By Nathaniel Tan,
I think Najib and gang bank on the fact that Malaysians may be unaware of how the DYMM SPB YDP Agong’s speech in Parliament is actually prepared by the government, and not by the monarch himself.
I think Malaysia’s independent media (MK, TMI) would do well to remind readers of this fact.
So, when you read in the papers that the Agong praised the PM, what is actually happening is that the PM is praising himself.
When you read that the Agong is speaking on the limits of free speech, what is actually happening is that Najib and BN are truly afraid of what Malaysians are actually saying, doing and thinking.
This is not because Malaysians are planning racial violence or any such nonsense (except maybe those in power themselves), as it has been proven time and again that normal Malaysians like you and me have no appetite for that sort of thing.
Rather, it is because Malaysians like you and me are starting to get sick of sloganeering that is so empty that the government has to resort to the monarch to prop up concepts like 1Malaysia with effusive (again, composed by the government, and entirely self serving) praise.
It is because we haven’t been seeing real action behind the rhetoric; because despite all the fancy plans and schemes, there is more corruption instead of less; and because while one hand of the government preaches unity, the other incites hate.
A truly successful PM would let his ‘famed’ walkabouts speak for themselves, and not so shamelessly stoop to having the esteemed institution of the monarch do his public relations for him. I think the PM’s actions here are insulting to both the Agong and to all Malaysians.
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