CHUNK......By
hijacking Merdeka celebrations as a BN election campaign, the government has
ostracised a large chunk of the Malaysian population.
By : RAYMOND TOMBUNG
KOTA KINABALU: Barisan
Nasional’s Merdeka Day slogan 'Janji
DiTepati' is a ‘big blunder’ that is likely to cost the coalition in Sabah and
Sarawak. The slogan has already courted controversy in the peninsular and is
seeing further rejection in the Borneo states.
According to Sabah STAR
deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun, BN’s bid to psychologically manipulate
Malaysian by celebrating its ‘own successes’ is ‘plain arrogance’.
“Claiming the national
celebration its own celebration is plain arrogance (on the part fo BN). BN has
forgotten that the national celebration is for all Malaysians regardless of
party affiliation,
“(Now) by doing so, BN has
alienated the rakyat who are in the opposition.
“Now there is no reason for
the opposition to celebrate the national day together because it has become
‘BN’s Day’!
“There is no reason for
people in the opposition to be patriotic with the national day because to celebrate
it means to support BN!” he said.
He said this was probably
the reason why there were hardly any national flags – Jalur Gemilang – on the
streets in Sabah.
“BN has forgotten that its
duty is to celebrate the national day on behalf of all the people, and that the
national day belongs to the people not to BN!
“No wonder the number of
flags being put up on shops, offices, houses and vehicles have suddenly
dwindled to almost zero compared to previous years.
“Now even the Jalur Gemilang
has a strong tinge of BN’s arrogance so much so that many people no longer feel
any patriotic feeling when they see it flapping in the wind,” he lamented.
New meaning of patriotism
Jambun said, it was
increasingly obvious that the ruling BN is either ‘desperate’ and worried that
it may lose the next general election or ‘simply over-confident’.
“It (BN) is using everything
and anything it can get its hands on, even the people’s patriotic heritage to
glorify itself?
“They are either desperate,
over-confident or simply super-arrogant that it thinks that it will gain a lot
of political mileage by making it a part of the BN.
“Over-confidence more likely
because they have hijacked and damaged the whole meaning of patriotism.
“We know that from the BN’s
viewpoint patriotism means supporting the BN while from the viewpoint of the
opposition patriotism means saving the nation from the abuses of the BN.
“So now it is meaningless
for the BN to appeal to the people’s sense of patriotism because when the prime
minister or any top BN leader talks about patriotism they know it means only
one thing, ‘Come and support the BN!’”
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