Political scientist Azmil Tayeb published an academic report before the election last year, explaining the dominance of PAS in Kelantan. The report reveals that PAS builds connections at the grassroots level through state government agencies. PAS has village chiefs or “Intelligence Collectors” and acts as coordinators between representatives and the local community. These are “Penghulu Mukim” and “Penghulu Tanpa Mukim”. Not only that, PAS has installed “Penghulu Seranta” for maintaining contact with wanderers outside the state. There are also 14 “Penghulu Seranta” in Kelantan – one for each Parliamentary district.
In a residential area with a certain number of people, a PAS activist will act as a "residential ambassador" and arrange regular meetings between the Kelantanese in the area and the village head of the Joint Committee. The village head of the joint committee will share the PAS agenda with the wanderers, and at the same time listen to the wanderers' grievances and prospects. In addition, the village head of the joint committee also keeps in touch with the "Persatuan Anak Perantauan Kelantan Malaysia” (Perakan) with chapters all over the country, mainly to convey the concern of PAS to them, and may even lobby them to vote for PAS in the election.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org
The image of PAS is rigid and closed. But they are good at using technology. When the age of voters was lowered to 18 years old, it captured this group of more than one million in the country in time. In addition to promoting values among young people through social media such as TikTok, PAS has also established "Alternative Riding Clubs" in various congressional districts in the state, allowing young people to march in teams with light motorcycles, which is widely popular among first-time voters.
At local council level, all councillors are PAS members including the Nons.
In addition to establishing "interactive relationships between people", PAS also set up a missionary unit called Bahagian Dewan Halaqat in the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Kelantan (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Kelantan). This unit has a total of 540 staff to provide training to Imams, religious teachers and missionaries who can convey the political message of PAS to different groups. These messages are disseminated through Friday sermons, regular sermons (kuliah), and mosque activities, and the effect of their influence can be imagined.
In addition, as early as the 1980s, the PAS had the idea of operating preschool education and established the "Islamic Seedling Cultivation Center" (Pusat Asuhan Tunas Islam, referred to as PASTI). Today, 35 years later, there are 2,497 PASTI schools across the country with 9,539 faculty members. In 2022, there will be 125,065 students aged four to six. After the success of pre-school education, the PAS continued its efforts. In 2016, it established a religious primary school (Sekolah Rendah Integrasi Teras Islam Al-Furqan, referred to as SRITI) with Islam as the core. Four years later, it had 146 schools nationwide. As for religious secondary schools (Sekolah Menengah Integrasi Teras Islam, referred to as SMITI), there are seven schools that have been tested in 2020. In other words, PAS has gradually established its own education system - from pre-school kindergarten, primary school to secondary school, and successfully cultivated its own new generation.
Although no university has been established yet, the PAS has spread all over the public institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. The Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam (Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam) on college campuses is a peripheral organization of the PAS. Together, these associations are Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia (Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia), a political force that cannot be ignored.
Looking at the above-mentioned deployment and operation of the PAS - based in Kelantan, gradually expanding its influence to the northeast of the peninsula, and now looking south along the west coast, it can be seen that the "green tide" is not an accidental tsunami. It took decades to shape ideas.
What do we do? The Government has been mollycoddling anything to do with Islam or the Malays. “You don’t spook the Malays”. So do we surrender? Yes, that’s an option and have Hadi as PM and follow Iran, Afghanistan or Pakistan. More likely Iran! The ulamaks can then rule without an election!
Or, we counter the narrative on social media, seek to register their schools and curriculum and address community involvement with active “service ambassadors” for every condo and street. That takes organisation but that’s what PAS has done – are we too divided to organise?
Unless we counter the PAS narrative, I am afraid the “Green Wave” will gather further momentum. Unlike Hadi, if PAS had someone like the late Tok Guru (Nik Aziz Nik Mat), even the Nons will swing to PAS! Not enviable, but PM has a lot of work to do before the next GE.
Reference:
Explaining PAS’s dominance in Kelantan, Azmil Tayeb, Yusof Ishak Institute, Issue 17, 2022
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