Pakatan can be 'killed off' even before GE13 if it is not careful

Pakatan Rakyat can be killed off even before the 13th General Election if it is not careful, warns PAS MP for Kota Raja Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud. This is evident from the media blitz attacking the coalition from all sides on a daily basis.

According to the PAS leader, it is this media onslaught that is the top culprit and the main source of artillery fire that could rock the Pakatan.

Of late, the mainstream press including government-controlled TV stations have played a tremendous role in highlighting Prime Minister Najib Razak's 'achievements'.  Pages and pages of such "advertorial" can be found almost daily in the newspapers who hire writers, journalists, reporters and analysts and instruct them to lavish praise on Najib and his BN government.

For instance, the My 1stHome initiative recently launched by Najib received widespread publicity. The coverage created an image of a PM who is caring for the rakyat as he wants everyone to own a home.  But will the poor and the low-income group really benefit from this initiative?  What about the burden of household debt incurred in the twilight years or if one loses one's job suddenly due to accident or poor health?

Yet, unquestioningly, everything in the mainstream media these days glorify the deeds of Najib and the BN Government. 

According to Siti Mariah, constant media bombardment against Pakatan leaders will rub off one way or another - even if few Malaysians believe what they read or see and hear on TV these days. Come polling, Pakatan may lose out due to the mainstream media painting a very black and bleak picture of Pakatan and the future it offers.

"So much damage has been done to vilify us that it is going to be difficult for the general population to tell fact from fiction or to separate lies from truth," Siti told Malaysia Chronicle.

Criminals for hiding the truth from the people

Even former premier Mahathir Mohamad's mudslinging comments about Anwar Ibrahim has been given top coverage in the news. These comments which degrade Anwar's character and moral standing will surely be lapped up by the rural folks, who more often than not will believe wholeheartedly what they read from Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian.

During the reign of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, the Nazi dictator also used a propaganda team to influence the masses and garner support for the Nazi regime. As a sign of how strongly Hitler believed in the power of the press, he appointed the notorious Goebbels as his propaganda chief.

"I have information that it was the 'higher-ups' who instructed the mainstream media not to print any criticism on Najib and the whole BN cohort along with their plans, programmes and initiatives," DAP MP for Beruas Ngeh Koo Ham told Malaysia Chronicle.

How the mainstream media plays up issues to "dupe" the public is evident in the coverage of the RM50billion KL MRT network - Najib's pet project that was hammered through in secrecy and without any open tender.
On Tuesday, PKR in a press conference at the Parliament lobby requested that the MRT project be temporarily halted until all the questions pertaining to it - especially in regards to cost, suitability of the station's locations, inter-connectivity, et al - were answered satisfactorily.  

However, on Thursday, a feature appeared in an English daily highlighting that many people wanted the MRT and a few members of the public were interviewed to give the effect of public clamoring.  This may be subtle propaganda to promote the notion that Najib was again "thinking of the people's needs" first. It also puts PKR in a bad light and make it seem as if it was uncaring of the transportation problems faced by the man-in-street.

"This systemic attack and concerted effort in the mainstream media to tarnish Anwar and discredit PR is part of BN's ploy before the 13th General Election.  BN is now laying the groundwork for victory as Najib last year has announced that they will defend Putrajaya at all cost.  At all cost means he will stop at nothing and leave no holds barred in his effort to stay in power," PKR assemblyman for Teja Chang Lih Kang told Malaysia Chronicle.

Brainwashing, the press and BTN

Ngeh also gave examples that in matured democracies like USA and UK, the newspapers were allowed to be critical of the government unlike in Malaysia, where all the government's moves are praised and lauded with maximum effect while a blanket ban is applied on dissent and the opposition.

During the heyday of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler won the support of the masses due to Goebbels' success in spreading the Nazi propaganda
Even the youth of Nazi Germany worshipped Hitler as a great hero thanks to the Third Reich recruiting them into organisations set up to specially brainwash and manipulate their young minds.  In Malaysia, Mahathir has been accused of trying to do the same with Biro Tata Negara or the National Civics Bureau.

Try as it may, all the good that has been done by the Pakatan has often been burnt out by the intentional mis-reporting and information black-outs by the media.

The merits of the Pakatan's pride - its Buku Jingga or Orange Book that highlights its blueprint for economic reforms gets nearly zero coverage compared to comments by Najib, Muhyiddin, their BN colleagues and analysts even though many of their proposals are so extravagant it only takes common sense to realize that they will bankrupt the nation. 

"We are at the mercy of the ruthless mainstream media.  Hopefully the more well-informed rakyat and those in the know will not be so gullible," said Ngeh.