by Maclean Patrick,
Wong Choon Mei
It is great public relations when a prime minister gives a
televise speech and make bold announcements. It was John Kennedy who recognized
this and his speech to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s was widely
carried over American television.
Another president, the late Ronald Reagan,
charmed his voters over the screen and remains a popular president till today.
Credits to Reagan, he was an actor before and he knew the benefits of playing
up a character on the square box.
Over the years, politicians have used the television screen
to convey images and pronounce bold statements. Malaysia is no exception. The
mass-media is totally under the thumb of the government and Malaysians are
served a daily plethora of propaganda that everything government is good and
everything opposition is bad. State-control media would not think twice to play
every issue to the hilt as long as it satisfies their political masters.
It is into this world of the fake and the make-believe that
Najib Razak has stepped. Guided by his media team led by Omar Mustapha, Najib
is now taking Malaysia into another public relations minefield that can have
even more serious repercussions for the country's image than the FBC Media and
APCO fiascos.
Legacy
show
Even so, when making the announcement to abolish the
ISA, which he may have wanted to make his legacy, Najib made sure it would be a
glitzy affair. A pre-announcement of the announcement was made by Rais Yatim.
There was also the usual 'leaked' news to various government media to give a
hint of what was likely to happen.
Yet, most Malaysians believe
that Najib is saying all the right things for the sake of sounding good. Why?
Because, at the same time, he is doing all the wrong things. His words and
actions don't jive. Suddenly, every statement he makes is peppered with “the rakyat is important” and Malaysians are asked to believe that his
administration has an ear to the heartbeat of the nation, that they empathise
with what the rakyat (populace) is talking about and aspires to.
But why is it only now that Najib and his administration are
suddenly aware of what the rakyat wants? It seems to have spawned a mimicking
game amongst the BN politicians, and suddenly, they are all rushing to make
references to the rakyat and what the rakyat wants. Does this mean that all
along, before the announcement, Najib and gang did not know what the rakyat
really wanted?
It is all too good to be true and that is the sad situation
in the country. Every one of Najib's actions is scripted by his public
relations and media people and they try to make him appear to be a man of the
people. It is a hallmark of western politics that the statesman is always
indebted to the people and this is played to the hilt to win over the popularity
points.
But in Najib's case, everything is wrong in the equation. As
they say, every dog has his day and Najib and his advisers are learning the
hard way that every statement must be followed up by an action. All talk and no
action makes Najib a dull boy!
The
US Patriot Act
By repealing the ISA we will now have to deal with two
new acts, yet to be tabled in Parliament. There are no guarantees these two new
acts will not be as restrictive as the ISA. For the sake of his 'legacy', Najib
may duped the people and his own party by swapping an evil for a greater evil.
If this turns out to be true, the rakyat will pay dearly.
Yes, the rakyat said “No to ISA” but we obviously did not say
“Yes to new restrictive laws”. The government seems to have heard wrongly.
It has been reported that the new laws would most likely
mirror the US Patriot Act, which is crafted to prevent terrorist actions in
Malaysia. The Patriot Act was a response to the terrorist attacks of September
11th, and dramatically reduced restrictions on law enforcement agencies'
ability to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and
other records.
It also eased restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering
within the United States, expanded the Secretary of the Treasury’s authority to
regulate financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign
individuals and entities, and broadened the discretion of law enforcement and
immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of
terrorism-related acts. The Patriot Act also expanded the definition of
terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of
activities to which law enforcement powers can be applied. On May 26, 2011,
President Barack Obama signed a four-year extension of three key provisions in
the Patriot Act: roving wiretaps, searches of business records (the
"library records provision"), and conducting surveillance of
"lone wolves" — individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities
not linked to terrorist groups.
Mahathir
warns against US template
But it looks like Najib will have to backtrack on his
words that the contentious new laws would be based on the US Patriot Act. Just
a day ago, former premier Mahathir Mohamad, a still powerful figure in Umno,
has come out swinging at the US idea.
While supporting the repeals plan, Mahathir also said the ISA
was not that bad. The former premier, who made full use of the ISA to
incarcerate his political rivals during his time in power, made it obvious he
did not think highly of either the US or the UK.
"After the abolition of the Act, we can
start the campaign to seek the freedom of those detained without trial, for
example, at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Previously, they
criticised Malaysia purportedly for being cruel, detaining people without
trial, but they are the ones doing it now."
Regional
hero or exporting lies and deceit?
It looks the new laws will be homegrown. And if
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was right, the replacements will be as Najib
had said at private meetings with Umno hardliners. The new laws will be every
bit as "tough" as the ISA itself.
Yet there is already a move by the Najib spin team to claim
'regional credit' for removing the oppressive laws.To them, Najib is a
trend-setter, creating a 'domino effect' that might force Singapore and
Indonesia into the same action.
But while it may be timely for these regional neighbours to
take a leaf from Malaysia, they must ensure that they do not follow the second
leg of Najib's highly dubious repeals plan - which are replacement laws that
could hand the government even greater discretionary powers!
If they did, then it would expose Malaysia to even greater
odium in the world's stage as an exporter of political lies and deceit.
Najib does not seem to have learnt his lesson despite getting
caught for paying FBC Media millions to churn out self-glorifying news about
himself and his policies to international broadcasters such as CNN, CNBC and
BBC.
But if he is not careful, exporting lies and deceit may well
be his only memorable legacy.
Casino Classic
Source : MC
No comments:
Post a Comment