According to Brendan Pereira's article in The Straits Times Interactive, "Datuk Seri Khir Toyo's high-profile moral campaign to close down pubs, karaoke lounges and entertainment outlets in Selangor and his state government's focus on tough action against practices frowned upon by Islam but permitted by other religions are turning the state into an enclave of conservatism".

Others like the new Datuk Bandar of Ipoh, Sirajuddin Salleh, have now followed suit to enforce "moral principles" among youths, including non-Muslim youths like Lai Kar Leong and Ramesh Thanasegaran

According to Brendan, the strategy "calls for the state government to be responsive to the religious and cultural leanings of the Malays" - the largest segment of the population- "for winning back Malay support in the state" from PAS.

That strategy has resulted in the Kajang Municipal Council recently deciding to ban the sale of pork in open-air markets in two townships, even though the sale has been going on for years.

This strategy of trying to out-Islamise PAS is shortsighted and counter-productive. PAS cannot be outdone in its forte. The main selling point of Umno is that it has a more moderate and pragmatic approach to religion than PAS, or else it is really no different. Umno should develop its own unique strength rather than compete with its nemesis.

The main cause of the shift of Malay support in the 1999 general election was the harsh treatment meted to ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim who, pursuant to the power struggle had blown the whistle on the whole system regarding corruption and abuse of power with the credibility of an insider.

Malay Malaysians are legitimately concerned about cronyism and corruption alleged by Anwar. As principal beneficiaries of the New Economic Policy, they are concerned that the heritage for future generations are not frittered away by buccaneers until nothing is left for future generations. This is especially pressing given that WTO liberalisation and Afta are just around the corner.

As for non-Malays, if it were not for them who supported BN out of fear of PAS's religious extremism, BN would have emerged from the 1999 general election worse off.

It therefore seems to be a losing strategy to (1) up the ante on PAS's main strength without (2) addressing the first cause of Malays' shift of support whilst at the same time (3) alienating the very non-Malay segment that supports the BN by implementing domestic policies which narrow the difference between itself and PAS (At least PAS is honest with its policies).

It is pathetic that (2) cannot be addressed because money politics is the first reason for joining politics. Hence (1) is pursued - a losing formula akin to out-wrestle the comic character the Hulk. In the process of (3), the rest of their supporters are frightened away by its ogre-like appearance. How could this ever be a winning formula?

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad eschews religious extremism. He does not descend to the level of taking away pre-existing rights of youth who court in the park or porksellers in open air markets, which will pave the way down the slippery slope for more extreme actions in other areas.

In fact his method of strengthening Malay nationalism the raison d'etre of Umno is directed in an international agenda to champion the cause of the Muslim world against US supremacy. This while evincing zero tolerance for the terror tactics of Islamic militants.

This stance of using international agenda to buttress the domestic, one does not implicate domestic policies that blur the difference between PAS and Umno in alienation of non-Malay support. It also raises the international profile of the country.

Whatever detractors may think, it is, given the limitations of (1) above, a cleverer strategy than that adopted by the Selangor MB and Ipoh's Datuk Bandar. In leadership terms, the capacity to strategically think through is the measure of difference between the numero uno and the rest of the pack.