zyenhoo dot com

Has anyone noticed how many advertisements Barisan Nasional has to promote themselves for the upcoming elections on 8th March? They are, but not limited to:

• Newspaper advertisements
• Radio advertisements
• Television advertisements
• Billboards

Oh yeah, and of course the usual string of flags they hang along the roads that block all the signages.

We already know from David’s proposal to Kelly that it costs about RM40k to put up a billboard ad for about a month. And we know that it costs more than that for TV and radio ads. So how is it that Barisan Nasional is able to afford those many advertisements and many billboards?

Do you see the Opposition parties having that many advertisements? No. Do you even see the Opposition parties having any advertisements at all, outside of the usual string of flags they hang along the roads that block all the signages? No.

Who has access to the country’s coffers? The government. Who is the government? Barisan Nasional. Is this where all the people’s money are going into? What the h*** do I want to pay taxes for if it’s all blown on a billboard to promote a political party that has been failing to do its job in the last 2-3 years?

All the advertisements have the same underlying pleading desperation – they’re begging the people to vote for them, reminding us of the so-called great job they’ve been doing in developing the country, maintaining the peace, and improving its economy. It’s almost pathetic.

To be honest, I’m not anti-government. I’m not even pro-opposition. I’m just disgusted at the current state of our country’s politics. I think that our ex-PM has done a great job for the country – I truly and wholeheartedly respect Tan Sri Dr Mahathir for his incredible contributions. Despite the many allegations of corruption that has occurred during his reign as our PM, I believe that many of the things that Dr M has done was for the benefit of the country. Nobody used to know where Malaysia was; everyone knew Singapore, even though it was a country the size of Penang Island, but mention “Malaysia” and everyone outside Asia used to go, “Huh?” Dr M has put Malaysia on the map. It may not be well-known yet, but at least now people know that there’s a country of considerable size lying between Thailand and Singapore and it’s not just a barren wasteland.

Since Dr M’s resignation, what have we achieved? We’ve blown more than RM1 billion of the people’s money to send a space tourist to the moon. We hear of more cases of snatch thefts, crimes against children, and corruption. OK, we can’t blame the government for that… or can we?

I stress, I am not anti-BN. I admit that I even voted for MCA in the last elections – I honestly think that Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun is a sincere person who really champions the people’s rights.

But when huge billboards in prime locations stare at me in the face as I drive by listening to irrelevant long boring speeches made by people years ago ending with a “Vote for the government, vote for Barisan Nasional” tagline… well, do they really think I’ll buy into their desperate plea to mark an X next to the scales?

Watch this.