Riding out of Putrajaya ‘Gangnam style’?

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and BN's failure to capitalise on Psy's popularity is a major blow to the ruling coalition's efforts in wooing the electorate

COMMENT

Feb 11, 2013 in the Chinese metaphysics calendar was labelled as “Destruction Day” and no doubt it was disastrous for Barisan Nasional as Najib Tun Razak failed to increase his popularity despite getting South Korean artiste Psy to come to Malaysia to entertain the Penang crowd.

There were three major disasters for the prime minister on that day:

1. Pronouncing the name of the venue as “Han Yang” when it should be “Han Chiang”;

2 . Failing to get Psy to come onstage to stir the “yee sang” – traditional do for Chinese New Year; and,

3. Getting rejected three times by the Penang crowd.

Najib’s advisers certainly did make a mess of things by failing to inform him that the name of the concert venue was the Han Chiang Chinese school ground and not “Han Yang”, thus causing him to be booed several times by the crowd due to mispronunciation.

Failing to get Psy to come on stage for the “yee sang” do was worst as it was obvious for all to see because the master of ceremonies had called Psy’s name several times.

And of course asking the crowd whether it was were ready for BN was certainly a bone-headed move because it opens oneself to attack. Najib had to sheepishly become the master of ceremonies to conceal the faux pas thereafter by inviting Psy to come onstage for his performance to sing his famous hit “Oppa Gangnam Style”.

“For the prime minister, this is the second major embarrassment to go viral on the social media after the ‘Listen, listen, listen’ episode. If Najib was thinking of dissolving Parliament this month, he has to think again,” said PAS Pokok Sena MP, Mahfuz Omar.

“Those in Umno who dislike Najib must be having a good laugh at the misfortunes that he and his wife seem to be facing. Najib is now a liability to Umno and Dr Mahathir [Mahathir] must be getting worried with the recent developments. The latter can even knock his head on the wall in frustration at seeing Najib’s stupidity on Feb 11,” he said.

Mahfuz is also of the view that Najib can switch careers after the 13th general election as the latter has already acted in a Chinese New Year advertorial and also played a role as the master of ceremonies during Psy’s concert.

Fed up of BN

PKR’s Batu MP, Tian Chua, had commented that the expensive concert has failed to get the crowd to support BN. He also noted that a majority of the crowd only came to watch Psy’s performance and many of them left after Psy had performed.

DAP’s Taiping MP, Nga Kor Ming, opined that “we, the rakyat, are fed up of BN which is always trying to hoodwink us. BN always thinks that the rakyat is stupid and therefore we decided to tell him off during the concert when the opportunity presented itself”.

Calling on everyone to reject BN, Nga, who is also the Pantai Remis state assemblyman, said that the 13th general election is the best time to vote for a change in government, and BN’s failure in getting Psy to participate in the “yee sang” do is definitely a sign that their days are numbered.

Insider news revealed to a PAS’ Harakah journalist who is this columnist’s contact told of how the fighting spirit has gone out of Penang Umno after the recent announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that the chairman of Penang BN, Teng Chang Yeow, will be made chief minister if BN succeeds in recapturing Penang.

Umno is the only opposition in Penang as it is holding all the 11 BN seats in the State Legislative Assembly after MCA and Gerakan were wiped out in Penang in 2008. Umno’s cybertroopers are now very angry with MCA, Gerakan and Penang Umno for the fiasco suffered by BN in the Penang-do.

According to this Harakah journalist, his contact had mentioned that the chairman of Penang Umno, Zainal Abidin Osman, had failed to ensure that there will be “10,000 mercenaries” standing in front of the stage to give Najib a resounding “yes” to all that he says during his speech.

The failure of Najib and BN to capitalise on Psy’s popularity is certainly a major setback for BN’s efforts in wooing the electorate. Contrasting the “yes” to Psy with a “no” to BN clearly shows that the only way BN can win the GE13 is through the dubious and much-disputed electoral roll and through the rural votes.

PAS is working very hard to reach out to the rural folk of all races. If this group wakes up in time for the GE13, then BN is finished.

BN leaders will do well to take note that threats and instant goodies will not work very much in this day and age. This is 2013 and BN has to move with the times as voters are getting to be more discerning.

The year of the Water Snake this time may prove to be BN’s year of doom as the snake swallows it whole. BN leaders may very well be soon riding out of the main gate of Putrajaya – Gangnam style.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and DAP columnist.