Last week Umno supreme council member and deputy Higher Education minister Saifuddin Abdullah made a rather startling statement that really reflects on the sad state his party is in.
Saifuddin said that the ‘media content’ by Barisan Nasional cybertroopers and across social media platforms would determine the ruling coalition’s success in the next general elections.
He even attributed the BN’s worst electoral performance (so far) in GE12 due to its failure to conquer the cyber-world, which he insisted was dominated by Opposition parties. This handicap alone led to BN losing many young voters who were misled by the alternative media.
My God! What shallow thinking! No doubt the alternative media played a role but any doctor would tell you - pus will always find a way to come out. In other words, BN's dark deed can never be hidden forever.
It is sad that someone who holds the post of deputy HIGHER Education minister could limit his thinking powers so as not to annoy his party or rock the boat.
10,000 BN cyber troopers recruited
“But now BN is prepared, we have a team of bloggers and new media known as 'BN cybertroopers'”, Saifuddin said. The BN’s new media unit is equally matched in strength and they only differed in the contents of their blogs and websites, he added.
Yes, BN did host 10 social media conventions in different states to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO-BN cybertroopers to help them win the 13th General Election. Prime Minister Najib Razak hopes that this army will overrun Malaysia's cyberspace and debunk all the 'lies' created by the Opposition media. Najib and Saifuddin are of course silent on whether the BN cyber soldiers will spread more new lies in the process.
Saifuddin further justified his point of view by pointing out that BN leaders including Najib are now seen to be active on social websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Najib's reforms in matters of freedom of speech, right to peaceful assembly and the repeal of the Internal Security Act would potentially draw support from this group of voters who frequent the Internet, said Saifuddin perhaps a touch sanctimoniously.
Well, Saifuddin, you are wrong ...
What Saifuddin has failed to realize is that Opposition blogs do not number 10,000 or anywhere near that figure. The Opposition is not rich like Sabah Umno for instance, where Chief Minister Musa Aman can just whistle and tycoons like the Lim brothers, Ting Pek Kiing and so forth will rush to allegedly contribute. It seems Musa's account had RM40 mil cold hard cash - all in Singapore dollars. Now that is power!
And with all due respect, Anwar Ibrahim and team can sell all the tee-shirts and moon cakes they wish but this is a feat beyond them - for now!
Furthermore, a Google search will indicate that there are less than a hundred such 'Opposition blogs' in existence. Actually, the majority of these blogs are personal websites belonging to disgruntled Malaysians who are fed-up of the system. If they are effective, it is due to the sheer hard work and talent of the people who started them. No fancy offices, no power dressing - just an awful lot of risk and non-stop grind!
And this is why though they may be outnumbered, they can pull of David versus Goliath feats time and again. It is obvious the motivating factor behind many pro-Opposition news portals and websites is a sincere wish to help Malaysians achieve a better future - and that means Umno-BN has to take a break. NOW. They have to be stopped from further poisoning the country.
Alternative media
BN’s efforts to setup 10,000 cyber troopers is indeed an overkill given the small number of pro-Opposition blogs where the content are mostly personal opinions, attracting few visitors or traffic. BN's real target seems to be the electronic media, which is giving the BN-controlled mainstream media a run for their money.
And yet, there are less than ten reputable electronic media in the country. Most of the alternative media is non partisan and neutral. But they do report the news in its entirety and it is these efforts to report the truth or as close to the truth as possible that have earned them the tag of being pro-Opposition when they may not be at all aligned to the Pakatan Rakyat or its leaders.
Thus, BN cyber troopers have already lost even before they can begin. Who would ever believe what they read over the Umno-BN blogosphere. Their motive is already clearly stated - to help Najib defend Putrajaya. So they can be expected to spin lies and discard the truth. Such conduct can only drag Malaysia through further mud in the eyes of the world. A good example is Papa Gomo and how he used UK chess champion Anya Corke's photo to allege she was the pretty schoolmate the 16-year-old son of DAP leader Lim Guan Eng had molested! How shocking is this!
Lost faith in MSM
Most people today have long ago lost faith and given up hope on the mainstream newspapers like Utusan, Bernama, The Star and the NST to report the truth. Urban Malaysians now know better than to venture a political opinion until they have read the OTHER side in the alternative news portals.
Yes, Umno-BN have shot themselves in the foot. But they will never admit it. The people have turned to the alternative media for credible news because of the blatantly pro-BN news in the MSM. As a result, the op-eds and news reports in the alternative media have received a huge boost and are now shaping public opinion to the BN's own detriment.
Remember the saying - hosted by one's own petard? That's why the alternative press got so popular and the MSM almost obsolete. If not for their monopoly due to the Home Ministry's licensing system, many of the MSM newspapers would become dinosaurs - eroded by competition.
No amount of spinning, in whatever ‘cosmetic dusted’ form can dissuade the Rakyat from voting against any evil entity that chooses to oppress the people, cheating them of their birthright, denying them of their personal and religious freedoms and raping the country of its natural resources and wealth.
If one day, Pakatan wins the federal government and also becomes a victim of 'absolute power corrupts absolutely, then the same disease will attack its media, which would then be considered as pro-establishment. It is the substance and the spirit of the content AND NEVER the form and the cosmetics - get it, Saifuddin and Najib?
Like pus, truth always has a way of finding release
The BN administration has gone beyond the boundaries of good governance, and this sort of lying and cheating the people can no longer be ignored or encouraged. Now matter how skilled, the 10,000 BN cyber troopers will have their hands full trying to spin and debunk the underlying truth.
So actually, why does BN continue do such things? A good example is how the great Raja Petra Kamaruddin of Malaysia Today has fallen off the people's radar after he was perceived to have been bought over by Umno.
Ahhh... even in such deals, there is money to be made. The Umno grapevine has it that the sum of RM100 million was set aside to build this cyber artillery to neutralize the Opposition. Corrupt as always, the Umno middle-men given charge of this social media and the 10,000 cyber solders must be laughing all the way to the bank!
For Umno-BN, it is a loosing battle which can never be won unless they change their ways. The truth cannot be suppressed and any attempts to spin away the negative effects would only invite more resentment from voters.
Can they debunk the billion ringgit scandals
Focus instead on reality and real issues. If there is any truth in 'loose-lips' Mukhriz Mahathir’s slip of the tongue about a RM800billion national debt which would have already breached the legislated debt ceiling, this alone is enough grounds and high time for Malaysians to sack BN for its gross mismanagement of the country’s finances.
Apart from Musa's RM40mil cash 'donation, there is Taib Mahmud’s RM45 billion...er...'nest egg', Mahathir Mohamd's RM30 billion losses from gambling the people's money in the currency markets, the RM12 billion PKFZ scandal, the multi-billion George Kent-Najib Razak Ampang LRT expansion, Shahrizat Jalil's RM250mil NFC scandal and Najib's very own RM7.3 billion Scorpenes scandal.
Will all these be attributed to SUARAM and Jewish billionaire George Soros? If Soros was wishful to place his own man as Malaysia's PM, is Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew harboring the same ambitions since Musa's RM40mil was in cold hard cash - SING dollars!
How in God’s name, are the 10,000 cyber troopers going to debunk all these scandals and still sound credible. We would ask - don’t they have any heart, any conscience left or any thought at all to spare for their fellow countrymen? But that might be a waste of time. So the better question is - do they have any common sense at all? Remember, not all that glitters is gold!
BN leaders can try their best to be IT savvy, open all the Facebook and Twitter accounts they wish. They can continue to invest millions in the electronic media to counter or rather, to COVER UP, their scandals. After all, it is not their personal money but the people's. But without personal integrity, they have absolutely ZERO credibility.
So in other words, the Umno-BN cyber troopers and its social media programs are just another money-making scheme for some Umno warlord or other. Without underlying credibility of its sponsor organizations, how can these platforms be credible themselves?
Bad guy of last resort
This is why Information minister Rais Yatim has been called on to be the 'bad guy' of the last resort. Umno knows their cyber plans have very slim chances of winning. So at the very end, Rais will whip out and Hishammuddin Hussein will execute the oppressive Section 114A legislation to 'inactivate', perhaps even jail, the pro-Opposition news operators.
Saifuddin’s contention that BN lost more seats because it failed to harness the cyber-media is DEAD WRONG. It is just an excuse. It is common knowledge that Pakatan would have swept to victory if not for rampant vote-rigging.
The Opposition cyber-media did very little actually. They were too disorganized - still are ad still sadly lacking of funds. The alternative media however did enormous work to raise public consciousness and websites like Malaysiakini will take their place in history along with old pro-Opposition version of RPK's Malaysia Today.
But they - same as Uthayakumar's Hindraf - did not win the seats for Pakatan in GE12. Neither will they help in GE13. Only the people can change their own situation. Only they can vote for a Pakatan victory.
The REAL 'helping hand' in GE12 and in the coming GE13 is actually none other than the Umno-BN itself. For refusing to admit its own mistakes, for refusing to repent, reform and change its spots.
To have to depend on 10,000 cyber troopers to deliver victory is indeed the saddest statement ever to come from Umno. It shows how far its star has CRASHED after 55 years of dominance.
Malaysia Chronicle
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