Selangor BN clutching at straws

 

 

 The Chinese celebrate Zhongyuan, the ghost festival, on the 15th day of the seventh moon in their calendar. That coincides with Aug 15, but some politicians, not necessarily of Chinese descent, have started invoking ghosts earlier than scheduled. The unexpected bereavement of Selangor’s BN government in 2008 bewildered many ambitious members of the coalition. The shock threw them off balance. It dazed and confused them as they tried to figure out what the future held in store for BN and, especially, for their individual selves.

Not anymore. Or so it seems. They appear to have finished licking their wounds and are now vigorously going after the ruling Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Selangor BN’s recent actions and rhetoric can be likened to those of a private demolition company desperately trying to find fault with a spanking new building so that it can tear it down just to keep itself relevant and to spite the contractor chosen to build the new structure.

BN’s self-appointed champions have been whipping up trivial issues in the hope that the noise they make will drown out the voices of those recalling the sins of the previous administration.

But it is not so easy to chase away hungry ghosts. Words can mislead, but they cannot obliterate the record of years of extravagant and wasteful public spending, graft, power abuse and poor governance.

Onlookers of average intelligence can tell that BN has conceived its ghost stories poorly and they are not rushing for tickets to watch the theatre versions.

The much-promoted road show about shifting sands and muddy waters is a flop. It has not generated any meaningful interest. Instead of injecting fear into Pakatan, as promised in the pre-publicity, it has shown up the organisers and actors as poor amateurs and losers.

It is hard to tell whether the BN script is supposed to be serious or comical. Perhaps it is a fantasy. In contrast, Pakatan has gone for realism.

To understand the water issue, for instance, one only has to read the explicit and detailed account given by Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad in his article, “Battle over Selangor’s water continues unabated”. Dzulkefly, a PAS leader, sits on the Selangor Water Panel.

The would-be BN heroes are even pretending to show deep concern for the health of the natural environment, something they used to rape with abandon. In fact, the previous Selangor state government, like many other BN governments, have a dismal record when it comes to protecting the environment.