In a rare development, the Malaysian head of state, the king, publicly rebuked the prime minister (PM) and insinuated that he had lied to the public, as reported by Benar News on 29 July 2021. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, explains: "Instead of making parliament take a vote of confidence to clarify whether he commands a majority, the PM made the (Deputy) Parliament Speaker suspend the last day of sittings. In the end, he declared the king would agree with his decision when it was plain to see (and officially stated) that he did not. This led to enormous additional pressure on the PM, whose government is struggling with the pandemic surging through the country. On 16 August 2021, he finally resigned, but his successor, Ismail Sabri Yaacob, who was sworn in on 21 August 2021 without a vote in parliament, comes from the UMNO establishment (ABC News, 21 August 2021). He has basically left the government unchanged and the foremost task will now be to cope with a rising number of the population testing positive for COVID-19. In general, the view is becoming more widespread - especially among younger people - that distinguishing between Malay and non-Malay is an outdated policy and that the real confrontation in society is between the "˜haves" and "˜have-nots". While this sentiment is shared by most Christians, it remains to be seen if it changes anything in the limitations and levels of discrimination they are facing."