As you see it (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

ARCHIVES 2010
By MT Webmaster

Whatever you may think of the reason for yesterday’s by-election result, the fact that Pakatan Rakyat won against the backdrop of a massive amount of money promised as a reward in the event that Barisan Nasional wins means that you can buy some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but you can’t buy all the people all the time.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

How was the result of yesterday’s Sibu by-election reported? Let me count the ways, as Shakespeare would say.

  1. BN gagal mempertahankan Sibu (BN fails to defend Sibu)
  2. Voters of Sibu, thanks for the miracle
  3. DAP’s Wong Ho Leng wins Sibu By-Election
  4. DAP rebut kerusi parlimen Sibu (DAP grabs the Sibu parliamentary seat)
  5. ‘Political tsunami’ finally reaches East Malaysia
  6. Wakeup call on Sarawak politics
  7. David fells Goliath
  8. DAP memang (DAP wins)
  9. DAP tumbangankan BN (DAP demolishes/brings down BN)
  10. DAP takes Sibu
  11. DAP wrests Sibu from BN
  12. BN loses Sibu
  13. Congratulations Sibu
  14. Shock defeat for Barisan
  15. Umno gets second slap
  16. Barisan fails to buy buy-election
  17. Congrats DAP, and the Chinese!
  18. Sibu buktikan rakyat kuasa keramat (Sibu proves the people are the sacred power)
  19. Kemenangan Wong pemangkin agenda selamatkan Malaysia (Wong’s win is the platform for the save Malaysia agenda)
  20. Rakyat Sibu buktikan BN tidak lagi relevan (Sibu citizens prove BN is no longer relevant)

I chose the 20 headlines above at random and based on no particular order of priority. There are many more, of course, but I just wanted to show you what the many pro-government Blogs, pro-opposition Blogs, and mainstream newspapers thought appropriate as their headlines today.

Now, looking at the headlines, you can almost guess what the contents of the report would have said. The headlines also give you an idea of the political leaning of those who wrote their reports.

There are those who thought that Barisan Nasional should not have lost. So they use words such as ‘shock’, ‘miracle’, ‘fails’, ‘gagal’, etc.

Then there are those who feel that Pakatan Rakyat did not win the Sibu seat but that Barisan Nasional lost it instead and they use words such as ‘loses’, ‘defeat’, etc.

Then again, there are those who feel that the voters actually wanted Barisan Nasional but voted Pakatan Rakyat instead just to teach the ruling coalition a lesson or to send them a message. So they used words like ‘wakeup call’, ‘second slap’, and so on.

Finally, there are those who attribute the Sibu by-election to an opposition victory and the words they used to demonstrate this are ‘win’, ‘political Tsunami’, ‘congrats’, ‘grabs’, ‘takes’, and whatnot.

Basically, did Pakatan Rakyat win the Sibu by-election or did Barisan Nasional lose it? No, it is not the same. If Pakatan Rakyat won then it is the effort or good work of Pakatan Rakyat. If Barisan Nasional lost then it is the lack of effort or error in strategy by Barisan Nasional.

In short, did Pakatan Rakyat score the goal or did Barisan Nasional kick the ball into its own goal?

There are those who would argue that you did not win. It is just that I did something wrong that allowed you to win. Therefore, I actually lost rather than you won.

How you perceive the result of the Sibu by-election would depend on where your support or sympathy lies. If you were pro-Pakatan Rakyat then you would say that Pakatan Rakyat won. But if you were pro-Barisan Nasional then you would say that Barisan Nasional lost. Then again, if you were with neither side, you would say that the people of Sibu or the voters won.

Of course, there are those who do not credit the by-election result to either party. Instead, they blame Rosmah for Barisan Nasional’s loss, or Pakatan Rakyat’s win — whichever you prefer. And they blame Rosmah for getting onto the stage to sing to the voters (see the Bernama report below). And after that extreme mental torture the people decided to kick out Barisan Nasional just so that they could be spared further torture.

Anyway, whatever you may think of the reason for yesterday’s by-election result, the fact that Pakatan Rakyat won against the backdrop of a massive amount of money promised as a reward in the event that Barisan Nasional wins means that you can buy some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but you can’t buy all the people all the time.

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Rosmah Surprises Crowd At Sibu Gateway

SIBU, May 15 (Bernama) — A gathering of 3,000 people at the Sibu Gateway had a pleasant surprise when the Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was among the singers to entertain them during a meet-the people session there on Saturday night.

Rosmah had sportingly accepted requests to render two numbers during the occasion, including one song in Mandarin, just after Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak concluded his speech.

Several well-known Malaysian artistes including “golden-voiced” Jamal Abdillah entertained the crowd at the function.

Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui and the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate for the Sibu by-election, Robert Lau Hui Yew, were among those who attended the gathering.

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Janey Cutler may not look as ‘delicious’ as Rosmah, but if Barisan Nasional had asked her to sing to the Sibu voters instead, then yesterday’s result may have been very different.

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SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAwOZvvGsRs

 

Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_18.html

 

 



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