The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party - PAS - is upbeat for it has just concluded its 55th ‘muktamar' (general assembly) on June 6.

Its first muktamar was held at Gunung Semanggul in Perak in 1947 and it was then called the Pan Malayan Islamic Conference.

PAS has every reason to be upbeat. They are inspired greatly by the turn of events last year, the wave of change is fortune on their side, at least for the moment. This is a stark difference when compared to other periods in the history of the party.

Being modest and humble in every sense has been the party's greatest asset. Its relentless efforts right from its inception has eventually borne fruit to make PAS what it is today.

Looking through a pinhole, we may say it has a resemblance to Hezbollah of the Middle East - both were seen are radicals by some quarters at one time but they became the darlings of the people.

I'm not suggesting that supporters of PAS are similar to those of Hezbollah; what I'm saying is that the people's perception has changed over time and the people have made their the choice.

PAS as political party belong to Islamist grouping and in the past even by the look of their members, people knew they were PAS supporters. They were typically with their long beards and turbans. Some of them were even attired akin to the Bedouins of the Sahara.

But as time passed, the scary image (in the eyes of many of non-Muslims) of the past slowly disappeared even without the help of RTM and Astro.

With the emergence of a new breed of leadership who are forward-looking, PAS understands the people much better and can talk to them in simple language - a departure from the traditional PAS way. Conversations with them are no longer centered on who would go to heaven and who would go to hell or whether ‘I'm ‘halal', you're ‘haram'.

Their most astonishing achievement so far was when non-Muslim voters voted for PAS candidates in the last general elections regardless of the intense media propaganda created by BN which brandished PAS as Taliban who wouyld chop off any one's hand for stealing capati.

Some Chinese and Indians are no longer shy to even to stick PAS flags at their doorways. Surely this has shocked Umno members more than any other.

In times of economic turmoil, in times of political uncertainty and in time of racial and religious disarray, people surely look for some one who can save the country. The issue is that leaders must be found and religion alone is not the answer. And if the so-called leaders are found to be in PAS, so be it.

That perhaps sums up why PAS is no longer viewed as a threat. And the PAS leadership must understand this - there is no other time than now for them and it must not be messed up.

But when a handful of the party's very top leaders talk about a ‘unity government' by teaming up with Umno, PAS must realise that it is standing on quicksand and if its leaders continue to play cat and mouse, they and the party will be swallowed.

It would then take centuries before another opportunity arrives for PAS for it to gain back its support from the people. Meanwhile, its opponent, Umno, will be laughing all the way to the polling stations, happy as they ever were.

Umno politicians are desperate and many political commentators are not far off wrong in guessing otherwise. PAS has considerable say, share and respect within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Whether it is to last is another story.

The split within PAS could have been designed rather than its being a coincidence.. One great lesson that Pakatan has already learnt is when one Umno YB crosses over to PKR, the response was three Pakatan lawmakers crossing over to BN.

Following that was one of the ugliest episodes in the history of Malaysian politics - the Perak debacle. That one Umno man's move was a decoy. And there would be more in store if they're not careful.

Umno welcoming talks on unity comes as no surprise. Umno people are not going to sit idle. Some of their former ministers with a healthy balance in their bank accounts now have nothing else to do other than look for ‘loose nails to hammer'.

Anyway, the next big thing on PAS' agenda, according to its president Haji Awang Hadi is for the party to spread its wings to Borneo namely, Sabah and Sarawak.

I wouldn't want to claim to be an authority on this subject, but as a Sabahan who has been observing Malaysian politics for some years. I can only say this:

Suppose PAS has RM300 million to spend on this project, ‘spreading its wings'. My advice is that it would be better for PAS to invest this money in something which is more tangible.

If egos need to be satisfied, then perhaps spend just a few thousand on research to find out if the Borneo people want PAS. This is to avoid a waste of resources. As of now, it's still wise to take it a step at a time.