'Undilah' was frozen because Umno is paranoid

'Undilah’ or Vote-lah is a video clip aimed at encouraging Malaysians to do just that - vote. It should be lauded as a brave and bold initiative but very strangely, Prime Minister Najib Razak feels there are sinister undertones that can upset the chances of his Umno-BN coalition at the 13th general eletiction, widely expected to be held in November.

There are 14 million eligible voters in Malaysia, 10 million are registered voters yet only 7 million cast their votes in 2008. Should not the government do more to assist the 4 million unregistered voters to register. And more should also be done to encourage the 3 million who had chosen not to vote.

But since the days of the July 9 Bersih rally for free and fair elections, UMNO and BN seem to have little confidence that middle Malaysia would vote for them. Indeed, the latest spate of new voter registrations show that almost all would vote against UMNO and BN.

The sentiments on the ground are also telling, the citizens of Malaysia have had enough of corruption and mismanagement and the same old style of leadership of the past 50. It is time for change and the people are ready to usher in a new government.

Nightmare on Elm St for UMNO warlords

This is UMNO’s worst nightmare and they will stop at nothing to ensure that they win GE-13. This is the real reason why the ‘Undilah’ clip was placed in cold storage. And this is the general perceiption despite a slew of excuses from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

According to the MCMC's first statement on the clip, its decision to temporarily freeze “Undilah” from being broadcast on local TV was a routine measure that had nothing to do with the contents of the clip. The regulatory body even said it was “normal practice” to stop the broadcast of such public service announcements (PSA) as it had not been approved by the Film Censorship Board. It insisted its decision was in accordance with “routine monitoring and enforcement activities” allowed under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

“In relation to that, it has become common practice for the MCMC to order the retraction of contents yet to receive approval from the Film Censorship Board. “In the case of the PSA produced by musician Pete Teo, as a result of a routine compliance monitoring exercise made by MCMC, it was found that approval had yet to be obtained from the board for the said PSA. As such, the PSA should not have been aired on television till approval is obtained,” said the MCMC.

How convenient that someone in the broadcasting company failed to notice that the PSA, although it had yet to receive approval, had allowed the video to be aired for three days before it was frozen. If it is a technical glitch that caused ‘Undilah’ to be frozen, then when can approval be given? Owing to the fact that the MCMC is under the Information Ministry, isn't it fair to say that approval would never see the light of day.

It looks like the ban on ‘Undilah’ along with that on everything to do with Bersih is permanent!

Malaysians know what the problems are

Then, was it really a technical glitch that frozed ‘Undilah’ in the first place? MCMC was adamant that the order to freeze had nothing to do with the content of the video. Yet, UMNO says differently. So sadly for MCMC, it has become just like the other institutions, a tool of the UMNO warlords.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim said "Undilah" was not suitable for broadcast because it had contents which offended certain segments of society. "The video clip also contains subliminal messages aimed at influencing the audience," he told reporters on Thursday, two days after the MCMC's denial that content was the problem.

Should not the Information Minister, who is one of Prime Minister Najib Razak's staunchest supporters, inform the nation what those 'subliminal' messages were? And also enlighten Malaysians as to which 'segment of society' were offended?

If ‘Undilah’ was out to influence the audience to vote, is not this in line with Malaysia being a democratic country where its citizens are encouraged to take part in the democratic process? So, what is wrong with ‘Undilah’?

The whole crime of ‘Undilah’ is that it is not in line with what UMNO wants. In order to be approved for broadcast, ‘Undilah’ must tell people to vote Barisan Nasional or UMNO. Only then can ‘Undilah’ please the segment of society that was offended, namely UMNO and BN.

‘Undilah’ was frozen because UMNO is paranoid. It fears any voice that is different from it, it is frightened that Malaysians might wake up and decide that it can stand on the feet of its citizens. Malaysian citizens are not offended by ‘Undilah’, it is UMNO that is. Thus, UMNO needs to wake up.

Tengku Razaleigh, in the ‘Undilah’ video said that Malaysia had problems, and that we know what those problems are. Yes, the problem in Malaysia is UMNO and we all know what to do when GE-13 comes along. ‘Undilah’.

Malaysia Chronicle