by wahti mahidin
For now let me guess that the PM is really scared. Worried. Something along those lines.
You can tell because he's taken to performing dum dum acts like play the huge
Chinese bongos on television in a campaign commercial for The Chinese New Year season.
A short-lived one.
The campaign, that is. Not CNY. Heck, CNY always goes on until the last sliver of fish is tossed.
The campaign died a sudden death, I believe, after the deluge of 'dislikes' buried the insignificant army of 'likes' with as much ceremony as the Lahad Datu incursion.
(I take here a break from criticism to gratefully commend custodians of Malaysia's security for vanquishing the Sulu insurgents.)
That aside, I still feel there is just so much of the PM on television that it warrants a new wiki definition of 'news' in the Malaysian sense. He has also decided to push elections to the last hour- no, he might even take it into injury time - although BN is the one who may end up hurting themselves if they don't stop trying to buy votes with all the federal assistance packages offered.
Lets see. Hmmm, yes. There is free money for buying books. A few (few?) Ringgit here and there for youths to purchase entry level smartphones.
Then there is something akin to food vouchers dished out during wartime, but here and now it is mammogram vouchers.
You read right. Free health vouchers to make sure everyone in well enough to get up early on polling day, and get into hot, sweaty queues, for your turn to make a bad decision..
And they never stop reminding people too.
More often than not, they always add - at the end of the handing out - a word from the sponsor: "All this money is for you, beloved rakyat, for free"
and then comes the clause "FOR AS LONG AS THE BARISAN GOVERNMENT IS IN POWER.."
You know, if you think about it - rakyat? Really?
Aren't YOU rakyat as well, Datuk Perdana Menteri and all other Menteris, appointed or voted-in? Its the way they say it.
I take offense almost when I hear a Minister say, in that annoyingly wannabe-regal manner, "kami buat ni untuk kepentingan rakyat."
The intonation often suggests that its from 'them', for 'us'.
Since when did the our constitution accord majesty unto politicians?
