General elections are not just about choosing a government. They are also a reflection of the citizenry's psyche at a particular moment in history.

Sunday's polls showed that Malaysians remain as reluctant as ever about undertaking any major revolutions. After moving to the water's edge and dipping their toes in the water in 1999, they have predictably retreated to safe and familiar territory.

As former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was keenly aware, as long as no one is starving, Malaysians prefer the devil they know than the possible saint they don't.

In voting for the safe and familiar, the electorate created some good news and some bad.

The good news is that the voters - specifically the Malays - soundly rejected PAS' fundamentalist version of political Islam. It was a stunning defeat for what PAS had been preaching and practising since capturing Kelantan (1990) and Terengganu (1999).

The Malays are religious people and Islam plays a central role in their lives - but they also showed their independence, relative moderation and ethnic-group individuality by going against a worldwide trend in the Islamic world and firmly giving the thumbs down to PAS.

On hindsight, it came as no surprise. PAS has been increasingly out to lunch with its progressively restrictive, Taliban-style actions in the two states it ruled. And they've received a comprehensive punishment for not being able to see the obvious - the majority of Malays are no Talibanesque society.

The rejection of PAS will also have come as a huge sigh of relief for the non-Malays. It is no secret that most non-Malays have been fearful of the future since PAS captured Kelantan and Terengganu, and appeared poised to expand their gains this time.

If you listen closely, you can hear the non-Malays exhaling across the land.

The return to the familiar also brought some tiny bits of good news for the opposition. Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh are back in Parliament where they belong. The DAP has made a wee bit of a comeback, but it still doesn't bode well for the party's long-term survival prospects.

The bad news is the way Malaysians have totally turned their backs on Anwar Ibrahim, a veteran Malay hero, and a man who has put his life and limb at risk for the sake of giving this country a new direction.

The 'spring of reformasi' is now officially ended, at least for the near future. And the exhilarating feeling of optimism and change that the sacking and imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim unleashed in 1998 has been well and truly snuffed out.

That's a pity. Keadilan could and should have provided the moderate, multi-racial solution to this country's many woes, and given a chance at running the country, may well have ushered in a new and enlightened era.

That is not to be.

Ironically, the BN's overwhelming win may prove to be a personal blessing for Anwar. Safe in the knowledge that he has a huge mandate, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will probably allow Anwar to go free, even if it is just to go overseas to get the medical attention he so desperately needs.

Finally, the elections have once again shown how formidable the Umno-dominated BN machinery is. When some parts get old or fall into disrepair, they just get replaced, and the machine keeps chugging along as smooth as ever.

When the euphoria fades in a few weeks and things get back to business as usual, it will be obvious that the many ills afflicting us are still there, unresolved and still dependent for solutions on the same group of people.

Abdullah has been given a strong mandate to resolve them. We hope he will do just that.