22-Feb-23 14:00

Badrul Hisham Ismail, Director of Programmes, IMAN Research

Last Friday, PAS members organised and participated in a procession, marching bearing replicas of medieval weapons and armour. This was part of the Himpunan Pemuda Islam Terengganu (Himpit) gathering. 

Images and videos from the procession that went viral caused a stir and panic on social media, largely among non-Malays but many Malays too. Some social media users likened the costume and parade to the racist extremist group Ku Klux Klax, but others have brushed it off as nothing more than cosplay. 

So, was it merely cosplay or are we witnessing something far more profound and worrying here?