Green Is The Colour

13 Pages 3357 Words

ems faced by the Malays at that period of time, where they are forced to confront the issue of whether to support the government with its moderate ideology of Islam which attempts to co-exist with other races and religions, or the fundamentalist’s brand of extremism in Islam, where tolerance for others is out of the issue. Up until today, this dilemma is still faced by all Malays in the nation, as they decide on who to cast their votes for in the general election – UMNO or PAS. However, in this novel, Fernando is attempting to propagate the idea that fundamentalist ideas and policies will never be able to work out in a multi-racial and multi-religious country like Malaysia. This matter is important as it concerns the nation’s future direction, not just in the political arena, but also in the formation of a national identity that can be accepted by all. To the fundamentalists, there can never be tolerance for people who are different from them in terms of faith and belief:
They talked again about the materialism that had invaded the cities. The time for the fight was very near, the time for sweeping away the corrupt legacies of the past, so that a pure society of only believers could be established (“Green” 94).

Their extremist ways of thinking actually poses a threat to the rest of the people in the country, especially in a country like Malaysia that is multi-racial and multi-religious. In this novel, readers are able to see the extremity of the Islam fundamentalists, where even people of their own faith, but with a different doctrine of thinking are considered a threat to their plans of creating an “ideal” society of their own. That was why Lebai Hanafiah was seen as a believer who had strayed away from the so-called “right path” and was attacked by them. The attack on Lebai Hanafiah was portrayed by Fernando to highlight to readers the consequences that would befall the nation if the fundamentalists are allowed t...