Trouble brewing for Malaysia’s opposition bloc over beer funding for Chinese school event

The future of Malaysia’s main opposition front coalition is hanging by a thread as two of its founding members threaten to part ways following a feud over a brewery sponsorship of a Chinese school charity event.

An exit by Gerakan would mean Perikatan Nasional (PN) loses its claim to also represent the country’s sizeable ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, experts say, potentially freeing the Malay nationalist portion of the coalition to drift further to the conservative right, as it consolidates support among the country’s Malay-Muslim majority.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration came under fire last week after Islamist party PAS – a key member of the opposition coalition – accused two Muslim government leaders of accepting a donation from a brewery on behalf of a Chinese vernacular school. According to PAS, the move “normalises” consumption of alcohol, which is prohibited for Muslims.

But over the weekend, PAS redirected its ire at PN partner Gerakan, warning that their nascent partnership could crumble if it continued to speak out in support of such fundraising for Chinese education.

Gerakan shot back on Sunday, saying it would not hesitate to quit the coalition if it is forced to submit to “unreasonable” demands.

“The issue in PN is this incompatibility between Gerakan and PAS,” said Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a research fellow with Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Democracy and Elections.

“Gerakan has always been more moderate, while PAS are obsessed with political rhetoric steeped in religion. This is the result when you put together these two different ideologies.”

PN was formalised in the months following a 2020 political coup that prematurely ended the second term of prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, paving the