GOVERNMENT agency Biro Tatanegara (BTN) was on the campaign trail in Muar today, with its chief Ibrahim Saad telling a gathering of grassroots leaders not to fall prey to “fake news”.

He reminded them of Malaysia’s progress over the last 40 years and to not throw such stability away by believing “fake news” circulated on social media against the ruling government.

“If we are not careful, we could end up like Libya after their leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown with the help of America (in 2011),” Ibrahim told more than 40 local Rukun Tetangga leaders at a “Sembang Santai Bersama Pemimpin” session in conjunction with national unity week.

“Although Gaddafi had ruled Libya well, he was overthrown by citizens and killed,” said the head of BTN, the national civics bureau which conducts training on patriotism for civil servants, employees of statutory bodies and students of public universities.

He warned the community leaders that Malaysia could suffer the same fate and Putrajaya could be “burnt”. As he spoke, Ibrahim showed pictures of a war-torn Libya, post-Gaddafi.

During the hour-long session, Ibrahim also showed examples of and statistics on Malaysia’s wealth and said it was not true that the country was bankrupt as alleged by Pakatan Harapan.

“See the queues of people travelling abroad and queueing up for handphones in Kuala Lumpur and (to shop at) Ikea Tebrau. Does it look like Malaysians are poor?

“That’s why the government had to pass the Anti-Fake News law to combat some of the fake news on social media,” said Ibrahim.

After his presentation, Muar incumbent Razali Ibrahim of Barisan Nasional and Maharani state lawmaker Ashari Md Sarip addressed the local leaders.

Razali is in a three-cornered fight for Muar with Pakatan Harapan candidate, first-timer Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is the Bersatu Youth chief, and a PAS candidate. – April 29, 2018.