PETALING JAYA – Who would have thought a world-renowned American superstar could accidentally end up being the “poster child” of PAS?
Beyoncé sparked a myriad of replies from amused Malaysian netizens after a fan X (formerly Twitter) account for her Renaissance World Tour dropped a photo of her decked in green latex and leather, lying down while holding a white light ball.
Amusingly, the background and the platform on which “Queen Bey” was resting on were also in shades of green.
Beyoncé, whose full name is Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, is formerly a member of girl group Destiny’s Child.
— RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR (@RenaissanceWT) September 19, 2023
In one of the replies to the photo, which garnered over 600 likes at the time of writing, @lawabidingciti1 shared a popular meme of PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, which bore the words: “Bagi dia borang keahlian PAS” (“Give her a PAS membership form”).
One @mukhrzi said: “Mother Beyoncé for PAS. Parti Alien Superstar,” in an ode to one of the songstress’ tracks on her Renaissance album, Alien Superstar.
Another Twitter user, @Ayinasyra remarked: “Sek kito jange pecoh.” This is a popular Kelantanese phrase that translates to “our people should stick together”.
The replies to the photo are swamped by other Malaysian Twitter users sharing photos of PAS memes, flags and the replicas the party is famous for.
User @amer__aljeffrey even tagged PAS’ official Twitter account, saying: “Power @PASPusat guna Beyoncé as artis jemputan.” (“PAS is powerful, they even invited Beyoncé as a guest artist.”)
In a play on the word “walaun”, popularly used to describe hardcore PAS supporters, @r_janzal said: “Walaoncé.”
Another user excitedly exclaimed: “Renaissance World Tour in Kota Baru.”
Even the quote tweets have been dominated by Malaysians, with @BreakMyCoffee asking: “Did Beyoncé just join Malaysian politics?”
User @roughlurv said: “Hadi Awang got Queen B on his side. Be scared (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim.”
Writer Faisal Tehrani joined the bandwagon, sharing the photo and saying: “The green wave finally reached the US. Power habaq hang.”
The green wave finally reached the US. Power habaq hang. https://t.co/3SSFeuHUy7
— Faisal Tehrani (@MohdFaizalMusa1) September 20, 2023
“Pertahankan kepimpinan Beyoncé,” said @chairmanGLC in a witty iteration of a popular PAS slogan, “pertahankan kepimpinan ulama” (“defend the leadership of religious scholars”).
The seemingly innocent photo of the singer has since garnered 2.6 million views at the time of writing, mostly thanks to Malaysians who would never pass up an opportunity to be funny.
For comparison’s sake, another photo of Beyoncé shared by the fan account only garnered over 71,000 views at the time of writing. Both photos were posted on the same day.
Election after election, chatter on PAS’ supposed “green wave” resurgence dominated conversations on Malaysia’s political scene, with the Islamist party gaining popularity and even securing its grip on the east coast states and Kedah. – The Vibes, September 21, 2023
