Fixation with dates

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's choice of dates has set tongues wagging.

COMMENT

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have a fixation for numbers so much so that if a car breaks down in the middle of the road, other motorists slow down not to help but to take down the number.

Even the date of the 13th general election has become a point of contention for ardent punters.

May 6, a day after polling, they say is an important date for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

It could just turn out to be the day for him to celebrate Barisan Nasional’s victory or the other way around, where opposition leaders walk into the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya, the federal administrative centre.

But, apart from this, May 6 is important for another reason too.

Yes! May 6 is the late Altantuya Shaariibuu’s birthday. The Mongolian model was brutally killed by C-4 explosives on Oct 18, 2006 in Shah Alam.

Opposition leaders and NGOs alleged that the murder is linked to Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor. Since the allegation, Najib has sworn in a mosque that he did not know Altantuya and had nothing to do with her murder.

Despite distancing himself from the murder, opposition leaders have always connected him to the deed, so much so that five Pakatan Rakyat members were arrested for sending a cake to Najib on Altantuya’s birthday in 2009 at the Prime Minister’s Office compound.

Now, the question being asked is, did Najib deliberately choose May 5 for polling, so that he can celebrate the victory the next day and hand a slap to the face of the opposition?

Apart from May 6, the dates of the 13th general election nomination, parliament dissolution and Hindraf’s registration have set tongues wagging: has Najib chosen these dates on purpose?

Hindraf, which was declared an illegal movement by the Registrar of Societies in 2007, was officially registered on March 8, 2013, exactly five years after Indian voters deserted the ruling coalition on March 8, 2008 – the date of the country’s 12th general election.

Is Najib using the same date to regain the “Nambikei” (trust) of Indians by accepting the Hindraf movement?

Teoh’s birthday

The nomination day, April 20, is another contentious date.

April 20 coincided with Teoh Beng Hock’s birthday. Teoh, the political aide to Ean Yong Hian Wah, the former Seri Kembangan state assemblyman, was found dead on the rooftop of a Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission(MACC) building in Shah Alam after being questioned by MACC officers.

Political pundits conclude that Teoh’s death is a thorn on Najib’s side, which has not been solved.

The case was one of the many reasons why Chinese support towards Barisan Nasional had waned.

Having the nomination on the day of Teoh’s birthday could send a message to the Chinese community that Najib was ready to face the all important polls without support of Chinese voters.

April 3, the day Najib dissolved Parliament, is another important date. It was on this day four years ago that Najib succeeded Abdulah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister.

Since, 2012 Najib often came under fire for delaying the dissolution of Parliament. Even the opposition said that the prime minister was afraid of calling for the polls. But, Najib chose April 4, to show that he was not scared of the election.