THE INFORMATION DEPARTMENT 6th February 2010
On 11thJuly 2010, The Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat Complex in Pulai, Johor will be officially opened by YAB Datuk Seri Najib Bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia and I think it’s appropriate for me to re-post an article that I’ve written about 6 month ago, just to remember the legendary Tok Mat of Pulai.
General Election 2008 will be long remembered by every Malaysian as the day of reckoning for the BN government. It shook the nation at 11.0 Magnitude on Richter scale, and followed by a great Tsunami that almost wiped out a ruling coalition of 60 years. Everyone felt the tremor and the possibility of a backlash month’s before the election but the PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi went on with an early election. I am not sure why but it was definitely a wrong time and the consequences were a total disaster. Everyone anticipated a fierce battle between BN coalition and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) new coalition. The opposition’s quest for change and their brutal campaign nearly won them the Coveted prize but somehow BN were able to squeeze through with a weak majority and formed the government. It was a wake up call and they know that if they don’t sort out and correct the wrong, there won’t be a BN government after the next general election. That is quite certain and all BN component parties are aware of the uphill battle that awaits them to bring back the voters that deceived the party. The 2 main components party MCA and MIC was shredded to pieces and GERAKAN were completely wiped out.
It was a heavy defeat and recovery will take a very long time but the work must start now if we want to win back the voters and restore our 2/3 majority in Parliament. The loss could be narrowed down to a single movement, Hindraf and how the opposition capitalized on the emotion of Indians and secured a big victory for them. In the earlier days, Indians in Malaysia doesn’t have any opposition party to choose from except MIC, PPP, IPF and Gerakan, who are part of the BN coalition. There was only one opposition party that was made available for the Indians, DAP but it failed to lure the Indians because it was completely controlled by the Chinese and their own ideology. The Indians were somehow fixed in a situation where they have to vote for BN, but everything changed when PKR emerged as a multi-racial party and the charismatic Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim as the opposition leader. With the emergence of Hindraf and their mega rally on the 25th Nov 2007, PKR took centre stage as the savior for the Indian community and DSAI was hailed as a “Hero” and The Chosen One” by the people.
I wouldn’t believe it in thousand years if someone tells me that Indians are supporting PAS. On the nomination day at my own division in Pulai, Johor, I witnessed the unthinkable, about 100 Indians carrying PAS flag and walking towards the nomination center. I could see their anger and frustration; it was a very sad scenario, looking at them being fooled by the opposition party that was purely a religious party. What happened, what went wrong and why are all these Indians with PAS. It will be absurd to say that the Indians are synonymous with PAS ideology but rather showing their protest against the government by associating themselves with PAS. One thing I’m really certain, those people are there not because they love PAS but because they hate us.
There were many theories as of why BN fared badly at the pools and everyone pointing their fingers at each other, GERAKAN was wiped out completely, MCA & MIC lost almost 75% of their contested seats and UMNO took a severe beating with a large number of MP’s and Cabinet Ministers lost their seat. The opposition’s had the media at their control and they totally monopolized the Electronic Media to their advantage and that is the cause of our heavy defeat. The “Rakyat” started to believe that the electronic media is the real deal because they come up with the news first and our printed media carries the same news 12-24hours later. The human mind has the tendency to register the first news as the real news, anything else after that is just additional information where the brain compares it with the real news it had registered. Well, it’s very difficult to convince the brain that the information registered earlier was inaccurate and that was what happened to the “Rakyat”, and they voted the opposition.
It is the job of the Information Department / Information Ministries to ensure that a proper system to streamline the news and media and only the truth reaches the “Rakyat”. The Electronic Media has the least restriction, therefore anyone can write and post their news without fear and confusion arises as to which is the real news. The opposition has no problem with that, by putting various character’s to news, the Rakyat will be at a crossroad, not knowing who is telling the truth, as far as the “rakyat’s”, doesn’t believe the government, the opposition is on the right track. I think in order to relate to the “Rakyat”, the government should come up with an independent channel on TV & Radio to give the people all the news that they require. Whenever someone tells us about latest news around the globe, the first thing we do is to check on CNN/BBC, because we believe that this channel only gives the right story and truth. Our own Truth Channel will eventually command a huge crowd, just because we are giving them all the news without compromising the truth.
There was once a man; he has many names, Tok Mat, Mat Setia, Mat Umno, Mat Bulat and Mr. Propaganda. Tan Sri Mohamed Bin Rahmat was not the Minister of the Information Ministry but Information Ministry was Tan Sri Mohamad Bin Rahmat. He was the walking news, information, media and the face of Barisan Nasional. He also maintains a very cordial relationship with journalist, reporter’s, artists, Radio Televisyen Malaysia and Press to collect and share information about anything. He kept himself available and very approachable at all time and this enables him to know everything that is going on in the country. He is also the true party man, a LOYAL servant to his superiors and to the people. His friendly nature is not the yardstick to measure his character; he is a total disciplinarian and takes his work very seriously. He won’t hesitate to take action on anyone in regards to the party; many were suspended or sacked when he was Secretary General of UMNO for breaching the party rules. He also never hesitates to make new rules and bring discipline and good image to an organization, ask Amy and Awie about their hair and scissors.
He was the most important Minister during the early years of Dr. Mahathir’s reign as Prime Minister and it’s duly due to Tok Mat’s loyalty, sincerity and his ability as the information minister. The de-registration of UMNO and sacking of the Lord President Tun Salleh Abbas almost derailed Dr. Mahathir from his position as President of UMNO and Prime Minister. UMNO split into two fractions and many cabinet minister and senior UMNO members cut ties with the PM and joined Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in his newly formed Semangat 46 party. Tok Mat’s loyalty was a blessing in disguise for Dr. Mahathir and since all the UMNO assets were frozen due to the de-register of the party, the going gets tougher. It was written in an article that Tok Mat and a few UMNO stalwarts were at Sri Perdana, the residence of the Prime Minister to discuss about the formation of a new party. They collected RM274 and went on to register a new party called UMNO BARU. Well, when you have Mr. Propaganda on your side with every information at his fingertips, the newly formed party couldn’t fail. The party’s strength was soon restored and Dr. Mahathir won the UMNO Presidential Election against Tengku Razaleigh with a narrow margin. UMNO and BN were back on track but the split in the party severely affected the “Rakyat” and something need to be done to get them to support the PM and BN. That was the time Dr. Mahathir popularity was at the lowest and the man who was handpicked to restore the PM’s image was the Information Minister/ Sec Gen of UMNO, Tan Sri Mohamad Rahmat.
The legendary campaign called “SETIA” was launched to educate loyalty among the “Rakyat” and followed up with the “SEMARAK” campaign. Tok Mat made the platform for Dr. Mahathir to go on a nationwide campaign to meet the people and strengthen his support and it was a tremendous success. Dr. Mahathir stayed on as PM for another 15 years and the credit should go to Tok Mat for his effort and service to the President and Party.
He was an Icon and the most outstanding Information Minister ever; the Tsunami of 2008 GE would not have taken place if he was at the helm. We have to change our system and restore the Information Department to its previous glory, every branch, division, state and federal Information Head should be well equipped with knowledge, access and freedom to be able to move around and restore the trust of the “Rakyat”. We have seen an excellent Information Chief, Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat and I being the Information Chief for MIC Bahagian PULAI, the birth place of the legendary Tok Mat feel’s ashamed for not being able to follow his footsteps. If we want to restore our party to its glorious days, the Information Department and Information Chief’s need to function and not kept as a ceremonial appointments as what it is now. We have many leader with many recognitions to their name, Tunku Abdul Rahman as Bapa Kermerdekaan, Tun Abdul Razak as Bapa Pembangunan , Tun Hussein Onn as Bapa Perpaduan, Tun Dr. Mahathir as Bapa Permodenan and I agree with some of the article written on Tok Mat claiming that his contribution to the party and country is nothing less than the 5 Prime Minister he had served in various capacity, therefore he is also should be honored as Bapa UMNO Baru, the party he formed with Dr. Mahathir in 1987. His UMNO membership number was 00000003, after Dr. Mahathir and Dr. Siti Hasmah respectively. Even his membership number indicates his contribution and his position within UMNO at that time. I personally prefer the title Bapa Informasi, because that was what he was, information, news and facts.
Captain.....
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