A VIDEO of a woman airing her disappointment with life in Penang in the 10 years since the opposition took power in the state, has failed to impress social media users.

Judging from reactions on Facebook, the video, despite being tastefully shot, has done little to sway Pakatan Harapan supporters.

“Paid c**p,” Al Akee said, while SK Tan wrote: “Rubbish video.”

Goh Yen Yee described the video as an “advertisement” to brainwash Penangites but citizens of the state would not fall for it.

“Cukuplah BN,” Facebook user Fany wrote in the comment section of the video, which had been viewed more than 321,000 times and shared by almost 1,000 people, on the Friends of BN - Barisan Nasional page.

The video, which went viral on social media sites since Thursday, bore no names or logos to indicate who was behind it. But it did not stop many from pointing their fingers at BN.

Fariq Mustafa, who shared the post by Friends of BN - Barisan Nasional, said: “Hahahaha too desperate!”, while Zain Zaha said: “Nice try BN.”

“Pitiful that BN is begging in Penang,” Muhadir Hassan commented. 

The just over three-minute Mandarin-language video features a woman in her late 20s asking: “Penang, will you hear my story?” before complaining about life in the state under the DAP-led state government.

The woman in the video spoke about believing she was “making a difference” in the past elections. The video then showed snippets of the Bersih rallies, which were held to demand clean and fair elections.

She then questioned if it was “worth it” after “we have won” for 10 years.

The woman complained about the high cost of living in Penang that could rival Kuala Lumpur’s, adding that she could hardly provide for her mother. She also lamented about the lack of jobs, rising house prices and quit rent, the island-centric development, the closing of factories and the loss of investor confidence in Penang.

The woman also said Penang had problems with rubbish, hill clearings, and floods, citing the 20 incidents last year, including the devastating inundation in November.

She questioned the state’s decision to build “overpriced highways”, the Penang undersea tunnel, and reclamation projects.

She also said the state government only played the blame game.

The video with English subtitles ended with the message: “Make the right choice.”

Video “failed”

“Definitely, she is not a Penangite,” Facebook user Koid Melinda said, while social media user Alicia Sum questioned if the woman actually lived in Penang.

“This video is very professionally done and she got the voice of a deejay/emcee and the script is wow…well written.

“But too bad it is going to be another failed attempt…too fake,” Sum wrote.

The woman in the video also attracted ridicule, with several Facebook users making fun of her complaints and appeal.

“Finally she has enough money to give her mother after this video…hahaha,” Chris Lam Zheng Ming said.

Kenny Yeo commented: “Right choice is vote for DAP. Hahahahahh.”

Tommy Koo said: “Good video. She is right. Must change the federal government to avoid this to happen again. Don’t let BN screw up our future again.”

Ai Er Bin, who wrote in Chinese, said the woman should visit BN-ruled Johor to have a look.

“If you say Penang is like that, then you should try and go to Johor and have a look, to see if it is worse,” he said.

Hee Wei Han said the woman should go to other states and Kuala Lumpur and take a look at life there.

“She might be surprised that everyone is having the same problem putting food on the table for the family,” he said.

Sewhong Yap said when the former opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat took over Penang, the woman was just a teen.

“How can she differentiate the good and bad between BN and Pakatan? So, don’t try to paint the good the Penang Pakatan government has done as wrong,” she said.

Video’s biggest mistake: lying

Penang DAP political education director Steven Sim said the video’s biggest mistake was dishing out lies.

“In propaganda, you cannot lie. You have to use actual facts. But the video was all lies,” the Bukit Mertajam MP told The Malaysian Insight.

He also said Penangites, including groups critical of the Pakatan Harapan state government, disbelieved the video.

“They said the criticism in the video was too incredibly negative to be true. That was the video’s biggest mistake,” he said.

Sim said the PH administration’s achievements spoke for themselves.

“The woman said Penang’s dirty. But George Town was just named one of the cleanest cities in Asean. It was the Tourism Ministry that informed Penang of this last month.

Sim said all sorts of propaganda would pop up as the 14th general election nears.

He said the video was clearly done by parties with big resources.

“It was professionally done. It whacks the Penang government. Although it carries no names, perhaps because those behind it knew the content lacked credibility, the video was so well orchestrated that it even made the news. 

“These observations should be enough to point at who is behind the video,” he said. – February 25, 2018.