I AM writing to respond to assertions about why Semenyih voters need to support Barisan Nasional in this Saturday’s by-election. Such views either completely misses the point or these people have opted to drink their own Kool-Aid. I’ll stick to four main areas:

Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto

The contention that Pakatan Harapan is not fulfilling its manifesto promises is an attempt to pull wool over voters’ eyes. After more than six decades of BN rule – of which the last 10-15 years were pockmarked by misrule and graft cases that made international headlines – are we expecting a miracle in nine months?

When Gil Amelio was ousted by Apple’s board of directors in 1997, Steve Jobs returned to a company he founded – and to a sea of red ink and financial mess left by his predecessors. The company was 90 days away from insolvency. It took years before Jobs could turn around the company he founded with Steve Wozniak in the garage of the former’s parent’s home in Los Altos, California. 

Former prime minister Najib Razak, through his misrule and mismanagement, left a trail of economic ruin. Surely, picking up the pieces and undoing the financial damage will take longer than your average human gestation period. Rushing to roll out all electoral pledges for populist reasons reek of economic irresponsibility.

That said, the PH government has been taking baby steps to fulfil the pledges in its Buku Harapan, including reducing toll fares for highway users, which the finance minister said could save road users up to RM180 million a year. 

Those keyboard warriors probably even benefited from the now faster Internet access at no increased charges. Have they forgotten that was also part of PH’s manifesto? 

Race and religious bigotry

Seriously, what have these people been smoking? What did the Najib administration do when racial-religious sentiments boiled over? Weren’t Jamal Md Yunos and his Red Shirts “untouchable” then, going to town fanning racial-religious sentiments and organising a counter-rally to Bersih’s? 

Weren’t right-wing groups like Pekida and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) given a free hand in pushing zero-sum political narratives and, in doing so, had threatened to unravel the delicate social fabric woven so painstakingly and intricately since Merdeka? 

And, these critics have the cheek to blame the present administration for stirring the hornet’s nest when it was “Bossku’s” administration that thrived on divisive race-based politics, with fingerprints that led all the way to the epicentre of power in Putrajaya.

Najib Razak

Say what you want, but Najib is still the man at the centre of graft and money-laundering investigations by at least half a dozen countries around the world, and whose “MO1” moniker had brought nothing but utter shame to Malaysians. And, it was the disgust at his blatant plundering of this nation, his tall tale about Arab donations, his close association with fugitive playboy Jho Taek Low and wife Rosmah Mansor’s penchant for ego-goods that led to BN being toppled for the first time last May.

Yes, there is good reason to remind voters of the perils of going back to Najib’s excesses. Najib is the antithesis of what Semenyih voters – and Malaysians in general – need and deserve. 

Defections

It was BN secretary-general Nazri Aziz who openly said that the coalition was open to an electoral pact with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to form the next government. If that is not welcoming defectors, then one might as well say that Brutus was loyal to Caesar to the very end. 

Lest we forget, this March is the 10th anniversary of the Perak constitutional crisis, when three Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen defected to BN, leading to the downfall of the 10-month state government. Then, the defectors were hailed as heroes by BN. 

And, the mastermind behind the saga was the then Umno Perak chairman Najib, who was also also deputy prime minister then. How can they claim the moral high ground when defections are an extricable part of BN’s DNA? 

In any case, political realignments are a natural process in politics. It happens all over the world but it is hypocrisy of the highest level to, on the one hand, disparage it, but on the other, practice it with impunity.

Sure, there have been missteps by PH leaders, many of whom are still learning the ropes of governing. But to cherry-pick and present a distorted view of a nine-month-old administration as reasons not to support PH in Semenyih is, at best, myopic; at worst, perilous. 

If at all, PH needs strong endorsement for it to clean up the mess left by an inept, corrupt regime. Jobs took about four years after his return to Apple to turn the company into the tech giant it is today. Semenyih voters need to support the coalition that is trying to replicate Job’s mammoth task. – February 27, 2019.

* Jonathan Chai reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.