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BN’s fatal screw-up

Dean Johns | Mar 23, 11
Malaysiakini

Gleefully following the victories of the people against one government after another in North Africa and the Middle East, I keep recalling that these revolutions were ultimately triggered by the death of just one young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, in Tunisia.

That proved the tipping point, the final straw that raised popular resentment against decades of corruption, repression and injustice to what nuclear scientists call ‘critical mass’, resulting in the chain reaction that’s already blown several regimes away and still threatens a great many others.

So, as a long-time loather of Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional regime, I’ve been closely watching to see if it would succumb to the fall-out of the Arab revolt, or survive to later implode of its own accord.

But now I suspect that the seeds of BN’s destruction have been sown, not by explosive events in the Arab world, but by the ongoing nuclear emergency in earthquake- and tsunami-devastated northern Japan.

The Malaysian government’s astonishing arrogance in insisting that it would proceed with plans to build nuclear power stations despite the waves of fear unleashed on the Japanese people by damage to four of its reactors could well, I believe, prove its long-deserved downfall.

Of all the countless crimes and screw-ups the BN regime has committed, surely this one shows the most callous disregard for the well-being of Malaysian citizens.

And could well finally unite Malaysians in a way that no fake “1Malaysia” slogan ever could, in the realisation that all that drives BN is its greed for graft-riddled mega-projects at the expense of Malaysian people of all races and creeds.

Of course this God-forsaken government does its damndest, under cover of the “1Malaysia” mantra, to demonstrate that it is Muslim- and Malay-friendly. Its tolerance of the so-called “cow’s-head” outrage against Hindu Malaysians a couple of years ago, later fire-bombings of Christian places of worship, and the recent banning and subsequent desecration of a shipment of Bahasa-language bibles have all, no doubt, been engineered to dramatise its ‘defence’ of Islam.

But it also routinely outrages the values of Islam and any other religion I know of with crimes against the people at large.

No sure recourse to the law

And the destruction of the independence and integrity of Malaysia’s judiciary, starting with Mahathir’s sacking of the Lord President back in 1988, has left Malaysian citizens with no sure recourse to the law in defence of their rights and liberties, or in the face of government corruption and other forms of criminality.

This is starkly evident in legal, or rather highly illegal, fiascos like the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trials, the show-trial of selected suspects in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case, and so-called ‘royal commissions’ into the police force, the fixing of judicial appointments and the death of the unfortunate Teoh Beng Hock following questioning at MACC headquarters.

Citizens also have no chance of redress or prospect of justice when they’re victimised by the police, as in countless suspicious fatal ‘shoot-outs’ and beatings and deaths in custody.

The law, so-called, clearly doesn’t apply to BN politicians and cronies, with a long list of high-level figures suspected of massive corruption, including Rafidah Aziz, S Samy Vellu and Abdul Taib Mahmud, not to mention former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, going uninvestigated, let alone prosecuted. And a long list of others half-heartedly tried and found innocent.

And most notoriously, in the Altantuya murder case, Najib Abdul Razak, though clearly at least peripherally implicated, was permitted to swear his innocence and indeed ignorance on the Quran rather than being called or even mentioned in court.

That the Malaysian populace hasn’t been outraged to the point of revolt by decades of such illegality and criminality is testament to the BN regime’s success in concealing and spinning the truth in its lying mainstream media.

But thanks to the power and pervasiveness of the same wireless, borderless communications technologies that have enabled revolutions in the Arab world, BN’s attempts to cover-up its crimes are increasingly resulting in screw-ups.

The expensive hiring of Apco Worldwide, a PR and lobbying organisation that was quickly identified as being Israeli owned, was and remains an idiotic hypocrisy by a regime that has long underlined its Islamic credentials by refusing to recognise the existence of Israel.

And many of the BN regime’s presumably Apco-inspired PR campaigns have blown-up in its face. The “1Malaysia. People first. Performance now” slogan, for example, which Najib Razak claims bears no relationship to earlier efforts elsewhere like “1Israel” and “1Singapore”, is widely seen as a stupid, cynical joke.

Chorus of scorn and derision

Even more disconcerting for Apco and its BN clients must be the chorus of scorn and derision that has greeted concerted and very costly attempts to transform Najib’s wife into a saintly First Lady of Malaysia figure.

Firstly she was alleged in an anonymously-paid advertisement in the New York Times to have received an international humanitarian award that apparently didn’t previously exist, from an organisation nobody had heard of.

Next she was credited by the government and its prostituted media with an outstanding act of national motherhood in ‘rescuing’ Malaysian, or rather Malay, students from the unrest in Cairo.

Some of Malaysia’s more naive citizens appeared to be taken in by this, so the regime and its PR people were emboldened to give the First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) an official office in Putrajaya and a slot on the government website.

But this proved a step too far for a great many perceptive and outspoken Malaysians, and thus yet another screw-up that the mendacious Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nazri Aziz, had to explain away.

Nothing daunted, however, by this failure on the FLOM front, now it appears that the BN/Apco gang has embarked on what could well prove its most spectacular screw-up so far: the revelation by a mysterious “Datuk T” of a video allegedly starring Anwar Ibrahim in a sex-romp with a Chinese prostitute.

Judging by the initial public reaction I’ve seen, this could well prove the final, fatal boo-boo that I’ve been waiting so long for BN to commit. But if not, and the Malaysian people decide they still haven’t had enough of BN’s obscene, criminal screw-ups, then there’s always the nuclear power issue ticking away like a time-bomb, and threatening to achieve critical mass at any moment.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he mentors creative writing groups. Already published in Kuala Lumpur is a third book of his columns for Malaysiakini, following earlier collections ‘Mad about Malaysia’ and ‘Even Madder about Malaysia’.

26 Replies to “BN’s fatal screw-up”

  3. BN’s smart tunnel gets flooded; a parliament house that leaked, New buildings that collapsed.
    Can we Malaysian trust these BN hyenas to further rip off the country under the pretex of building nuclear power plant which could endanger the whole nation and beyond??????

  5. bn umno use to tell other malaysians,
    don’t test our patience.
    i did! i keep cool!
    when things getting bad to worse, i still keep cool!
    but i have my limits. don’t try my patience too.
    the month of “may” happenings is an old story to be told. i am totally bored hearing the same line of tactics over and over again for donkey years. just because other malaysians keep mum, it does not mean they’re afraid, just that, they do it in malaysian way, non violence! bn umno have shown us their true arrogance and stupidity as time past. what more can i do, just vote PR this coming election! the malaysian way.

  6. Ha, ha, ha, ppl can vent their anger here, call UmnoB/BN leaders all sorts of names
    UmnoB/BN leaders n their spouses NO worry 1, they know they can fool many voters ALL d time n will continue 2 get their undying support till eternity
    So shiok 1 here, no like North Africa n Middle East, play with race n religion mah, sure OK
    NO fatal skreu up here 1 lah, but got fatal attraction lor, UmnoB/BN rule forever, OK!

  7. The article seems so obvious. But do most Malaysians care or are aware of what is going on? The government can behave like a nincompoop because most Malaysians thus far are nincompoops. So long as a tin of Milo, some cheap biscuits and RM50 in an envelope can still do the trick, I am sure the government can continue to behave like a tyrant or a nincompoop (your choice) for another decades of so.

  8. It is not that the government wants to continue with the nuclear programme. I think they probably have commitments to potential contracts or consultancy studies, which are big money and they know too most Malaysians don’t care or are never assertive of what they want.

  10. Ng YY’s new tagline 2 tourists: Mari mari visit M’sia, enjoy seks in our hotel rooms, n b famous as po rn stars (complimentary filming) – can jual blue DVD 2 recover travel cost mah

  11. Yes fatal attractions to be screwed up…is quite common all over the world.
    That’s where divorces start and lawyers get big fees.
    But in Malaysia…Najib have attractions to as mongo lady and with RM500 millions to pocket..have proven to be fatal to Najib and he is digging his own grave by himself..screwing up…with his devilsh schemes and stunts applied to Anwar.
    The almighty may not take sides…but he does protect the good and faithful…against devilish people.
    Malaysia is definately a fight between good and evil to govern the country.

  13. D 1 in power, with all resources at their mercy, can twist n change rules
    UmnoBputras r supreme n they know they r d prosecutor, jury, judge, n executor
    Elections r 2 b held soon, expect more plans put into action
    Plan A: Sodomee 2 (AI allegedly with guy ful of sai) – executed
    Plan B: B&W seks video (allegedly AI with a female ayam) – executed
    Plan C: another video (allegedly AI sandwiched between a female ayam in front n a male cock behind, ménage à trois) – akan datang, most likely duirng a nomination day
    Plan D: ? Well, use your imagination, try 2 think like d no-hold devious UmnoBputras

  17. Quite right there, what john had written. U-238 will do the work for us finally, if all else – i.e. those marvelous efforts by DAP and PR – should fail. And should we come to that one last straw, I certainly hope that the first scoop of earth by umno’s excavator at the site of the power station was enough to trigger umno’s demise; and not later when the power station exploded (an event certain) whilst in operation (although this event will obliterate umno as well). My suspicion however is that elite umnoputras would by then be sited far far away from ground zero and they would be well protected by stacks upon stacks of cash. They umno party may collapse, and the country scorched, but they would still be able to orgy on somewhere else. I for one do not want to see that.

  18. if it can happen in an almost homogenous society in the Arab world, i hope the common Malays are not thinking this is the problem of the chinese and indians. without the nons, the regime will be as corrupt and oppressive against the malays as in the arab world against their own kind.

    so rise up and use the brain before it is too late.

  19. The fact that malaysia did not turn to violence in order to topple umno is a great testimony of our opposition leaders’ high EQ, level headedness and respect for the rule of law.

    DAP (and PAS too) fought for betterment of the nation for many decades in parliament and outside parliament, in the courts and behind prison walls too. They ploughed on no matter how difficult and how cruelly umno has treated them using the entire might of the government machinery.

    So folks, let us all show umno the exit this GE13. Kick them out and never ever let them return!

  21. Roman Polanski did it and then had to run away from his homeland the u.s., BUT THE LITTLE THAMBI DID IT AND IS STILL STROLLING AROUND FREE after so many years.

    Conclusion— it is better to be a thambi than to be an americano

  22. #19: No lah, it shld b: May look like me, no sound like me (‘cos no spoken words, silent por no, open mouth only sure know not me), but it’s really Shaz ryl Es kay
    Obviously a carefully tot of plot mah, B&W, grainy pictures 2 give an impression dat d Avatar is AI; they tot they can continue 2 fool most ppl all d time

  23. #16 by dagen
    ” I certainly hope that the first scoop of earth by umno’s excavator at the site of the power station was enough to trigger umno’s demise;and not later”

    We are already late. It had started in Bukit Merah, and now in Kuantan.

    ‘Malaysia Boleh’, only take some show-action, after an accident or death had taken place.

  24. “….they know too most Malaysians don’t care or are never assertive of what they want.” Lim Kam Put

    When it comes to nuclear energy, I can tell you that Malaysians will care, especially if this regime builds it in your backyard. BN had better be prepared to lose the state that it proposes to site the nuclear reactors.

  25. Chernobyl disaster is caused by human error and it is said to be a classic example of human incompetence on many levels!
    Human error also pl;ayed its part at Three Mile Island in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania in 1979.
    In Fukushima’s case human error is not the case,it is the tsunami.In trying to douse the resulting radiation we see a supreme example of the selflessness,bravery,national
    spirit displayed by this group of people who works in shift of 50 called the Fukushima 50 and will never flee even at great personal risk until the problem is solved.
    And if Malaysia were to go ahead with its 2 nuclear power plants,the problem of impending disaster is exacerbated by the employment of operators of the nuclear plant not based on merits but based on colour of the skin in keeping with bumiputra policy.And when trouble comes you would expect them to run away instead of staying back day and night in an attempt to arrest the problem until it solved just like the Fukushima 50 who refused to flee until the problem is solved.

    This is what we all fear and the UMNO government is not paying heed to this worry which will be to the advantage of PR.

  26. If it can happen in the Middle East, it can happen in Malaysia! The death of a young man there triggered the fall of the ruling political party and so will the death of TBH (also a young man) trigger the fall of BN in Malaysia!

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