Share to help stimulate good governance, ensure future of people & M’sia

No News Is Bad News

Why is DAP ‘dumping’ a truly multi-racial Malay Skudai assemblyman?

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1, 2026: Skudai (Johor) assemblyman Marina Ibrahim is truly a multi-racial DAP politician.

Yet, today DAP and its Johor chief Teo Nie Ching want to “axe” her by moving her to Tiram, a seat held by Umno.

It sure is mind-boggling why the DAP is “getting rid” of her?

However, she has turned down DAP and Teo’s offer to move to Tiram and an offer to head a Government-linked company if she loses.

Marina, however, turned down the offer and announced her retirement from politics.

However, the Umno-led Mentri Besar (MB) have secured the Johor Sultan’s approval to dissolve the Johor Assembly and pave the way for elections.

So, will Marina really retire or contest on another platform?

No News Is Bad News reproduces below an article posted by The Coverage on who multi-racial Marina is (also view the pictures at the bottom of the article):

News

Marina Ibrahim Represents Everything PAS Usually Attacks — Yet They’re Riding Her Wave

1 June, 2026

It is genuinely weird — and more than a little absurd — to watch some PAS supporters suddenly trying to ride on the wave of Marina Ibrahim, the young, progressive, and competent PKR leader from Skudai. They treat her like some kind of political asset they can borrow for optics, while everything about her public life directly contradicts the rigid, regressive worldview PAS has long championed.

Yes, one can (and should) criticise DAP for its hypocrisy on GLC political appointments and cronyism. That rot deserves scrutiny. But let’s not pretend PAS supporters are suddenly Marina’s genuine sympathisers or allies. That performance is hollow. Both sides have their hypocrisies, but Marina and PAS come from fundamentally different worlds. The attempt to act warm towards her feels like tactical opportunism rather than any real ideological alignment.

Marina represents the kind of modern Malaysian leader that PAS hardliners would normally spend their days attacking, not praising. She is young, vibrant, progressive, and comfortable in a multicultural society. She wears sarees during Thaipusam celebrations. She attends events where alcohol is served (without drinking herself). She has shaken hands with Buddhist monks during Wesak, visited Chinese temples, and even paid respects at Chinese graves. Her personal Facebook page operates significantly in Mandarin — something that would trigger instant allergic reactions among the more fanatical PAS circles who treat every Chinese character as a threat to “Tanah Melayu.”

Imagine the PAS response if one of their own women leaders behaved this way. The lectures would be endless: Why no tudung? Aurat! Haram! Why are you mixing so freely? They would dictate her clothing, her social interactions, and label half her schedule as “liberal contamination.” Yet some PAS voices now want to bask in her popularity? The cognitive dissonance is glaring.

Marina’s own words reveal her philosophy clearly. She has spoken movingly about her mother, a devout Muslim who prays, reads the Quran, and wears the tudung, yet freely brought Christian friends shopping during Christmas and Chinese friends during Chinese New Year. Marina quoted her mother’s wisdom: being around non-Muslims does not diminish one’s faith if one’s iman is strong. This is tolerant, confident, inclusive Islam — not the punitive, suspicious, control-obsessed version promoted by PAS politics.

PAS’s brand of politics often feels too shallow-minded, too restrictive, too punitive, too ancient, too regressive, and too extreme for a modern, multi-ethnic Malaysia. They appear more comfortable fielding candidates who can perform “terpaling Melayu” and “terpaling Islam” theatrics — even if they are mediocre or worse — rather than promoting genuinely capable, intelligent, and service-oriented leaders like Marina. How many defamation suits have they lost? How often do they rely on slander and fitnah while remaining strangely silent on real corruption when it suits them?

Instead of moral policing what people wear, eat, celebrate, or attend, perhaps they should focus on actual governance. Marina doesn’t impose her personal beliefs on others. She doesn’t play busybody moral police. That live-and-let-live attitude is exactly what makes her appealing to many moderate Malaysians — and exactly why hardcore PAS ideology struggles to accommodate her without looking deeply hypocritical.

In short: PAS can criticise their political opponents. That’s fair game. But pretending to embrace or ride the wave of a progressive, multicultural, Mandarin-savvy, temple-visiting woman leader like Marina Ibrahim is simply not believable. It exposes the ideological gap rather than bridging it. Malaysia needs more leaders who can function comfortably across communities without needing constant religious enforcement. Marina appears to be one. PAS, by its own long record, is not built for that world.