Manifesto takes BN back to square one: Bribery, Corruption, Racism & Religious Bigotry

Pathetic. That is the one word to describe the launching of the BN manifesto held last night (April 6) at the National Spots Complex in Bukit Jalil. Despite pictures of the packed stadium flashed all over cyber space and the newspapers, this was because the event was held at the smaller indoor stadium - Stadium Putra and not the main stadium - the Stadium Nasional.

The reality is that not many people attended the event and not all were UMNO-BN supporters. Even the media section was not full, may be there was nothing much to cover really. Stadium Putra can only accommodate 16,000 people, compared with the Stadium Nasional where the 66th UMNO birthday celebrations was held in November last year, which can accommodate 100,000 people. Those loitering outside Stadium Putra last night were less than 1,000 in total and it was disheartening to see so many empty parking spaces. The roads were not at all jammed.

This is not surprising because this event was organized on an 'ad-hoc' basis, without advance announcement and the 'rent-a-crowd' organizer just managed to make it. It is also not surprising because when the 66th UMNO birthday celebrations were held - despite all the advanced announcement and ample time to make sure the Stadium Nasional should be filled to the brim - Prime Minister Najib Razak's party only managed to gather barely 50,000 people.

It was also  revealing the way the people began to move out of the stadium even during Najib’s speech. RTM and TV3 should have shown the flow of people moving away from the event area, if not to the Malaysian public, it should at least be shown to Najib and the UMNO-BN leaders. They should not 'syiok sendiri' but face the truth. Najib is not popular as they claim. UMNO-BN are really unpopular, that is clear. If Najib were to see the flow of people moving away from the stadium while he was giving his speech, he would have stammered or even given up midway.

So those media which reported the event in glorified terms were naive and or asked to do so. Of course the people in the stadium laughed, clapped their hands and cheered, but as usual these are orchestrated; choreographed by the event organizers. It was just another television show organized by the pro-UMNO television channels.

Hungry and lesser 'pocket money'

One of the main grouse of the discontented crowd at Stadium Putra - many of whom admitted taking pocket money of RM30 to 50 to come early - seems to be that food would only be provided after the event officially began; they were hungry. Some said that there was no more space inside the stadium and it was very hot. Some were more concerned about staying close to their buses and ensuring that the drivers were on standby for quick exit and avoiding the jam on the way home.

But the most grumbled-about issue was their pocket money was only RM30 this time and not the usual RM100 to RM250. The Mak Ciks, Pak Ciks, Ah Peks, Ah Sohs, Nyonyas, Machas and Achis were not happy and they could not be bothered to listen to Najib’s promise to increase the BR1M to RM1,000 and make it into a permanent feature in the BN Manifesto last night.

To them, Najib failed to raise even their pocket money - what more the income of the nation! Najib’s explanations throughout his speech was more on attacking and ridiculing the Opposition but he lacked substance in convincing the people on the BN Manifesto itself.

Umno reduced to cash handouts to win the people

Najib brought nothing new to the table except more cash. He kept repeating what he has been saying in most of his speeches for the past few months. The BN Manifesto lacked substance and vision; there was nothing new or exciting. It is meant to convince the poor and the less intelligent people to vote UMNO-BN. Those who have the faculty to think would not hesitate to kick UMNO-BN out in the coming 13th General Election.

It is sad to see the president of the once-mighty UMNO targeting who lacked the capacity to think and were easily impressed by sentiments, fiery speeches, rhetoric and flashy presentations. The people in the Stadium Putra cheered when Najib reiterated promises for a high speed train from KL to Singapore. But they did not think who would really benefit from the project?

Of course, the train has to stop along the way, at Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat, and several towns before reaching Singapore to collect passengers. Even so, what is there to cheer about? It is the UMNO’s cronies who will make hundreds of millions while the people who cheered and clapped last night have to pay for the tickets. Some may not even have the chance to travel on that train!

Najib also promised to improve the quality of Science and Mathematics at schools, but we have heard about this for the umpteenth time and what about our students still talking and writing  gibberish English?

Najib’s presentation of the BN Manifesto last night will not have any lasting impact on Malaysians; the glamor will be short-lived. They may get excited watching the event live on their television and think well of Najib when he promised the BR1M. But like he said, BR1M is just a popular product in KR1M! BR1M can never improve the lives of the people because they need real, substantial and steady income, not one-off RM500 or RM1000 aids, which adds up to nothing really.

Where are the long-term policies to provide the people with good and permanent jobs. Ensure that their sons and daughters have a future, not just RM500 or RM1,000 in their pockets once a year and thinking that this is good enough. Above all, stop the corruption and wastage.

BN back to square-one with Manifesto

So hype aside, BN has not been able to gain ground with the Manifesto. The word, already spreading, will spread even more over the next few days. Najib and UUMNO-BN didn't realize it but they have exposed themselves to be the proverbial Emperors without clothes and on national TV too!

After 55 years, the UMNO-BN has nothing left to offer the people. It cannot stop the rot in the system. It cannot even speak out against corruption or Najib would have condemned Taib Mahmud and demanded his resignation in front of the crowd last night. That would be the sign of a real re-birth.

But no, Najib could not even confront racism or religious bigotry and take extremists like Ibrahim Ali to task because former premier Mahathir Mohamad had just hours earlier recommended that BN accept Ibrahim Ali as a candidate.

So without being unfair, BN's Manifesto is nothing more than a load of mumbo-jumbo and hocus-pocus to deflect public attention from the core of what ails the nation. Even at the unveiling of such a crucial document, Najib did not dare to tackle Malaysians' deepest fears. So imagine for yourselves the horror of the next 5 years should Malaysians vote the UMNO-BN back to power!

Malaysia Chronicle