Najib's off-tone extended syllable

Video of Pak Maun played during Najib's opening speech

When Dato Najib speaks with his normal tone, he sounded dignified and confident.

He has a good tone of voice, clear and well paced. Have heard him speak off the cuff in both Malay and English and his flow of thought is clear. Things go downhill the moment Najib tries to speak in casual Malay on a political platform like the UMNO General Assembly and at political rallies.

He thinks that it is a crowd puller and the audience enjoy it when he goes into an unnatural off-tone manner of speaking to raise his tone and extend syllables ending with "a". It is like reading Quran syllables meant for one harakat as three harakat.

More embarassing, Najib would start to lead cheers at the most awkward of time. He is President and Prime Minister. He does not need to play cheerleader.

Unnatural

In his opening speech, he asked the audience to cheer "Hidup UMNO!" after hardly 5 minutes into his speech.

That style of speaking become unbearably squimish that we've stopped listening to his speeches on political podium.

Few minutes into his opening speech at the UMNO General Assembly the other day and we've had it. Better to switch off the TV and wait for the written text.

Najib need to entertain and warm up the crowd at political rallies but not in this awkward and unnatural way of speaking. He does not sound serious.

Hardly a minute into his speech, he already asked the crowd to cheer along Salam satuuuu .... Malaysia!!!!

During the salutations, he was sounding like Anwar and came the part for Tun Dr Mahathir, he was pronouncing it like an Arab as Tun Dr Mahadhirrr Mohammad. Tun Siti Hasmah Mohamad Aali came with the first round of extended "a".

... Yang Berbahagia Tun Abdullah Ahmad Ba-da-wi dan juga Yang Berbahagia Tun Sakaran Daandai.

After the off-tone opening, he was getting into his usual tone of speaking.

That was till 3:40 (on the You Tube video), when he started mentioning the theme of his speech, SO-LI-DA-RI-TI in the same manner Anwar Ibrahim cry out Re-for-ma-si.

Everytime an UMNO leader feel their position is under threat then the theme perpaduan or unity resurface. At the start of Reformasi, Dato Hishamuddin's immediate response as replacement Ketua Pemuda after Dato Zahid Hamidi resignation was the call for unity.

Maybe UMNO's political situation is quite threatening to call for unity. 

Then the build-up movement of hands and body for the dramatic phrase.

...Bahawa semangat perjuangan paaarti kebangsaan Meelaayu Bersatu atau UMNO akan terus marak, terus menjulang, terus menyala. Marilah kita laungkan bersama-saamaa sebanyak tiga kali. 

Hidup UMNO! Hidup UMNO! Hidup UMNO!

That was it.

We decide to switch the TV and leave the house for PWTC. We'll read and analyse the speech objectively from the text without the drama.

When Najib goes into that mode of speaking and this time around at the early part of the speech, we know there is not much substance in Prof Dato Seri Haji Khairul Anas written speech. Yes the same gay as written here.

Najib at fault

Pity NST columnist, Azmi Anshar who had to find a positive light in that speech.

In yesterday's column, he had to bring readers attention to the euphorio to the announced cancellation of the repeal to the Sedition Act to make Najib look good. [Read NST here]

We are not mincing our words to bodek Najib. Juara Pembodek was already won by Azwan Bro for his bodek speech of Khairy.

Najib cannot be complimented for cancelling the Sedition Act. It was his mistake just like he single-handedly at the request of his Punahsihat canceled instead of amended the ISA. That led to the chaotic to almost anarchic situation in the country.

It was his mistake to form the NUCC that Tan Sri Joseph Kurup lined up with left wing liberals and political opportunist.

Instead of making proposals to promote national unity in society, NUCC took it upon themselves to be lawmakers and push for a strangely structured and inconsistent set of proposed laws drafted by Bar Council.

Najib is still guilty of harbouring a hare-brained liberal from Temerloh as Chairman of Global Moderates.

He interpreted wassatiyah moderation as liberalism and unbridled openness. Recently, he almost broght over an Indonesian Jaringan Islam Liberal (similar to UMNO's new acronym JIL) conman-intellectual with hardly achieved a basic degree. 

The cancellation to repeal the Sedition Act cannot be complimented to Najib.

The compliment should go to Perkasa, ISMA, other "right wing" labelled NGOs, UMNO Division Chiefs that confronted IGP and AG in a close door meeting, 189 Divisions that demand to maintain the Sedition Act and Wanita UMNO.

Najib did it to save his politics.

Our previous posting here was in sync with Joceline Tan's analysis of Najib's opening speech here but held back that part.

The mistake is Najib over relied on his advisers that he failed to seek feedback from the ground first before making his decision. He is pursuing lofty ideals without convincing and hearing out the grounds.

It is a mistake he emulated from Tun Abdullah Badawi. 

The opening speech had no content worthy to analyse and write about other than the Sedition Act.

One pro-Najib blog here described it as the weakest speech in history and far from par excellon. The blog could not avoid being honest despite instigating war drum beating towards Tan Sri Muhyiddin in an earlier posting here.

Cynical

Everyway we went yesterday at PWTC people were emulating Tun Dr Mahathir's cynical answer SO-LI-DA-RI-TI when asked why he attended the Assembly despite his poor health.

When asked: Lama tidak jumpa? The answer goes like, "Today I am here for SO-LI-DA-RI-TI".

The answer to everything asked was SO-LI-DA-RI-TI. Basically, all important issues that Najib did not address was better not raised for sake of SO-LI-DA-RI-TI.

Almost every other person is cynically emulating Najib's shrill of extended syllables.

Can Najib advisers tell him his off tone shrills is similar to pro-opposition, Pyan Habib reciting poems?

Pyan Habib speaks that way because he is deaf. Is that why he only listen to the Punahsihat?

And, if Najib extend his overdramatised high tones, he will sound like the really dramatic Prof Dr Kamaruddin Kachar.

By the way, Tun M did not say the speech was excellent as reported by Berita Harian. He was actually coughing.

Like Tun M, who engage first through the right channel, then criticise openly, we have done our part to express through the right channel. Now it is time to tell it openly.

Najib must stop making that kind of speech and get another more credible speechwriter. It is demeaning him. It is so Musa Hitam.

One member of the audience, probably a delegate confided that he was so impatient to wait for what Najib wanted to say that he uttered the words, "Cukuplak berdrama. Cakap sajalah!" to the person next to him.

For the sake of solidarity and the party, he is better off speaking in his normal ways.

Dr Mahathir never need dramatisation to express himself. All he need to do to get the audience riled up was with the quality and vision of his content. Dr Mahathir managed to do so by writing his own speeches.

Please do better for the winding-up this evening.