Poster boy Najib’s dilemma

The prime minister appears to be more of a public relations product, where each word and action is orchestrated through a team of marketing experts.

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Strolling along the toys section in a shopping mall is always exciting.

The numerous complex contraptions that sit on the shelves are mind-boggling. Then there is the familiar sight of action figures, which never fail to bring back childhood memories.

Growing up in a middle-income household during the 1980s, action figures were one of those things that left me salivating with desire and my father sweating over the price tags.

As I inspected the various action figures, heroes and villains alike, which were available now, I wondered how come there were none of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

Given the numerous public relations misadventures that the dim minds in Putrajaya were conjuring, would it come as a surprise if Ken and Barbie-like versions of the First Couple were made available?

Perhaps there might even be accessories like a doll house of Sri Perdana as well as miniature plastic replicas of submarines, diamond rings, C4 explosives, carpets and the charred limbs of a Mongolian
woman.

A Gangnam blow for Najib
In his most recent public relations disaster, a red-faced Najib discovered that not all who pranced about to South Korean rapper Psy’s music would tap their hooves to Barisan Nasional’s tune.

Dressing him in a Chinese traditional outfit and having him speak Mandarin for the Lunar New Year also drew ridicule because such gimmicks reveal his desperation.

It prompted one observer to remark that if it did not transgress the tenets of Islam, Najib would have even carried a kavadi during the recent Thaipusam festival, complete with limes painted with the
1Malaysia logo fastened to his back with hooks.

Attempting to win the hearts and minds of the Chinese voters is a futile exercise for the prime minister and his comrades in MCA.

A MCA strategist confided in this writer that it would be a miracle if BN managed to secure even 35% of the community’s votes in the coming polls and this despite all the horror tales about PAS.

Najib and his advisers remain oblivious to the fact that Malaysians are no longer seduced by colourful billboards, neon lights that envelope the length and breadth of a building and horse dancing.

The prime minister appears to be more of a public relations product than someone who is made of flesh and blood, where each word and deed is orchestrated through a team of marketing experts. He gives the impression of being a marionette.

The poster boy of BN had become the most exploited face in Malaysia, plastered along street corners, hawker stalls, bus stops and lamp-posts.

Unfortunately for Najib, he had inherited a battered vessel sailing through a storm and he appears to lack the substance and the support to survive the ordeal. It is a simple case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

In the past, the average Malaysian mind was not exposed to concepts such as good governance, freedom of expression, human rights and so forth. It was an era where ruling politicians were lords and the rest were serfs. The lords knew best and their actions were not to be scrutinised.

Then the Internet came and changed the rules of the game. The advent of the social media made it worse for the lords.

Armed with Tablets and Smartphones, the average Malaysian is now fed with a staple diet of the alleged misdeeds of ruling politicians that range from cows dwelling in luxurious condominiums to murder.

And it is to these voters that Najib is once again attempting to peddle BN, imploring them to put their faith in him and the coalition for another five years.

Decepticon vs Decepticon

The prime minister has been marketed as a Transformer but to a great number of people, he is a Decepticon.

To the more discerning Malaysian, the next general election is an epic battle not between Autobots and Deceptions but rather between Decepticons themselves, as those in the opposition have much to
account for as well.

The difference is that the opposition Decepticons promise change and instil hope whereas the ruling Decepticons resist change and instil dread. The former had not been tested at the federal level while the latter had failed the test for a record 12 times in a row.

Furthermore, Najib’s pledges of transformation and the incestuous amplification of his 1Malaysia slogan ring hollow and come across as insincere efforts to woo a well-informed electorate who had realised that it is them and not politicians who were the lords.

His reluctance to put a leash on rabid politicians like Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Ibrahim Ali whose rants were similar to that of Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist of the Third Reich, suggest that Najib is weak or that Umno tacitly agrees with the incendiary remarks that threaten to reduce the prime minister’s 1Malaysia to ashes.

Anwar Ibrahim once disclosed that boldness is not one of Najib’s greatest traits and even BN leaders whisper behind closed doors that their leader prefers to be safe – which could be a polite substitute for the word cowardice.

His refusal to accept the opposition leader’s repeated challenge to a public debate is another glaring example of the prime minister’s lack of gumption.

A warning for false messiahs
Najib claims that he wants to right the wrongs of the past and BN leaders never tire of reminding the people of how the prime minister had been magnanimous enough to apologise for the errors of his predecessors.

However, Najib is not the messiah who fell from the heavens to lead Malaysians out of the political dark ages. He had been a part of this system since his 20s and it is imbued in his veins. His father
was the second prime minister and his uncle, the third.

At the age of 25, he was appointed a deputy minister, at 29, a menteri besar and at 32, a full minister. Since then, he had held various ministerial portfolios, during which there was not a single squeak of protest over the so-called wrongs which, by virtue of his positions, he helped perpetuate.

Until becoming prime minister, there had been no significant contributions from this man towards the betterment of this nation and its citizens. He is an aristocrat who parachuted into the top
leadership due to his lineage and therefore requires a battalion of advisers to help him understand the pulse of the common man.

One wonders if the outcome of the 2008 general election had been different and if the opposition was crushed, would Najib still be the same person burning with the same ideals.

And the same applies to Anwar should he not have been sacked, beaten, humiliated and imprisoned. He is no messiah either.

But voting out the incumbent government is not about empowering the opposition or putting our faith in political prophets. It is about sending a stern signal to all politicians and false messiahs to
deliver or be delivered out.

As for Najib, the end seems imminent, be it through external or internal forces. To his credit, he had tried but it is too late.