‘Undilah’ clip contains anti-BN messages, claims Kota Belud MP

UPDATED @ 06:34:10 PM 25-09-2011

By Clara Chooi

September 25, 2011

A screen grab of Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s Twitter page today.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — A Barisan Nasional (BN) MP disagreed today that the “Undilah” video is apolitical, insisting that the public service announcement urging Malaysians to vote contains “subliminal” messages to ridicule the establishment.

While admitting that he appreciated the video’s catchy tune and its aim of encouraging Malaysians to vote, Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan pointed out that certain scenes in the 4.38-minute video appeared to be “not so pleasant to BN”.

He said that at one point in the clip, a man dressed as Star Wars’ character “Jabba the Hutt” is seen standing next to a poster of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, a scene that appeared to mock the prime minister.

“There are some elements that ridicule the establishment,” he told The Malaysian Insiderwhen contacted.

At the beginning of the video, added Abdul Rahman, a man is seen browsing through a copy of Harakah, a PAS organ, with headlines that read, “BN tiru Buku Jingga” (BN copied Buku Jingga). Buku Jingga is a book detailing Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) 100-day reform promises should the opposition come to power in the next polls.

An example cited by Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan today was the appearance of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in the video, which he said seemed to encourage Malaysians to fight the establishment. — file pic

He said the video also briefly showed a snapshot of the Tung Shin Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, which was the centre of much controversy during the uproar over claims of police brutality at the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9.

The use of Umno’s Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as the video’s main star, added Abdul Rahman, also appeared to encourage Malaysians to fight the establishment.

Tengku Razaleigh, also known as Ku Li, is known to be openly critical of his party. In the “Undilah” video by musician Pete Teo, Ku Li is seen describing Malaysia as a country with “many problems”.

“I appreciate the effort of getting the younger generation to register and to vote. It is a noble cause. But I think in order for you to be more effective, you really need to be non-political about it,” Abdul Rahman said.

He admitted that the video does not overtly urge Malaysians to vote against BN but insisted that certain scenes were enough to show a slant towards the opposition.

The Sabah MP had asserted his position on his Twitter page earlier today, earning brickbat from some of his followers.

“#UndiLah is full of subliminal messages. Anti-establishment undertones just below the threshold of consciousness of the viewers,” he had commented via his Twitter handle @mpkotabelud.

When asked to comment on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) decision to pull “Undilah” from national television broadcasts, Abdul Rahman said the regulator “must have had its own reasons”.

He declined to comment further on the move but reiterated his opinion that “Undilah” was not apolitical.

Apart from Tengku Razaleigh, the video also features other BN personalities like MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abd Rashid Shirlin and opposition figures Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.