BN’s Vishwaroopam is getting ugly

Stop just looking at the bigger agenda. BN and Najib must also know how to sort out the smaller issues if they want to win over voters.

COMMENT

(Vishwaroopam in Tamil means the true face. It is also the title of a Tamil blockbuster which is still awaiting release in Malaysia due to its supposedly controversial theme.)
Sometimes one does wonder if the government is really concerned about the peoples’ wishes. Is it even listening to what the people are saying?

It appears as though the government is more interested in doing things which it thinks will be good for the rakyat.

Najib Tun Razak’s earlier clarion call that his government was not one which subscribed to “government knows it all” seems like a half-baked lie right now.

Take, for example, the decision to fly down South Korean megastar Psy for the Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year open house in Penang. A cool RM3 million was reportedly spent for this.

Of course, it was not the rakyat’s money as the Gangnam ride was reportedly sponsored by private parties. Still, that much for a singer who has only one known mega hit? And at a time when people are complaining of not getting real value for their money?

What about the Ponggal festival at Dataran Merdeka on Feb 2? Of course, it was deemed to be a mega success, by MIC standards. It would surely be if RM5 million was reportedly set aside to get the crowd.

Word has it that almost 1,400 buses were chartered to bring in Indians to the capital city to show that they all love our prime minister. In return, they did get a full meal of nasi briyani, courtesy of the BN government.

Is this how Najib wants to get the people to back him and BN again? This method seems so archaic, but it must be working for them to be doing it repeatedly!

But it goes back to the main question once again. Isn’t Najib interested in what the people really want? Does the rakyat still want the government to dictate what’s good for them?

The death of a security guard
Two ongoing issues reveal how ignorant the government can be in misreading the pulse of the voters, especially the Indian voters that Najib wants so much.

The first is the death of security guard C Sugumaran who died after allegedly being beaten by policemen and members of the public on Jan 24.

The first post-mortem stated that he had succumbed to a heart failure. The family wants a second post-mortem and that’s where things have started to break down.

Sugumaran’s body still lies in a mortuary while his family wants the know the true cause of his death. Very simple request. Any caring government, or a home minister, or prime minister, would have made the all-important call so that truth and justice are served.

But what we have here is the prime minister asking for a forensic report to be passed to him, and then even 10 days later, making no decision on the matter. In the meantime, the home minister sits quietly, letting the police handle the matter.

The police, on their part, want to follow rules and regulations to the letter while not doing anything conclusive at all.

It’s a merry-go-round with a family still waiting for answers, and closure as a result of the death.

Is there an easier way to solve this problem? Yes, there is. It is actually as easy as Najib going to the local radio stations and trying to impress the Chinese voters with his Mandarin. But will he take the easy way to solve this problem? I doubt it!

The movie ban
The second small issue, but one that may have deeper implications as far as the Indian voters are concerned, is the indecisiveness of the Home Ministry on the status of Tamil movie “Vishwaroopam”.

Is it still banned? If yes, why? If not, why hasn’t it been released? Who has been aggrieved by the movie? Why the delay in allowing it to be shown even as it has been approved for release in Tamil Nadu?

Is this a case of the home minister sitting in the dark, not knowing the full details? Or is it a case of him knowing the full details but keeping the movie in the cans for political reasons? Should there be political reasons for movie releases in the first place?

This looks like another case where BN is making things complicated for itself.

By keeping totally mum on the status of Vishwaroopam, the government’s message to the Indian community seems to be this: enjoy the song and dance performances that we give you, enjoy the food that we provide at these events, clap hard to the various promises that we make, smile proudly when the PM utters a word of Tamil here and there, BUT stop making any demands, even if it concerns only a Tamil movie!

You still think people will fall for these? Hmmm!

To win the hearts and minds of the people, the leaders, from the prime minister right down to his platoon chiefs, must show that they trully care for the people. The moment they slip up and show that it’s all a political game for them, that’s the end really.

Missing the wood for the trees, they say. Be careful, Mr Prime Minister, if you miss the small details, you risk losing the big votes.