Revving it up: Malaysia's PAS tries to up cool factor to replicate 'green wave'

Observers doubt PAS can pull it off without concrete policies to ease concerns of youth

- Harith Mustaffa

ALOR SETAR - Mr Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden revved his motorcycle with glee, laughing as others around cheered him on. Two other riders followed suit on their Yamaha RX-Z, a popular model first produced in 1985 and which has become a symbol of pride for rebellious Malay youth across Peninsular Malaysia.

The conference hall was filled with the smell of petrol and exhaust smoke from the rumbling motorbikes, as pillion riders waved party flags at the hundreds of attendees.

This was not a gathering of a motorcycle club, but a scene from the opening of the annual congress of the youth wing of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), Malaysia's Islamist opposition party, on Sept 12.

In his opening speech, youth wing (Pemuda) chief Afnan, 44, exhorted members to reach out to young people - working-class youth not entirely indoctrinated by partisan ideals yet - who would "rev their RX-Z" much like he had done earlier.

In 2022, that sizeable voter base formed much of the anti-establishment vote that nearly took PAS and its Perikatan Nasional coalition to power, in the so-called "green wave" that PAS Youth now aims to replicate, as the Anwar administration grapples with rising living costs and a slow pace of reforms.

But observers question whether this approach can succeed without any concrete policies to alleviate young voters' concerns.

In his speech, Mr Afnan said Malaysia's youth "live under pressure", earning unstable salaries from gigs despite having university degrees. Mr Afnan believes PAS can be more effective by being a "party of solutions" rather than merely championing Islamic issues.