy is straightforward: besides leveraging its religious credentials, it also seeks to underscore its ability to govern well. The problem here, however, is that PAS might not have a solid technocratic record to sell to voters. PAS was established by the ulama (religious scholars) wing of the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3369597/pas-wants-urban-malaysias-vote-can-it-win-over-urban-malays?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3369597/pas-wants-urban-malaysias-vote-can-it-win-over-urban-malays?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2026 05:00:14 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof In a village on the outskirts of Kota Bharu, in Malaysia’s deeply conservative northeastern state of Kelantan, Rozi* has learned to ignore what people say about her daughter. She had known for years that Hana* was different. As a child, Hana preferred girls’ clothes and spent most of her time with girls. Later, after leaving Kelantan to study, she began transitioning and eventually returned home, living openly as a woman. Rozi, 58, struggled to accept it at first, but what troubled her more was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3368824/malaysia-mothers-love-offers-her-trans-daughter-refuge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3368824/malaysia-mothers-love-offers-her-trans-daughter-refuge?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Sep 2026 01:30:12 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Melaka on Wednesday officially called for a state election – the latest test for Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, which is already facing an internal feud and growing public frustration over failed reforms. The state assembly was dissolved effective from Wednesday following an official notification sent to the country’s Election Commission the previous day by Ibrahim Durum, the Melaka state assembly’s speaker. “A state election will be held within 60 days of the dissolution... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368450/malaysias-anwar-faces-political-reckoning-melaka-state-calls-poll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368450/malaysias-anwar-faces-political-reckoning-melaka-state-calls-poll?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Sep 2026 02:30:29 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The political impasse in Malaysia’s government has regressed to a game of chicken, experts say, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the former ruling Umno party trading barbs and dares as pressure grows for snap polls with more than a year left to term. Relations between Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and erstwhile rivals Umno have hit its lowest point since the two sides cut a deal to form a unity government in 2022, after a series of recent state polls that saw PH all but decimated... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367316/will-malaysias-umno-pull-plug-coalition-partner-ph?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367316/will-malaysias-umno-pull-plug-coalition-partner-ph?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:28:46 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s once-dominant Umno party has given its clearest indication yet that it will break with the country’s current ruling alliance, after its president called on Friday for a general election to be held immediately. The call comes as the United Malays National Organisation deepens ties with opposition Islamist party the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), buoyed by recent state victories and growing talk of a new alignment to consolidate the Malay vote. “The time has come for the [national... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367176/umno-seeks-early-malaysian-election-cement-conservative-malay-bloc?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367176/umno-seeks-early-malaysian-election-cement-conservative-malay-bloc?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:06:43 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Malaysian politicians have slammed a Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) party leader for claiming that those who join the Islamist party would “certainly” go to heaven. Among them, Amanah vice-president Mahfuz Omar, said in a social media post on Tuesday: “PAS’ office is not an immigration counter for the afterlife, where you get a ‘heaven’ stamp upon showing your membership certificate and ballot vote.” During the PAS assembly over the weekend, secretary general Takiyuddin Hassan said party... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366897/pas-slammed-malaysia-linking-heaven-support-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366897/pas-slammed-malaysia-linking-heaven-support-party?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:00:53 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysian police have contacted Islamist opposition leader Abdul Hadi Awang over his explosive claim that the United States once offered to help his party topple the government – an allegation Washington has flatly dismissed as false. The controversy erupted after Hadi told thousands of delegates at the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) congress in Kelantan on Saturday that American representatives had approached party leaders when Barack Obama visited Malaysia in 2014. Hadi’s political... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366651/pas-chief-face-malaysian-police-over-claims-us-would-help-topple-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366651/pas-chief-face-malaysian-police-over-claims-us-would-help-topple-government?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Sep 2026 10:41:03 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The US rejected a claim by Malaysia’s opposition Islamist party that Washington once sought to influence the country’s choice of political leadership, calling the allegation false. “The United States has never sought to decide Malaysia’s political leadership,” US embassy in Malaysia Charge d’Affaires David H. Gamble Jnr said in a statement on social media on Sunday. “Any account to the contrary is false.” Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang said at the Islamist party’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3366522/us-denies-it-tried-influence-malaysias-political-leadership-2014?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3366522/us-denies-it-tried-influence-malaysias-political-leadership-2014?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Sep 2026 05:40:38 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s biggest Islamist opposition party has used its annual convention to reopen the door to former rival Umno, while signalling that any reunion will come with a new pecking order as the party sets its sights on leading the federal government. The recalibration comes after a partnership involving Umno and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) jointly toppled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition in Negeri Sembilan last month, weeks after Umno crushed Pakatan Harapan (PH) in Johor. With... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366466/malaysias-pas-eyes-new-pecking-order-it-rekindles-ties-umno?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366466/malaysias-pas-eyes-new-pecking-order-it-rekindles-ties-umno?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Sep 2026 07:04:05 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is looking to push back national elections until the second half of next year, people familiar with the matter said, as state poll defeats and soured partnerships reveal his political vulnerability. That time frame would mark a significant delay. Just months ago, the 79-year-old leader was said to be mulling a snap election as soon as this October, perceiving his greatest risk at the time to be rising fuel prices. But two humbling state election losses... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3365400/anwar-ibrahim-weighs-delaying-malaysia-general-election-late-2027-amid-poll-setbacks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3365400/anwar-ibrahim-weighs-delaying-malaysia-general-election-late-2027-amid-poll-setbacks?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:12:12 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The roar from thousands of People’s Justice Party (PKR) delegates gathered at a grand convention centre in Melaka last weekend exuded all the confidence expected of a party leading Malaysia’s government. The past three years have been the culmination of more than two decades of struggle for PKR, with it finally achieving its long-held goal of installing leader Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister and wielding the power to push through reforms. Yet beneath the confident facade lurks a ruling party now... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364857/malaysias-anwar-traded-reform-power-now-umno-wants-it-all?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364857/malaysias-anwar-traded-reform-power-now-umno-wants-it-all?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:19 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s Islamist opposition leader Abdul Hadi Awang has sparked outrage and ridicule with unproven claims linking religion to dishonesty, suggesting that Muslims are less corrupt than non-Muslims. Hadi’s remarks, which drew demands for evidence, came amid a series of attacks by his Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) on the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a predominantly ethnic Chinese party in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition. “Not all Muslims are free from corruption but in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364775/are-malaysian-muslims-less-corrupt-pas-leader-skewered-over-divisive-politics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364775/are-malaysian-muslims-less-corrupt-pas-leader-skewered-over-divisive-politics?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:54:02 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The door is fast closing on Malaysia’s reform experiment after nearly a decade of false starts and political intrigue, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition facing the real possibility of being booted out of office as the country’s ethnic majority seeks the return of strong Malay leadership. Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered bruising losses in three state elections since last November, most significantly losing control of Negeri Sembilan on Saturday after nearly eight years in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363025/malaysian-politics-heads-reset-malay-nationalism-surge-threatens-reform-experiment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363025/malaysian-politics-heads-reset-malay-nationalism-surge-threatens-reform-experiment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2026 06:54:16 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan Negeri Sembilan’s bid to turn itself into Malaysia’s next hi-tech industrial hub is heading into an unusual political stress test, as a royal dispute spills into a snap election on August 1. The vote matters not because existing semiconductor and aerospace projects are expected to flee but because it could slow future commitments, reshape the state’s policy environment and sharpen wider uncertainty over the prospect of a snap national poll, analysts say. Long regarded as an affordable base for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3361005/negeri-sembilan-snap-poll-threatens-chip-away-malaysian-states-tech-hub-goals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3361005/negeri-sembilan-snap-poll-threatens-chip-away-malaysian-states-tech-hub-goals?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:03:59 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan Malaysia’s largest Islamist party was wiped out in Johor’s state election last weekend, but PAS is now trying to turn that defeat into bargaining power. Its argument is that supporters who had no PAS candidate to vote for helped deliver a landslide victory to Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition led by Umno, its long-time rival for Malay-Muslim voters. The two parties have spent years competing for influence among Malaysia’s Malay majority, but they have also explored cooperation when it serves... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360835/can-malaysias-pas-deliver-votes-negeri-sembilan-despite-johor-wipeout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360835/can-malaysias-pas-deliver-votes-negeri-sembilan-despite-johor-wipeout?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:35:46 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Knife-edge state polls in Johor and Negeri Sembilan may reconfigure Malaysian politics, as a regrouped Malay nationalist right seeks big wins to pressure Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim into calling an early election. Barisan Nasional (BN), the Malay-led bloc, is going head-to-head against Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the ballots to be held this month and next, in a move by a key government coalition member that could destabilise the prime minister’s fragile administration from within. Analysts... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3359204/can-malaysias-unity-government-survive-major-bn-win-state-polls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3359204/can-malaysias-unity-government-survive-major-bn-win-state-polls?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:58:15 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s southern Johor state was braced for a bruising 14-day election campaign on Saturday after 172 candidates were cleared to contest a poll pitting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal allies against each other in one of the country’s most economically important battlegrounds. The state, which borders Singapore, goes to the polls on July 11, with 2.72 million voters eligible to choose representatives for 56 seats. Analysts said the contest would test both the reach of federal partners... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3358593/malaysias-johor-election-campaign-begins-federal-allies-clash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3358593/malaysias-johor-election-campaign-begins-federal-allies-clash?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jun 2026 07:24:35 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s most powerful Islamist party has cut ties with a former electoral ally, blowing open a bitter feud within the country’s main opposition bloc as several key elections loom. Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) President Abdul Hadi Awang announced late on Monday that the party’s central working committee had decided to “terminate political cooperation with Bersatu”, endorsing an earlier decision by its Syura Council, the party’s highest religious decision-making body. The partnership had... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3356433/malaysias-opposition-bloc-turmoil-pas-cuts-ties-bersatu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3356433/malaysias-opposition-bloc-turmoil-pas-cuts-ties-bersatu?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jun 2026 02:18:12 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof For decades, Umno was the party that defined power in Malaysia. Now, after years of scandal, defeat and uneasy coalition politics, it is turning to its birthplace of Johor to prove it can still win on its own terms. The southern state’s snap election will test whether the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) can still attract Malay voters, defend its strongest remaining state government and hold off both Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s allies and the Malay-Muslim opposition, analysts... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3355690/malaysias-umno-hedges-johor-state-election-lure-malay-votes-stronghold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3355690/malaysias-umno-hedges-johor-state-election-lure-malay-votes-stronghold?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:00:09 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Former Malaysian economy minister Rafizi Ramli’s breakaway gamble is unlikely to bring down Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on its own, analysts say, but it could still wound the ruling coalition by peeling away reformist voters who helped Pakatan Harapan (PH) take power in 2022. Rafizi and former natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad announced on Sunday that they would quit Anwar’s People Justice Party (PKR), vacate their parliamentary seats and take over... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3354510/why-rafizis-party-bigger-threat-malaysias-anwar-opposition-coalition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3354510/why-rafizis-party-bigger-threat-malaysias-anwar-opposition-coalition?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 May 2026 08:16:18 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysia’s Umno is making a heady gamble by planning to strike out on its own, experts say, as the former ruling party looks to rally support from among the country’s Malay-Muslim majority in preparation for national polls that must be called in less than two years from now. Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Sunday said the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that the party led was “almost certain” of standing alone in the coming general election, after more than three years as a junior partner... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3352362/can-malaysias-umno-reclaim-role-pillar-malay-political-power-solo-election-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3352362/can-malaysias-umno-reclaim-role-pillar-malay-political-power-solo-election-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 09:00:45 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is usually seen in carefully choreographed meetings with presidents, kings and regional leaders in Putrajaya. So it was striking to see him instead riding through the city on a casual live stream with Sneako, the controversial 27-year-old American streamer and Muslim convert whose appeal to mainly young male audiences has made him an unlikely cultural figure. For more than an hour on Friday, the live stream gave Anwar a rare chance to sell Malaysia, his... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3350501/malaysias-anwar-chats-us-muslim-streamer-it-populist-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3350501/malaysias-anwar-chats-us-muslim-streamer-it-populist-move?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:21:23 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Penang, the Malaysian state long marketed as the Pearl of the Orient, is better known today for its hawker food, colonial-era streetscapes and the multicultural life of George Town, whose historic core won Unesco World Heritage status in 2008. When Francis Light, a British merchant, landed on Penang on August 11, 1786, he took possession of the 293 sq km (113 square-mile) island on behalf of the British East India Company and renamed it Prince of Wales Island. One enduring local legend holds... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3349680/was-penang-robbed-kedah-malaysian-states-face-sovereignty-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3349680/was-penang-robbed-kedah-malaysian-states-face-sovereignty-row?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 02:00:18 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A horrific road crash in Malaysia’s port city of Klang that left a motorcyclist dead on Sunday has spiralled into racially charged commentary after initially being treated as a drink-driving case. Police said the crash happened at about 11.40am on Jalan Raya Barat, when an allegedly speeding Honda City driven by a local man in his twenties overtook several vehicles, crossed into the opposite lane and struck a motorcycle coming from the other direction. The rider, a local man in his thirties, was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3348378/drink-driving-death-malaysia-spirals-race-baiting-inflames-ethnic-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3348378/drink-driving-death-malaysia-spirals-race-baiting-inflames-ethnic-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:30:26 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s opposition is in open civil war, with a power struggle threatening to split the main bloc against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim just two years out from the next general election. Bersatu, or the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, sits at the core of Perikatan Nasional (PN), a conservative alliance whose appeal surged in the 2022 poll to become the largest opposition group after a hung parliament produced a unity government led by Anwar. A succession fight between party chief and former... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3343160/malaysian-key-opposition-partys-power-struggle-threatens-dent-election-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3343160/malaysian-key-opposition-partys-power-struggle-threatens-dent-election-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 06:09:45 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A dispute over a familiar Arabic phrase has erupted in Malaysia’s parliament this week after an opposition MP challenged a Malaysian Chinese minister over his repeated use of “Alhamdulillah” (“praise be to God”) in a debate. The row flared during Nga Kor Ming’s speech in response to the king’s address for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, when Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, an MP from the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), took issue with his use of phrases associated with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3342618/malaysian-ministers-use-alhamdulillah-triggers-pas-objections?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3342618/malaysian-ministers-use-alhamdulillah-triggers-pas-objections?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 06:07:57 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Muhammad Syafiq, a 25-year-old banker from Kuala Lumpur, has started noticing something recently that felt like “real politics” compared with the soft sell of an election campaign poster at train stations in the Malaysian capital. “One government programme I think is pretty solid is the People’s Income Initiative, or IPR [Inisiatif Pendapatan Rakyat], where small vendors use vending machines to sell food and drinks,” he told This Week in Asia, pointing to what he described as affordable... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3341878/will-young-malaysians-play-key-role-next-election-through-swing-votes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3341878/will-young-malaysians-play-key-role-next-election-through-swing-votes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 04:30:09 +0000 The Star The Star The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has voiced its opposition to the coming water musical festival set to take place in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Selangor PAS Youth chief Mohamed Sukri Omar said having an open large-scale event involving “free mixing and a festival-like atmosphere” should be reviewed. “It should be reviewed in terms of values, decorum, local cultural sensitivities and social harmony, as Malaysia is a multiracial nation with Islam as the religion of the federation,” he said... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341639/malaysias-free-mixing-water-musical-festival-draws-ire-pas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341639/malaysias-free-mixing-water-musical-festival-draws-ire-pas?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 05:38:22 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysia’s next general election may well be decided by the country’s millions of young voters and its biggest conservative Islamist party is determined to win them over. For the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), winning young people’s support means dominating the online spaces they inhabit. “Whoever controls [online] media will gain their votes,” said the party’s deputy president, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, in an interview with This Week in Asia. Founded by religious scholars in 1951 amid the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3341035/malaysias-pas-preaches-racial-domination-woo-young-voters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3341035/malaysias-pas-preaches-racial-domination-woo-young-voters?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:19 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysia’s opposition was thrown into fresh uncertainty on Tuesday by the surprise resignation of its coalition chairman, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, capping months of internal bickering over leadership with less than two years left before national polls must be held. Muhyiddin, who formed the Malay nationalist Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition in 2020 while he was still in power, made his announcement after rumours swirled overnight that he had bowed to pressure from coalition... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3338170/muhyiddins-shock-resignation-leaves-malaysias-opposition-facing-fresh-uncertainty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3338170/muhyiddins-shock-resignation-leaves-malaysias-opposition-facing-fresh-uncertainty?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:57:07 +0000 CNA CNA Malaysia’s smallest state, Perlis, has been plunged into political uncertainty with the resignation of Chief Minister Mohd Shukri Ramli and the sacking of three assemblymen from his party, sending ripples across the country’s political alliances. Shukri, from the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), cited health reasons for stepping down, but said he was blindsided by the withdrawal of support from state assemblymen from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition made up of PAS and Parti... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3337812/malaysias-perlis-state-turmoil-after-chief-ministers-shock-resignation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3337812/malaysias-perlis-state-turmoil-after-chief-ministers-shock-resignation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:50:22 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A Malaysian academic whose claim that the Romans learned shipbuilding from the Malays went viral has defended her assertions, saying that she has been a victim of “media lynching”. Solehah Yaacob, an Arabic language and linguistic associate professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), stood by her theory in a social media post on Sunday. Referring to the lecture, which she delivered in December 2022 and was posted on social media on October 31, she said her statement was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3332498/malaysian-don-behind-malay-roman-shipbuilding-theory-slams-media-lynching?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3332498/malaysian-don-behind-malay-roman-shipbuilding-theory-slams-media-lynching?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Nov 2025 10:11:45 +0000 Afra Alatas,Mohd Faizal Musa Afra Alatas,Mohd Faizal Musa Comparing Malaysia to Palestine, as a Malaysian MP did recently, illustrates a reframing of the siege mentality with which segments of the nation’s Muslim community perceive their place in society. By equating a sovereign nation with a stateless territory whose people have suffered decades of occupation and displacement, this distortion of reality risks deepening existing ethnic and religious divides in Malaysia. On October 19, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) MP for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3331986/malaysia-not-palestine-false-equivalence-fuels-ethnic-polarisation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3331986/malaysia-not-palestine-false-equivalence-fuels-ethnic-polarisation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Nov 2025 03:00:19 +0000 Jean Iau,Kolette Lim Jean Iau,Kolette Lim Singapore’s government has reinforced its bottomline of zero tolerance for the politics of race and religion as well as foreign interference, arguing that such elements should be rejected swiftly. In parliament on Tuesday, Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh and Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam disagreed on the “timing” and “substance” of the WP in rejecting election endorsements by a self-styled Islamic preacher Noor Deros and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3329017/singapore-doubles-down-zero-tolerance-identity-politics-foreign-interference?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3329017/singapore-doubles-down-zero-tolerance-identity-politics-foreign-interference?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 13:51:39 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysian opposition party Bersatu on Tuesday sacked an MP and four local leaders for breaching ethics, as splits emerge inside the Malay-Muslim coalition over their candidate for prime minister in national elections slated to be held by 2028. Rumblings of a leadership tussle have dogged Bersatu for weeks, culminating in a brief stand-off at the party’s annual meeting on September 6, when some members heckled Muhyiddin Yassin while the party president was delivering his opening speech. At that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328947/malaysian-opposition-party-sacks-mp-4-leaders-rift-deepens-ahead-national-polls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328947/malaysian-opposition-party-sacks-mp-4-leaders-rift-deepens-ahead-national-polls?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 08:06:31 +0000 Khairy Jamaluddin Khairy Jamaluddin Malaysia’s political system is not a presidential one and is instead based on the Westminster model; but there is an increasing tendency for its parties to want to name a presidential-style “poster boy”. This is partly due to the charismatic personality of the incumbent prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, which makes political contests in Malaysia a battle of personalities rather than policies. But beyond that, it also speaks to the internal jockeying that is taking place within the different... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3327824/malaysias-politics-becoming-ageing-poster-boy-personality-contest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3327824/malaysias-politics-becoming-ageing-poster-boy-personality-contest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2025 04:00:15 +0000 Hadi Azmi Hadi Azmi Malaysia’s Terengganu state has warned it will start fully enforcing a sharia law enabling the imprisonment of Muslim men for up to two years if they skip Friday prayers without a valid reason – a move widely seen as emblematic of the multicultural country’s tilt towards religious conservatism. Terengganu, governed by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), declared on Monday that first-time offenders could now face not only imprisonment but also a fine of up to 3,000 ringgit (US$710), or both,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3322314/malaysian-state-jail-muslims-who-skip-friday-prayers-well-be-taliban-soon-enough?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3322314/malaysian-state-jail-muslims-who-skip-friday-prayers-well-be-taliban-soon-enough?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 04:03:05 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan A police raid on a private bungalow in Kelantan has led to the detention of more than 20 men in what Malaysian authorities have described as a “gay party” – the first such case reported in the deeply conservative northern state. The raid, which took place in June but was only disclosed on Thursday, also turned up hundreds of condoms and several boxes of HIV medication, according to Kelantan police chief Mohd Yusoff Mamat. “Investigations found that there was no sexual activity on location during... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3318614/gay-party-raid-malaysian-police-kelantan-detain-over-20-men?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3318614/gay-party-raid-malaysian-police-kelantan-detain-over-20-men?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2025 10:26:51 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysia’s Islamist party has decried a “racist” statement by one of its leaders, who has been widely criticised for including a picture of the country’s first ethnic Chinese three-star general in a social media post warning of the political rise of the nation’s largest minority group. Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) grass roots leader Zaharudin Muhammad sparked outrage over a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, in which he wrote a hypothetical news story of Malaysia welcoming its first... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3315895/malaysian-pas-slams-members-racist-post-countrys-chinese-3-star-general?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3315895/malaysian-pas-slams-members-racist-post-countrys-chinese-3-star-general?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:10:13 +0000