THE PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER AFRAID

By : DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN

PERSONALLY I am very happy that Musa Aman is asking the BN leaders to go on the ground more to explain issues raised by the opposition to the people, especially about the illegal immigrants which he said we in the opposition have been politicizing.

In fact I would really like to be there when those BN leaders go the kampungs and tell the people, “Dear people, don’t believe the opposition when they talk about the illegals. They are liars and making up a lot of stories…” and right there in the crowd there are some illegals trying very hard to look and sound like locals.

Why is Musa asking the BN leaders to turun padang? Because all these while they have stopped going into the kampungs. There is hardly anymore such thing as BN party ceramahs anymore. Well, they try to organize them but the people don’t come even if food and drinks are served.

Even if Tan Sri Pairin himself goes into a KDM kampong, they will no longer come to kiss his hand like in the old days. So in order to create a crowd the BN buses have to carry the BN members to the venues.

But even by doing this the so-called BN supporters feel it is a waste of time. That is why in some place where they tried to have ceramahs, only a handful, or a dozen or two turned up. Forget about having hundreds coming.

There was one ceramah held in Inanam recently and an old man stood up and asked why the BN keeps talking about developments with millions of ringgit in allocations, but the small old folks monthly assistance hadn’t been paid for a long time already? The BN leaders couldn’t answer.

Their tongues got frozen and their jaws were hanging in embarassment! And this is the problem for the BN leaders everywhere they go. The people nowadays are very clever - they know what to say and ask. They are no longer afraid of even the CM, and they have simple but very tough questions the BN leaders just can’t answer.

They go to BN ceramahs to take shots at the leaders, not to listen and clap their hands. And after all, they already know what do the BN leaders will tell the people. Only two things - developments, developments and that the oppositions are liars, can only make empty promises but can’t fulfil them.

So what’s the point for the BN to go to the ground? If holding ceramahs is useless and will only invite embarrassing unanswerable questions, what else can the BN leaders do? Should they go from house to house? Maybe, but even then the people can’t be stopped from asking the questions which are burning in their hearts.

Leaders try to get themselves close to the people by attending weddings and funerals, but the PBS President, Tan Sri Pairin, himself is feeling the heat while doing this kind of rounds in Tambunan.

A few weeks ago while walking into a wedding in Kg. Sunsuron at night, some guests at the back shouted, “Ini kalilah!” And there were red faces all around!

Some PBS divisional leaders in Tambunan are now supporting STAR, going to Dr. Jeffrey’s house for chit-chats. When Pairin asked them if they still support him, they said, “Tan Sri, we still love you but we don’t like BN anymore!” So how?

If the BN leaders really want the people to support them, they can do a few things:

1. Declare and RCI and get it done before the next general election,

2. Delay the GE13 to next year (go full term),

3. Have a sweeping operation to clean the state of illegals,

4. Bring those people responsible for treasonous acts to justice,

5. Increase the oil royalty to at least 20% NOW,

6. Abolish the cabotage policy TOMORROW,

7. Have an RCI on the Double Six Tragedy (late is better than ever),

8. Stop all religious discrimination,

9. Stop the Malay dominance in the civil service, etc. etc.

But these will never be done as long as the BN is in power. What the BN leaders want to do is to continue lying to the people, to accuse those telling the truth of being liars, and at the same to try and make the people believe they are the angels and that the opposition leaders are devils. But you can’t lie to the people forever. They are mature enough to differentiate between truth and lies, and surely the day of reckoning will come.