Lloyd: He is alternatively reviled as an evil despot and hailed as a visionary. But the one undisputed claim about Mahathir Mohamed is his mercurial skill of survival. Now at 77, Malaysia’s longest serving leader is about to call it a day. At the recent summit of the Non Aligned Movement, he rubbed shoulder with some of the world’s tough-guy leaders – including Castro and Cambodia’s Hun Sen. It provided a platform to strut the world stage, dispensing advice on how he transformed a relative backwater into a prosperous, secular, Muslim nation. But the façade of this modern Malaysia, built by Mahathir, masks a society in deep turmoil. There’s a battle going here between those who want to this to remain a secular Muslim state, and those who want it to become a fundamentalist Islamic republic. Through sheer dominance of the political stage over 22 years, Dr Mahathir has kept a firm lid on these religious reformers. But that won’t be his problem for much longer if he keeps to his word and steps down in October.

Muslim prayer

Lloyd: It could easily be a scene from the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca -- but this is the ‘other’ Malaysia, in the northern state of Kelantan. It’s long been a multi-racial country, with Malays, Chinese and Indians living in relative harmony. In a land of many faiths, Muslims, Christians and Hindus have all enjoyed freedom of worship. But these are the followers of a movement that want all of Malaysia to face Mecca, united as a fundamentalist Islamic nation. Spearheading this drive is nation’s main opposition Islamic Party, known as PAS. Its spiritual leader is also a political leader -- Kelantan State chief minister Nik Aziz.

Aziz: Those who follow Allah will be granted a place in heaven, and those who don’t will receive what they deserve.

Lloyd: It may not be unusual for men and women to be segregation at prayers, but in Nik Aziz’s part of Malaysia it’s happening in everyday life. A few years back some female customers in one Kelantan shop complained about being groped by men. Nik Aziz responded by ordering supermarkets across the state to separate the sexes, giving shop owners no choice but to comply.

Shop Owner: It is more easier this way with the ladies and the gents, you know.

Lloyd: And there is no more touching the bottoms any more?

Shop Owner: No, nothing like that.

Lloyd: It was just the beginning of a move to segregate men and women in many aspects of daily life. Only federal intervention stopped Nik Aziz’ state government imposing traditional Sharia criminal penalties such as amputating the hand of a thief.

Aziz: People do not steal, people do not commit adultery, people do not consume alcohol because they know that Allah is constantly watching them.

Lloyd: Friday prayers in Kelantan’s state capital Khota Baru literally stop the city in its tracks. The PAS Islamic party is solidly in control here, and now wants to take religious reform nationwide.To boost its support, PAS has a strategy of converting Chinese and Indians. To ram home the message that ethnic communities can feel safe living in a fundamentalist state, Nik Aziz appointed a Minister for Unity. He’s from a Chinese family that converted to Islam from Christianity when he was a child.

Tan: Our ambition is to set up an Islamic state.Lloyd: For the entire country? Tan: Yeah for the whole country. So we can give fairness to the people of Malaysia.

Lloyd: If that happened, what would Malaysia look like? How would it be different?

Tan: Different just like Kelantan. Kelantan is now the model State for the people.

Lloyd: Islamic fundamentalists aren’t the only ones attempting change in Malaysia. At the other end of the political spectrum, Dr. Mahathir’s last deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, paid a high price for speaking out against the system. Four years ago he was sacked, then jailed on charges of sodomy and corruption – charges that have since been discredited. Anwar’s successor was Abdullah Badawi – and he’s a firm believer that all good deputies should be seen and not heard.

Lloyd (at press conference): This is a question for the incoming chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, Abdullah Badawi. Could you tell us how you will stamp your own authority on the organisation once you take over?

Press Conference MC: I think that Mr Badawi just now that the press conference he does not want to talk about what he will do when he takes over.

Mahathir: Plenty of time to get that answer.

Lloyd: Abdullah Badawi is a man on a tight leash. His international media appearances are rare. Badawi is also Home Affairs Minister – that puts him in charge of the police muscle that keeps Malaysian society in check. He’s the willing enforcer of the feared Internal Security Act – or ISA. It’s a draconian legal power that Dr Mahathir ruthlessly uses to jail and silence his critics. Badawi’s other key credential as the anointed Anwar successor is his background as an Islamic religious scholar.

Muzzafar: His own degree is in Islamic studies and he knows the religion well. I think PAS would have been happy if someone else had been chosen as his successor, because it would have made it easier for PAS to mount a challenge. But this has made it somewhat more difficult for PAS to mount a challenge.

Lloyd: Dr Mahathir’s decision to appoint Badawi as his deputy was reinforced by the terrorist attacks of September 11. Since then the Prime Minister has been travelling around Malaysia painting the opposition as fanatics, led by a radical. It’s a claim that resonates with Malaysia’s moderate Muslim majority – particularly after Kelantan’s fundamentalist Chief Minister Nik Aziz called on all Muslims to support the Taliban. Malaysian and American intelligence agencies allege that Aziz’s PAS party members are terrorists – including his own son, Nik Adli. These wedding pictures are from an otherwise dangerous period in Nik Adli’s life – when he was a Mujahadeen fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. On his return home, authorities claim he became a leader of the Islamic Warriors Group of Malaysia – or KMM – a terror cell inspired by radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Nik Adli is now being held indefinitely under the Internal Security Act.

Aziz: My own son was arrested. I say you can arrest my son but there must be a court. You accuse him of being guilty, and you sentence him. This is not democracy.

Lloyd: That’s been a familiar complaint in Malaysia for a long time but human rights campaigners say its worse now, especially for those connected to the Islamic party. Have there been more arrests under the ISA since September 11?

Kia: Comparatively, compared to pre-September 11, I would say there have been more arrests.

Lloyd: In excess of 70 according to Soong Kua Kia, a campaigner for the abolition of the ISA. He was jailed for sedition under the Internal Security Act for writing a book on politics that Dr Mahathir did not like.

Kia: He seems to have a lucky star. Every time he seems to be on the point of bad luck something comes to rescue him, and in this case it was September 11. The new international climate of the war against terrorism that has allowed him to continue his methods of incarcerating his political opponents.

Lloyd: Dr Mahathir has taken to jetting around the world dispensing advice on how to combat the menace of fundamentalism – Malaysia-style. Upon his return home Badawi is always there, joining family members in greeting him like an obedient son. And when the old patriarch finally walks off the tarmac for the last time, he’ll do so firm in the knowledge that his political heir will continue the uncompromising stand against fundamentalists. That doesn’t surprise the wife of the last would be Mahathir successor, Anwar Ibrahim. Wan Aziza believes she already knows which way Abdullah Badawi will go -- at least as far as her family is concerned. Is Abdullah Badawi good news or bad news for Anwar?

Wan Aziza: They have always been political rivals, ever since Anwar entered politics actively, and they are from Penang. They have the same base, so I don’t see Badawi changing anything once he gets into power.

Lloyd: Questions about Anwar have never gone down well with

Abdullah Badawi. Williams: Sir, there are serious allegations raised in court by Anwar and others about very high level corruption and cronyism – specifically…Badawi: This is not something new. The battle for corruption has been going on – even before and now we will continue to fight corruption. We do not pay lip service to these efforts that are being made at the moment. There’s nothing new about that. Thank you.

Lloyd: At times, Abdullah Badawi seems uncertain about which way to turn. He’s told supporters that it will be business as usual after he takes over, but he’s also pledged to eliminate rampant cronyism.

Muzzafar: He must realise, for instance, you have to grant more democratic space in this country. He has to realise for instance that fighting corruption is not just rhetorical. He’ll have to be seen fighting corruption.

Lloyd: Now as the time for his departure approaches, there seems little doubt, that after 22 years, Mahathir really means to bring the curtain down on his one-man show. Over his successor there hangs an air of uncertainty. Abdullah Badawi will have to work fast to demonstrate why he was the chosen one – or risk being swept from the stage.