The Tudung Revolution

Way back in 1971 a student leader named Anwar Ibrahim set up ABIM (Anwar bin Ibrahim Maju) as a vehicle to advance his ambition to be somebody on the Malaysian socio-politico landscape riding on the largely inchoate groundswell of Muslim youth in search of a new image and banner to assert their identity feeling threatened by the pervasive economic and cultural influence of the West and the non-Malays majority of whom are non-Muslims.

Traditional religious institutions and rituals, PAS, UMNO were the main clothes hangers  for Muslims to hang their emotional identity needs on, but there was an unexpressed, inchoate (same meaning actually, kiki) need for a new image and face. The face was provided by Anwar who was a jambu during kolej days but now beginning to show the wear and tear of too many times entering back doors and exiting front doors. The image was provided by the tudung. Anwar and ABIM members gave a new meaning to the wearing of the tudung. He made it popular, glamorous and fashionable. It is no more a symbol of piety than driving a posh car is a symbol of money well earned. Nowadays, anyone driving a flashy car is a suspect of being a crook, a corrupt official, a lawyer on the take, a dishonest politician, an SPM drop out who happens to have the ability to sing or kick a ball.

Similarly, wearing a tudung does not mean one is a god-fearing pious person. BUT IT IS CHIC! Also it is good PR in the form of window dressing to attract Muslim customers in this halal-haram suspicious world that Muslims find themselves co-mingling as a result of too much historical sleeping their ancestors indulged in ... what I call the Stupor of the Stopas! (In Kelantan dialect Mustafa is pronounced Stopa!)

So now the man who started the tudung revolotion has long abandoned his original vehicle for advancing on his Moscow, and instead is expending all his resources to stay within sight of Moscow but every step he takes to stay in position takes him a step backward. Rather like Michael Jackson doing the moon walk in the Billy Jean music video.

So now we have to change the acronym a bit to suit changing times ... ABIM: Anwar bin Ibrahim Malu.