A few points about the reality of politics in Kelantan.
- Death of the opponents
No one dares to face PAS in Kelantan It is not a threat or a forecast but a reality. UMNO used to be a mighty force here when the big brother held a power stick in KL. PAS was seen irrelevant and its supporters were bullied to the edge of the kampung and lived in the shadow of the surau. But for me PAS is always there; the green flags were always flying high or low.In the 70s and 80s when PAS was not in power, the kampung folks always supported the party The UMNO/BN people come and go. They came with big events and luxurious handouts which is alien to the simple folks in rural Wakaf Bharu or Pasir Mas. So in 1990 , when PAS finally came to power in Kelantan, the horror episode began.
Since then the green folks emerged from behind the surau held their heads high and felt the sweet smell of power. The battle to defend “the faith” began and continued until today. The forces were so strong that little by little the mighty roar of the blue lions were reduced to a mere catcall. Now the common folks are no longer ashamed for donning a kopiah or a t-shirt with the green logo. You can see the pride of being the party worker/supporter written all over the face. It has never happened before. When you go into a battle and see the opponents are all weak and divided you would know that the glory is yours no matter what.
2. Political culture deep rooted in the society.
Kelantan folks are simple. We live on simple diets and simple ideas. But politics are complicated and it was usually sourced out from KL. It was hard to digest the complex ideas of democracy and parlimentary elections. The local lebai would then take tha task and simplifies it to the common folks with a bit of spicy religious dogma sprinkled here and there. And we, including myself, would literally believe whatever he said inside out. The other way around means you are going to hell. And the ceramah seems to have the same framework and delivered everyday. In the 80s I carried the cassette tapes of those ceramahs ove to the US to keep listening and digesting what the lebai said.
The good thing about it is that everyone of us felt the responsibility to help and get involved. PAS has set a political machine deep inside each and everyone of us and can be triggered at a flick of the fingers. You can still see a group of old makciks soliciting the votes from door to door deep in the kampung. I mean those hardcore folks ran the routes with no upah or duit kopi whatsoever; a truely volunteer at the core.
Although we could not brush a side the influence of Tik Tok or IG ,the face-to-face interaction remains significant.
3.The Confusion
With the current Pakatan or Perikatan,we the common folks still don’t know who is who. The scenario is not much different from a wayang kulit show; even more so when you see the show from behind the screen and have a hard time to keep up which stick holds which character. But definitely you know where the voice comes from and how the hands/mouths move. At times , I felt cheated and thought the dalang made the whole story up.
I think this time around is the worst election ever and the whole thing is just a gameplay. In Kelantan, the green flags remind us nothing will change. And we know that is true no matter how big the lie is. The red flags seem so remote and foreign; of course, it IS NOT us!. Everyday since I came back to Kelantan a few weeks ago, and passed by the many flag poles, the flags already divided my thoughts. Between a remote “ orang luar”(the red flags) and my local “orang kita”(the green flags). After the dust has settled and the air is clear,I know who will be standing there having a smirky smile on his face. My lebai.
4. Poor and Isolated.
So after all this bruhaha, Kelantan will remain Kelantan….as is. Folks will carry on with their lives and redha with results because that is the fate. The simple life in Kelantan continues. We are proud of our enduring ability to face the economy hardship or poor road condition. The complain of water shortage or water quality will continue and our newly elected government will blame everyone other than themselves for the problems.
You can almost remove the uncertainty from the equations. In Kelantan, PAS will sweep clean all kerusi no matter what affiliation it is in right now ,PN or whatever . The flags are still green and white no matter from which angle you are looking at them.
I am sad for what will happen but proud to realize that these folks speak their minds regardless what the world has to say. Simple folks sometimes are hard to comprehend . We, you and I, cannot impose our ideas on them. The basic human rights must be upheld at all times.
The uncertainty of the future remains certain for now. Like any horror stories there will be a character of an old ugly witch with long crooked nose, wringkled face that has no strength to move but can swear bad words at you. A party that is in power for too long is like that horrific witch. Guess which one that is in Kelantan?
