WHILE many Malay Muslims in this era are reviving the sunnah by taking up archery as a competitive sport and recreational activity, at the same time, many “pendekar” (warriors) have upped their ante in modern martial arts to combat the new world order.

These pendekar with their tanjak (headgear) are rallying behind the boss with a common goal, and that is to undermine all efforts made by the current government. Belittle. Undermine. Repeat.

It is Star Wars, but cyber war, where the bows and arrows are inexistent, only keyboards and fake Facebook accounts are used as their everyday ammunition. And it seems to be working well to those who do not reflect.

During the weekend, there was an interesting article, spot on in many areas and should be commented upon.

The editors said the current top three hot topics among their community are Zakir Naik, the Umno-PAS unity pact and the economy (the non-Muslim goods boycott movement).

Some of the comments on the OrangKata.my Facebook page are hostile to the point where there are “threats, or that they bring up fiery racial sentiments, or that we are merely agents of a political party or a religious group”.

Malaysians were different on social media and real life.

“On social media or in the media, I get the sense that there is a religious and racial ticking time bomb in the country. But in reality, the Grab pakcik (uncle) and the nasi lemak makcik (auntie) have no time or inclination for these issues. They want to make a living in a harmonious Malaysia,” I said.

Of course, in the real corridors, there are plenty of silent moderate Malays or progressive Malays whose gabs are zip-locked. Whichever adjective you wish to deploy, it all boils down to the same thing.

They are unwilling to talk, or if they are willing to voice their opinion, they do not want it to be recorded in any manner.

They choose to be anonymous. They are scared of losing their jobs.

They are scared to be seen as vocal. They do not want to be associated with opinionated postings on Facebook.

They only want to show you what they eat and some weddings they attended instead. These topics are considered safe.

Let others fight Goliath.

But these are the thinkers who did not #BMF, who quietly giggled at the ridiculous PAS-Umno union, and who, in real life, have absolutely no issues with other races as social media claims.

The open minded, educated urban Malays have chosen to stay safe and remain silent. They just want to eat nasi lemak and go to work quietly.

What you see in social media are those at the bottom of the pyramid (that’s if they really exist).

The hound dogs of political parties, who can barely speak nor write in English. The loyalists who refuse to think further than their noses.

Those who believe everything they see and click share without checking accuracy.

All they do is bash and belittle all day long. Worse, the comments they make are downright rude, uncouth and ill-mannered – which mirrors their background, level of education and political inclination.

Due to their lack of credible facts and content, they tend to recycle lame comebacks in all the pages that are in support of the government – in hope to break the spirit of good fellow Malaysians and escalate unrest amongst the netizens.

Fortunately, in every foolishness, there is always goodness.

For example, when they came in droves to drive the #BMF campaign and later heralded in their so-called success in reducing prices – not so many of them realised that the prices of goods could be brought down, because prices are actually determined by retailers, not so much the taxes.

Only a few of them noticed that the prices have been in fact, manipulated by greedy retailers who took advantage of the taxation structure to raise prices. And yet, they continue to cheerlead #BMF and claimed their fame.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in his controversial Malay Dilemma book, and I quote.

“I’m brash and abrasive but that’s because I’ve noticed when people are nice and polite, they never get anywhere.”

Being brash is alright if you are bright. But if you are abrasive and dumb, it goes to show that the cyber war is loaded with empty vessels, which make the most noise.

I have concluded, a long time ago, that it’s all empty chatter, fuss, with no intellect whatsoever out there.

But that’s how the cookie crumbles for as long as we keep seeing wedding photos and food platters from the silent Malays who choose to stay safe and stay quiet. – September 24, 2019.

* Sairana Mohd Saad reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.