PLAY DUMB OR REALLY DUMB? Free advise for Muhyiddin & his boss

The BN Deputy Chairman was reported to be asking the rakyat to give BN their advice and criticisms because BN is now “prepared to listen to the people”. What an instant transformation!

But let us give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe miracles are still relevant in our times. So, dear Deputy here it is:

First, you tell the EC Chairman to explain his confusion or if you like, account for the screw-up. Remember, initially he said the indelible ink that vanished on the postal voters was so because the staff forgot to shake the bottle.

Next, come polling day, everyone found the marking disappear within the hour. And he retorts that it is not a problem because voting would be over by the end of the day. When quizzed further, the answer given was because it is a halal-version.

Stop making fools of the people

What we are trying to say is stop making fools of the rakyat. It is painfully insulting when all logic is thrown out of the window especially when we are into some very historically defining moment or what some may have misunderstood as 'general' Election.

Yes, BN owes the rakyat a good and universaly palatable answer as to why we are strapped with this magic of an indelible ink. Do not sweep it under the carpet because your BN’s mere survival in GE-13 still hangs on the balance of the indelible invisible ink.

Ah, yes while we on the General Elections (not as the misunderstood 'general' elections), you also need to answer the rakyat what are you as a responsible incumbent political party who as you claim the rakyat has “given the mandate”, going to do with all those politicians in your band wagon who were screaming racist and religious divisiveness on the campaign trail.

If you do not take decisive action against them using all the sufficient laws in the country, then the rakyat have more reasons not to forgive you – as you yourself proclaimed that in elections there is “no forgiveness”.

So, when will you stop racial politics

Now, the other thing that demands your immediate attention is when are you or your boss ever going to stop saying that GE-13 was a racially divided ploy by DAP?

The more you and your loyalist leaders keep harping like this on TV and your mouthpiece newspapers, the more the rakyat are going to punish BN. The absurd claims are even in all probability going to drive away the little bit of support you are gaining from rural votes.

You see Sir, you may be ill informed about how the global society is networking. You may have also underestimated the power and speed of the networked society.

This is the 21st century, not 1948. The difference being there is no place to hide. Every individual citizen is a producer of news. And every individual has the key to disseminate information anytime, anywhere and anyhow.

We are sure you too have been using twitter and facebook so you cannot plead innocence right.

Hence, if a busload of Bangladeshis and the damaged bus or a yellow ballot bag in the booth of a car has gone viral, address it with immediacy. Tell the rakyat the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Because if you do not, some more information will keep popping up.

Yes, tell them what were all those reported blackouts all about too. Coincidence? Act of God (oh heaven forbid for we shall not use the name of God in vain, Sir!)?

And why must the spouses of uniformed personnel also be given postal votes? Standard procedure? Since when?

Throw out Mahathirism

This is a world where we embrace not dismiss. This is a time in human history where we collaborate, not compete. This is the 21st century where we are witnessing unprecedented degrees of accountability and demands for increasing transparency.

Welcome to our world of wikieleaks and wikiepedias.

Throw all your outdated books on Mahathirism. Step forward boldly and walk with the rakyat in this new world order where tyrants and thieves have no place to hide forever.

Otherwise please do niot waste your time and the rakyat’s goodwill for feedback. Just stick with APCO – but please remember to pay from your party members' pay packets and not the rakyat’s savings, Sir.

There is more to come, do not worry. We will not deep freeze your request for advise and criticisms. But take this as Lesson One in all humility.

MAILBAG