Nambikei on PR's Campaign of Smear, Lie and Panic

By Team Nambikei

Time and time again the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), has hurled accusations at Barisan Nasional (BN).

Despite the government’s earnest and forthright dealings and transparency in administration, the opposition has not ceased its attacks of cheap rumours and dirty tricks at hoodwinking the public.

Here we have combed through the various PR-linked media and blogs to bring to you the top 7 myths that the opposition rumour mills have created.

Myth 1: The Phantom 300,000

Until today, PR has yet to substantiate its claim of 300,000 stateless Indians in Malaysia despite its unrelenting accusation of the government sidelining the welfare and rights of Malaysian Indians.

If we are to analyse that accusation, 300,000 stateless Indians would mean 1 in every family of 6 is without an IC. Quite preposterous, don’t you think?

While the figure is surely exaggerated, the government is aware that there is a small segment of the Indian community which does not have the proper documents. To address the problem, the MyDaftar programme was established in 2011 by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Since the programme was launched, about 15,000 people have applied for the Malaysian IC.

Myth 2: The Electoral Cheat

Bersih’s repeated requests and demonstrations for a reform of the current electoral system have been prudently been reviewed and appointed by the government, proving that the government and BN were committed to upholding the democratic institution of the nation.

Its 8 demands, which are to clean up of the electoral roll; reform of postal ballot; use of indelible ink; minimum 21 days of campaign period; free and fair access to mass media for all parties; strengthening of public institutions; no corruption; and no dirty politics.

In spite of the government’s compliance of Bersih’s demands, Bersih and its members continue to hurl accusations that the EC is unfair. At the end of the day, if BN wins fairly based on the people’s sincere votes, PR and Bersih will always slam the win as a win through cheat.

Myth 3: The Family Politics

PR loves to drum up that BN has always and will always keep the power within the family. However, what they do not realise is that it is their own party that plays the nepotism game and not BN.

While it is true that there are current ministers whose fathers, grandfathers, uncles, or fathers-in-law were former ministers themselves, there is no BN member who is currently sitting in Parliament or State Assembly together with their father or son unlike the Lim Guan Eng and father Lim Kit Siang or Karpal Singh and son Gobind Singh of DAP.

There is even the father-mother-daughter trifecta of PKR who are in the game to win ensure the father sits at the head of the Parliament.

Myth 4: The Ringgit Metre

Corruption has always been a problem the government has grappled with; it has been an issue that the BN leaders have tried to combat ever since the beginning.

The problem with corruption is not as what PR leaders claim: it is not those sitting in the parliament and cabinet who are involved with corruption but it happens somewhere down the chain of command. Our culture is one in which the people resort to bribing and giving “gifts” in order to get some work done.

The government and BN have done their best and continue to implement regulations that will curtail this problem. However, what PR does is to accuse the BN leaders of being corrupt, saying that they drive big cars, live in lavish mansions and spend money frivolously.

What they fail to note is that even within their coalition, there are members who have recorded cases of corruption. Example below;

1) The RM30 Million logging contract given by Kelantan State Government to company owned by YB Nga Kor Ming of DAP, Perak.

2) The sand mining contract given by Selangor State Government to its elected state rep YB Amirudin bin Shari from PKR.

Myth 5: The Tamil Factor

Between 2009 and 2013, the government has spent RM540 million for the development of Tamil schools through its Special Government Programme. The government funding has been wisely spent on improving the infrastructure and facilities of the 523 existing Tamil schools.

Not only has the development programme managed to give a much-needed facelift to the schools, the improved facilities and infrastructure as well as the development of the academia has all translated to one main improvement: the fortification of the quality of education.

All these have been done through BN efforts without much support from the PR state governments.

For instance, the Kedah state government has yet to provide land promised. As for Selangor, the PKR-led state is always blowing the Midlands Tamil School horn, which is just an isolated case in comparison to the over 300 Tamil schools built and upgraded by BN nationwide.

Myth 6: The Temple Sanctity

For a long time, the opposition has accused BN of oppressing the freedom of Hindus in Malaysia, claiming that BN is responsible for demolishing temples and shrines.

While there were some demolitions done in the past to tear down illegal structures, after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak came to office in 2009, BN has not touched even a single temple. However, since the same period of time, PR-led states have demolished 7 temples.

In Selangor itself, four temples have been demolished in Pandamaran, Ampang, Glenmarie and Serendah. Over in Kedah, a temple in Taman Petani Jaya was torn down. More recently, a stint by the Sepang Municipal Council saw council officers tearing down a shrine in a private residence.

The atrocities of PR in which the party is attacking the Hindus of Malaysia must not be forgotten by the people.

Myth 7: The Judicial Independence

PR’s claim that the Malaysian judiciary system is controlled by BN is complete hogwash.

Since Merdeka, the judiciary system has upheld its independence and its autonomy from the government so as not to impede the judiciary process. Should PR’s claims be true, BN politicians would not be charged in court nor would PR politicians win their suits in court.

How then would have former Selangor Chief Minister Khir Toyo be sentenced to one year in jail or Anwar Ibrahim win his suit against Utusan Malaysia?

To dispel the rumours surrounding the judiciary, Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria in January reaffirmed the judiciary’s commitment to uphold its independence and would continue to strengthen itself as an institution against any attempt to undermine its independence.

Clearly PR knows that it is losing the battle in gaining public trust so it has resorted to smearing BN in hopes to sway public trust to its camp.

However, all it can do is smear, spread lies and create panic in the public without having concrete proof. BN has led the country remarkably and valiantly since Merdeka and it is vital for the rakyat to not be swayed by sweet talk and promises of mere words.

Nambikei is a new blog believed to be linked to YB P Kamalanathan. Provides interesting information of events, views and discussion. Do give this blog a read.