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Selangor PAS just made a promise that sounds almost revolutionary: if they win the next state election, they pledge no alcohol or gambling ban.
Wait, what? The same party that’s spent decades declaring alcohol and gambling as haram, immoral, and a one-way ticket to eternal damnation now says, “Relax, we’ll evaluate first.”
Apparently, PAS has “changed.”
Or maybe they’ve just checked the numbers. Because in Selangor - unlike in Kelantan or Terengganu - votes don’t come neatly wrapped in piety. They come with beer, bak kut teh, and Big Sweep tickets.
So suddenly, the party that once vowed to shut down Genting is now a champion of “local demographics.” Gambling is no longer the devil’s work - it’s a sensitive cultural matter.
Amazing how principles soften with new campaign strategy.
Divine Principles, Human Exceptions
For decades, PAS has prided itself as the moral compass of Malaysia - the righteous warrior against vice. They banned lotteries, restricted alcohol sales, condemned concerts, and lectured us all about morality.
But when it comes to winning a state like Selangor, that moral compass starts spinning like a ceiling fan in a power outage.
And that’s the problem. When principles become conditional - when “haram” depends on your postcode - what exactly are you standing for?
If something is wrong in Kelantan but negotiable in Klang, it’s not faith guiding policy anymore. It’s strategy.
The Politics of Piety
Let’s be honest - PAS isn’t alone in this. Every Malaysian party has played the religion card when convenient and tucked it away when not. But PAS made its entire brand about not doing that.
They weren’t supposed to be pragmatic. They were supposed to be pure.
Now, they’re talking like any other politician - about “consultation,” “consensus,” and “adapting to demographics.” Translation: “We’ll see how angry people get before deciding if it’s still a sin.”
This isn’t reform. It’s rebranding. “PAS for All” isn’t inclusion - it’s camouflage.
PAS has “changed”
There’s a dangerous irony here. When leaders bend their beliefs to suit political weather, they don’t just lose credibility - they cheapen faith itself. Religion stops being a conviction and becomes a campaign tool.
And Malaysians, ever forgiving, might shrug it off because, well, everyone does it. But that’s how hypocrisy becomes policy.
Because once a party learns that principles can be parked at the door of power, nothing is sacred anymore.
Today it’s alcohol and gambling. Tomorrow, who knows - maybe even corruption will find a “demographic exception.” After all, if doctrine can bend, so can integrity.
So yes, PAS says it has “changed.” But what kind of change is it when your morality depends on where you’re campaigning?
If leaders can bend this easily to win votes, they can bend back just as easily to betray them.
And when the loudest moral crusaders start negotiating their own commandments, it’s not reform - it’s hypocrisy in a new costume.
Because when faith becomes a political tool, it stops being holy. It just becomes hollow.
Fa Abdul (fa.abdul.penang@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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