Apabila Perdana Menteri muncul dalam iklan televisyen sempena Tahun Baru Cina sambil “beating a large Chinese drum with sticks. A lion’s head appears”, beliau dikecam oleh penyokong pembangkang sebagai “He’s trying too hard”.
PM dikutuk sebagai menjatuhkan air muka sendiri kononnya kerana perbuatan beliau memalu gendang itu (“Najib Abdul Razak has outdone himself at self-debasement”, kata penulis Kee Thuan Chye).
Dalam rencananya (screenshot bawah), Kee juga mendakwa iklan itu “elicited responses from viewers full of derision and contempt”.
“Hak sei ngor!” … “Unheard of” … “Eeyer! Geli! (Makes my skin crawl)”, tulis bekas pengarang The Star itu tentang respons rakan-rakannya.
Rencana yang tersebut telah ditweet sebanyak 55 kali oleh pembaca Malaysiakini serta digemari oleh hampir 600 orang Facebooker di samping ia diterbitkan di beberapa portal pro-pembangkang yang lain dan disebut di Roketkini.
Mengikut Kee, ada juga penyokong pembangkang yang telah mempersendakan Najib — “Oh, gosh! […] I burst into laughter. Stupidest ad ever!” wrote one. And this was among the milder ones”.
Sebenarnya PM nampak banyak bersabar dan bersikap ‘sporting’.
Bagi saya, iklan CNY yang dibintangi Najib itu okay bah. Kenapa pula percubaan beliau untuk menawan hati masyarakat Cina tidak boleh dihargai tetapi sebaliknya hendak asyik dikritik dan tak habis-habis dicerca?
“On Najib’s performance, many said it was ‘lawak‘ (clownish). One called him ‘an absolute clown’, another called him ‘Maharaja lawak‘ (king of clowns). A kinder critic wrote, “We do not need a PM who can play drums, we need a PM who can stop corruption.” […]
“And of course, some demanded to know how much of the people’s money was spent on this “desperate act by a desperate PM”.
“And the one that sought to predict the near future: “Hahahaha … jawatan baru lepas kalah PRU13 … Ketua Ketuk Gendang Tarian Singa!”
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Sedutan di atas adalah petikan kata-kata yang dilempar mereka terhadap Najib.
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Tapi cuba anda tengok siapa yang sedang memalu gendang besar Cina seraya berdiri bersebelahan dengan kepala ‘singa’. Gambar di atas terpampang pada muka depan Selangor Times edisi minggu ini.
Helen Ang 
Najib trying too hard? Can’t be as bad or as hypocritical as Hannah Yeoh or Tiu Nie Ching wearing tudung, can it? Or Ronnie Liu in baju Melayu…
You have it from their own mouths, it’s only self debasing to even try winning over the Chinese.
Real funny coming from people thinking a pang sai CM is really noble and worth writing a newspaper article about.
That is the opposition in Malaysia!!!
Kee Thuan Chye is a hack of the highest order.
The only problem I had with the ad was that the Opposition is not allowed to present themselves in a simililarly voter friendly manner State funded media.
Rais Yatim may claim that RTM, NST etc are State propaganda organs (although readers of this blog may disagree when it comes to the Star) but as usual I found Lee Kuan Yew’s words on the same subject more palatable.
The only thing I find demeaning is the attempts made by this current establishment to woo Chinese voters while most of these voters are a bigoted bunch more interested in advancing the agenda of a chauvinistic/Christian political party than any form of reconciliation.
In terms of print media, Buletin Mutiara is like LGE’s personal photo album while S’gor Times is the same for Hannah Yeoh and the rest of her Christian coterie.
There is Selangor TV but I’m sure about its transmission.
IMO, KTC is a bigger clown than any other in the country.
As for the PM drumming, I don’t see anything inherently wrong with that. My one grouse was when he wished Gong Xi Fa Cai. It sounded a bit awkward. Perhaps they should have re-recorded that part.
And at least the PM actually reaches out to the different races & religions. I recalled an incident (can’t remember which state) when DAP representative(s) refused to use the songkok with the official attire.
Btw, did anyone notice that in the pic of the manifesto unveiling ceremony Nik Aziz who had Wan Azizah to his left, stood about a foot away & did not hold her hand when they all raised theirs? Women’s libs may be amongst the first to be trampled upon if these upright & righteous men come into power.
If the Tuan Guru was iffy about coming into contact with Wan Azizah’s hand, then she could have stood in the middle beside her hubby and Kit Siang.
Interesting to see a mursyidul am standing in a position of prominence when the president of the “biggest & most inclusive opposition party” stands by the wayside.
Anyways, Azmin with a close shaved head? Did he do that for penance? Or for ease of maintenance with the GE chugging along soon? Or just being environmental friendly like Wong Tack by cutting down on hair care products & water consumption?
I think even though Najib is trying hard to woe the Chinese to his fold, I believe he has his limit and when the dust settled off after 13 GE and when the result is clear that the Chinese still want to side with the DAP, Najib will move to show to the Chinese who is the real kingmaker in the country.
They will be show that provocative style wont bring the Chinese any good and cooperation with other race is the way forward as its always been. I really hope that after the 13 GE the MCA will still held to their pledge not to be in the government if they failed to win over the Chinese. Let it be 5 year sabbatical for the Chinese for them to reflect back their political standing. And people usually will be grateful with what they had after they lost it.
I agree. MCA must stay out of govt according to what they’ve pledged if they fail to perform in Ge13.
Onehub,
They say generosity has its limit. For a while , Chinese are in “7th heaven” as UMNO, Najib, PR court them.
Now they(chinese) have to make a choice. They may reject Najib’s overtures. But more importantly they may vote themselves out of the govt. As Malays call it “silap hari bulan”, or in crude language “senjata makan tuan”.
If they reject Najib, then they make Najib like an idiot. And naturally Malays will say ‘padan muka” to Najib for being too accomodating to Chinese demands , many of which are mind boggling.
Najib , like any politician, will be forced to choose. Naturally he will “lean” towards those who vote for him. and the era of Chinese ministers are coming to its end. And along with its, the feeling of being in “7th heaven” so prevalent among the Chinese nowadays.
Shamsul…methinks that there is much truth and sense in what you say here.
firstly thanks. azmin akan jd ketua penjaga tandas awam, sesuai dgn jiwanya yg menyukai tandas…
MACAI CINA DAP…
Helen…
Jugak sesiapa yang akan terbaca komen saya ini…
Jika orang Malaysia (semua kaum) berfikir sejenak tentang iklan berkenaan dengan akal yang tenang, waras dan bijaksana tentu mereka akan faham tujuan dan maksud PM apabila beliau membuat keputusan memainkan peranan dalam iklan berkenaan.
Saya menilai bahawa PM cuba menunjukkan bahawa CNY boleh bersama-sama disambut oleh semua kerana CNY bukan perayaan keagamaan. Tarian singa atau tarian naga juga bukan berunsur keagamaan. Perayaan berkenaan adalah bersifat budaya dan seharusnya masyarakat berbilang budaya mencontohi PM kita ini.
Seorang gadis yang berbisik di telinga PM seharusnya dilihat sebagai PM kita ini mudah didekati dan boleh diajukan apa jua isu untuk beliau pertimbangkan.
Pendekatan pembangkang yang meriuhkan hal ini seperti ayam bertelur sebiji tetapi riuh sekampung sudah maklum difahami. Dan boleh jadi juga mereka merasa gundah dengan ‘apakah rahsia yang dibisikkan oleh gadis cina berkenaan ke cuping telinga PM’. Mungkinkah bisikkan itu bermaksud, “tolonglah hapuskan Pakatoons’?
Apapun, saya melihat pembangkang yang meriuhkan iklan berkenaan dengan pelbagai kutukan sebenarnya tidak matang, tidak bijak yakni dengan kebodohan tahap total kerana PM seharusnya dilihat untuk semua (termasuk pembangkang) dan sepatutnya iklan berkenaan dilihat sebagai usaha membudayakan masyarakat Malaysia dengan sambutan berkenaan yang bertaraf Nasional.
regards
Ya, saya setuju dengan pandangan anda. Malah saya yakin jika idea menerbitkan iklan CNY seperti ini menggunakan Anwar sebagai pemain drum, malah sebagai pemegang kepala singa sekalipun.. mereka jugalah yg akan riuh memuji-muji bagai nak rak.
They oppose for the sake of opposing… nothing more.
Salam Dek Helen,
Ada kesungguhan dan keikhlasan PM,… pukul gendang Cina tu kira ok, menarik juga….Cuma kita kena tolong perhati para penasihat-penasihat disekeliling PM, ada yang syok sendiri, ada yang macam sengaja nak tikam dari belakang dan macam-macam punya orang…
GTP dan ETP bagus juga daripada tak ada langsung,
Pilihlah antara yang tersedia ada,
Jangan berkalau dengan illusi
Rotan tiada akar pun berguna,
jangan terpilih semilu berduri
Semoga kita semua bijak memilih……
They were taken aback by Najibs creativity. They cannot find an answer to this creativeness. So they mimic him.
As for that fellow he is the lover and is a rival to Azizah of a different kind.
I actually feel that the ad over the Chinese radios with his son using his name and his son’s Mandarin name to form the CNY greeting is rather brilliant and smooth (Na Ji ying chun, Si ji ping an). But then again, I’m just the 15%.
1perkataan saja utk menghuraikan tingkahlaku dap iaitu “DENGKI”.