Muhyiddin: Not impossible, but not easy to win Penang

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has expressed confidence that BN will perform better in Penang during this election compared to in 2008.

“It is not impossible, but it is not easy,” quipped Muhyiddin during a press conference in Penang today.

“We want to be honest about it because there are quarters who may think we are being arrogant,” he added.

“While doing our work, the state government has been doing things which have an effect on the people but we realise in Penang there are also problems like housing and land,” he stressed.

Muhyiddin (centre in photo) chided Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for purportedly ‘monopolising’ the word Penang, saying the latter came from Malacca but wants to monopolise the state while the people could not do it.

He added that from the BN’s survey in every constituency, there is an obvious change in the voters compared to the past where the coalition had lost several seats.

He stressed that there was “a new awareness” that the people’s support is beginning to return to the BN.

“In the past, we lost not because the opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) was strong but there were internal issues in the constituencies which have now been resolved,” he said.

“There are also new developments and initiatives by the federal government in line with the transformation plans in the past year, including giving aid to targetted groups which truly needed help,” he added.

“So they see that BN really wants to help sincerely to lighten their burden, for example, giving aid to school-going children,” he stressed.

“These are initiatives which even the opposition are in awe of (digeruni) but they are mooted by Prime Minister Najib Razak, so we see there is an increase in support for the BN.”

Muhyiddin is on a full-day working trip to Penang today, where he was briefed by the state BN on the current status of the coalition’s preparations to face the coming general election (GE).

Meeting with ops centre leaders

He has met with the 345 operations centre leaders and shared his thoughts with them.

“What we hope from them is that they continue to work towards the GE. Generally, they are all prepared but I request that they pay attention and focus on several chosen areas to get better support,” he said.

“This is a challenging job and I don’t want BN to take it easy. We face an uphill battle and I am confident if we all work, it is not impossible. We still hope to win but this depends on our hard work,” he added.

After this, Muhyiddin will be meeting professionals at Universiti Sains Malaysia and will visit the Jelutong area.

He told the BN to continue to inform the people about the right situation as there are many issues which arise everyday to confuse the public.

“Sometimes the people are confused with all the statements from various parties. Do not let certain quarters exploit their minds and confuse them. Tell them the real situation.”