OF PUNCHING BAGS AND SCAPEGOATS – PART ONE

Shahril Ahmad Idrus

People in general love punching bags, especially when things don’t go their way. Scapegoats are another favourite for people who avoid taking responsibility. Malaysians are no different. Take for instance the challenges being faced by Malaysia’s ruling party and the Prime Minister specifically, reading the news and tapping into the grapevine you may think all the problems beleaguering the party and the PM stem from just one factor or just from one individual.

There is a distinct reluctance to delve deeper into what ails the country, the government and its leaders. All too easily we take the easy way out, we look for scapegoats and then hope the problems will go away, which is why we end up from one mess into another.

Take for instance the Forum “Nothing to Hide” organised by the NGO calling itself “SukaGuam” a body of volunteers consisting of primarily lawyers. We know that it was organised by the NGO with the support of a government agency tasked with disseminating information on government programs. We know that due to the presence of the former Prime Minster Tun Dr Mahathir, the current Prime Minister’s special officer advised the PM not to attend.

But yet the person fingered to bear the brunt of the blame for this well intentioned program was a newly appointed advisor to the PM on media matters relating to Malaysia’s Mass Rail Transport and national health issues like Dengue. WHY? is it because he was an easy target? One not working directly for the PM, is it because he is not of the same ethnicity as the PM’s other officers and therefore an easy target?

Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing has served the government in various capacities under three different Prime Ministers, his PR campaigns and catchy slogans that promote Malaysia and rally Malaysians of all walks of life can be seen in the arena of sports, youth work, economics and many more. It is difficult to imagine how he could be implicated in a public relations nightmare such as a forum and slogan titled #nothingtohide which by implication would draw one to infer that there was previously something to hide. The thinking behind this event was clearly not well thought out and not something you would expect from someone like TS Lim Kok Wing who clearly would have avoided the pitfalls of such an amateurish slogan.

Let’s be clear, the PM has officials in the PM’s Office in charge of media and public relations. They work round the clock to prepare the PM’s speeches, his itinerary, and advise him on public relations strategy. In addition the Prime Minister has consultants like Paul Stadlen who have access to the Prime Minister’s Office and are probably more in control of the decisions the Prime Minister makes when it comes to media and public relations strategy.

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