A Smiling Bully
Action speaks louder than words. The thuggish acts of BN supporters are a reflection of their leaders who rules this nation with an ironfist through fear and intimidation.
Thomas Fann
Walking towards a Pakatan rally at Kampung Melayu Dato Sulaiman Menteri in Johor Bahru, I could hear loud music coming from the open area where the ceramah was supposed to be. Initially I thought it was the pre-rally entertainment to amuse those who came earlier but as I got closer I could see Umno and BN flags from where the mega sound system was, just 40 metres from the Pakatan truck which served as the mobile stage.
Around 30 of these flag-waving Umno supporters were hurling verbal abuses and taunting the crowd of several thousands that night who came to hear what Anwar, Kit Siang, Guan Eng and other Pakatan leaders had to say.
Scores of police personnel had to act as human barricades to separate this small group of hostile supporters from the larger crowd who to their credit was peaceful and not provoked. Rock music and Umno songs blasted non-stop for more than 4 hours for the whole duration of the ceramah.
When different speakers were on stage, abuses would come through the Umno sound system and the Negaraku was played at least five times to interrupt the speech. Anwar got it the worse and as he attempted to speak, one could hear “Penipu, pembohong” being shouted at him.
Like many right-thinking Malaysian that night, I was disgusted, saddened and ashamed of the level some segment of our society has descended to!
It wasn’t my first encounter with such childish attempts to sabotage an event which the ruling government does not agree with but this was the worst case so far for me. With Parliament dissolved and official campaigning about to start, I am afraid the worst is yet to come.
Something just doesn’t jive, it doesn’t make sense.
In recent weeks I have been coming across billboards of PM Najib smiling sweetly with children of different faces and the text “This is Happiness” or “This is Stability”. On the TV we hear commercials using well-known personalities to “advise” voters to choose wisely, to choose peace, stability, happiness and even Malaysia. Songs about choosing wisely were commissioned and sung by fresh faced, white attired multi-ethnic singers. It just feels so good and gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
The image portrayed by the mass media of the BN government is one that is peace-loving, gracious, gentle, stable, mature, tolerant, inclusive and progressive. But these are just mere images and words conjured up by some professional public relation consultants who are no doubt paid tens of millions of ringgit.
The reality is shockingly different.
Read more at: http://thomasfann.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/a-smiling-bully/
