Friday 12 May 2017

Umno's campaign styles and memories of Tenang

Umno celebrated its 71st birthday at the National Stadium last night.

National news agency Bernama estimated about 150,000 people at the event.

It's almost as many as the whole of DAP membership.

This is its report on what Umno president DS Najib Razak said at the event,

UMNO Remains Strong As It Always Struggles For The People - Najib

This is a picture from the event yesterday,


The last time I remember of such a gathering was the Umno's 66th birthday celebration on May 11, 2012.

This is a picture of the event from back then,


Looks the same and the number of crowd was equally as impressive as yesterday.

It was part of the built up to the 13th general election which was held just short of a year later.

The main reason for the gathering back then was as explained by Najib in this Bernama report picked up by The Star,

Najib: May 11 mass gathering to prove Umno's strength 


I believe the gathering yesterday was also held as a show of strength and part of preparations for the coming general election.

I'm not however a believer of big party gatherings being helpful in winning elections.

After all, despite the similarly big birthday celebration of Umno in 2012, which was followed by other crowd-pleasing events such as the Jelajah Janji DiTepati programme, BN did not do really well at the polls the next year.

Personally, I'm more for real works on the ground such as door to door campaigning, providing efficient community services, showing genuine care for the constituents, helping out when people are in trouble, etc.

It's after all a matter of winning the hearts and minds of the people.

Showing how strong a party is, doesn't really do that.

Okay, maybe it's good for party morale and such but that's all about it, I think.

It's something like having five main pages of your event highlighted by a newspaper which is read mostly by your own party members and supporters.

I don't actually think people would react like "Huih, ramai dan bersemangatnya ahli Umno....hmmm, aku nak sokong Umno lah macam ni."

Don't know lah, but those are my thoughts.

I actually developed this line of thinking after being on the ground during the flood-hit

Tenang by-election

of 2011.

BN at that by-election employed a very practical campaigning approach, especially by approaching voters at personal level and persuading them that BN is their best choice.

The BN campaign on the ground was led by local leaders as they knew the locals better. Outsiders, including high ranking party leaders were told to play a supporting role if they wish to lend a hand for the campaign.

There was hardly any big gathering or fun-fair type of events to spice up the campaigning.

Even outriders escorting VIPs were told not to use their sirens going into the villages, Felda settlements and residential areas.

Johor MB at that time TS Abdul Ghani Othman even told a group of local Wanita Umno members not to proceed with their plan to have a lunch gathering at the KFC outlet in Labis town.

The reason for it was to prevent the locals from getting irritated by what they may deemed as pompous behaviour among the Umno campaigners.

It was felt that the presence of a huge crowd of Wanita members in their red and white uniform swaggering around all over the place may have that very effect.

In contras, Pas which was heavily backed by especially DAP at that by-election embarked on their usual big ceramah and gatherings.

There were a lot of unhappiness especially among Umno people who came to Tenang for the by-election as they were told not to do the usual.

I remember a friend from Kelantan asking me "Tak ada buat gelombang merah ke? Macam mana nak menang kalau macam ni je?"

Even pro-Umno bloggers and social media players were heavily criticising the Johor Umno's campaign style.

"Hambar", "Tak meriah", etc they wrote.

The unhappiest among them were however people from the Umno headquarters in KL.

They were told that for the Tenang by-election, they didn't have to organise any event which may costs the party a lot of money.

In another word, Johor Umno at that time was saying that no one would be allowed to make money out of the by-election at the party's expense.

If those fun-fair like events were allowed to be held, contracts would have to be doled out to certain individuals and paid by the party. This, Johor Umno felt was not worth the expenses and furthermore not really helping the campaigning effort.

Despite BN later on winning the by-election by a significantly increased majority, the unhappiness of the Umno headquarters people remains.

Note the multi-racial BN crowd celebrating with their candidate Mohd Azhar Ibrahim after he was announced as the winner of the Tenang by-election.

Johor Umno was again heavily criticised at a party war room meeting after the by-election.

The debate on the matter led to the Johor Umno war room director being later on banned from attending future meetings.

The excuse given was that only those who led an Umno division were allowed to attend the Umno headquarters' war room meeting. The Johor Umno war room director was the only one who was not a Ketua Bahagian.

All the nonsense were despite Najib himself praising the leadership of Johor BN and Umno for the victory in Tenang.  The campaigning for the by-election was described by him as being the most well managed and costs effective ever.

I'm not sure what it's going to be for Umno and BN in terms of campaigning style after this. After all, the next general election may be just a matter of months from now.

If I'm an Umno member or supporter, I would prefer Najib as my party leader to do the right thing rather than allow some people to use the party to enrich themselves via fun-fair contracts.

Well, of course I'm not a party member or even a supporter, and therefore all that I'm writing here is just actually sharing my experiences and thoughts on the matter.

If Umno wants to have a fun-fair like campaigning for the next general election, than that's their choice.

None of my business, really.

Okay, that's all.

Cheers.

44 comments:


  1. Show of strength ,what strength is that ?. I just wounder .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Once Najib falls into liang lahad he will be one forlorn soul in black eternity. Is it gonna be later or sooner?

      Delete
  2. In a war we need to use all weapons at our disposal.As mentioned by you in the article,big gathering is a good morale booster.
    At my age I would prefer to stay at home but for young people they probably like the carnival like atmosphere.

    Prof Kangkung

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spot on Prof...kangkung is always cheap and healthy for malaysian!!!

      Delete
    2. Big gathering of stupidity
      Those people and students is only a najib pawn

      Delete
    3. Zombie: syukur Malaysia masih aman

      Delete
    4. I don't want to comment on who are stupidier.The students or the commentators.Those students who support bersih are smarter than those who support UMNO/BN?

      Prof Kangkung

      Delete
    5. So you would bed a person who robbed you
      The foolish one around here is you

      Delete
  3. Robbed!!
    If you attend an Opposition function UiTM will drag you to court

    But if you attend UMNO function then you'll be fine

    Dasar sampah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gi belajar kat unisel lah

      Prof Kangkung

      Delete
    2. "Gi belajar kat unisel lah"

      This kind of answer can only be generated by macai and corrupted leader with dedak

      You think the public funds bapak kau punya!

      Delete
    3. Zaman mahathir dulu dia guna puic fund x.skrg ni telor mahathir pun kau jilat

      Prof kangkung

      Delete
    4. No profanities professor
      You have grow old and senile
      When will you die professor parasite

      Delete
    5. Public funds bukan umno yang punya prof anjing

      Delete
    6. Nak menang election bukan dgn cara maki hamun.every single vote counts.no wonder pembangkang tak dapat tarik penyokong yg cerdik sbb bahasa macam anon 1715 akan menjauhkan lagi orang

      Prof Kangkung

      Delete
  4. Strength also you didn't know absurd.many followers at least..good job BN!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apa kau cakap ni?

      Strength also you don't know absurd??

      Apa Yg absurd?

      Delete
  5. Carnival-like atmosphere or not... we do not know who got to win brand new Proton Perdana and other cars or lucky-draws.

    Just hope those thousands of UiTM students, exempted from attending class, would also had the same chances as UMNO-Najib's Party members, in winners lucky draws.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The lucky draws were not lucky at all
      It's a sham and rigged

      Rakyat dan Macai get peanuts so don't vote for UMNO

      Delete
  6. annie, apa yang u ada hanya lah nostalgia about ghani osman, pada anda , apa sahaja di zaman ghani adalah fantastic dan ghani adalah pemimpin yang paling amanah. tapi u lupa yang itu tahun 2011 dimana kita rakyat malaysia belum masih belum tahu yang kita telah disamun.
    Saya berpendapat, BN masih boleh menang tetapi kemungkinan yang terdapat ahli umno sendiri yang tidak mengundi BN adalah amat tinggi.
    Sekiranya TV3 dapat memberitahu secara jujor tentang rating Najib ketika siaran buletin utama, mungkin dia sedar yang sekiranya dia masih memimpin negara, BN akan jatuh.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Well, of course I'm not a party member or even a supporter, and therefore all that I'm writing here is just actually sharing my experiences and thoughts on the matter."

    Really??

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lembu kalu dah gemok kenyang senang nak sembelih. Lembu gemok jalan macam hebat tapi slow dan tidor. Najib tak faham faham rakyar tunggu dengan pisau untuk sembelih lembu gemok. Anak anak banyak tak dapat makan daging lembu.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pelajar uitm kena kencing dengan macai UMNO
    Datang sebab wajib dan dapat markah kokurikulum
    Bebal

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bukan uitm jer, kolej komuniti juga dikerah untuk ke stadium semalam
    Adik angkat aku cakap dari pukul 11pg-5ptg tak makan sebab pensyarah cakap makanan ada disediakan.
    Lepas pukul 5ptg baru dia org bg duit RM10, roti gardenia dengan air kotak.
    Dengan duit RM10 tu baru adik angkat aku pergi makan.
    Cuba engkau orang fikir dari pukul 11pg hingga pukul 2ptg hanya RM10, roti gardenia dan sekotak air,
    Tak berbaloi langsung

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adik angkat Anon 0057... dapat peluang mengharap menang cabutan bertuah tak?

      Saya tanya, bukan apa.
      Selalunya kalau kita sedang seronok mengharap menang sesuatu cabutan bertuah... bukan setakat hamper atau kipas angin... tapi banyak kereta... kurang la sikit rasa lapar & dahaga tu.

      Delete
  11. Jika UMNO, segalanya boleh. Selain daripada UMNO, segalanya salah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kalau pakatan haprak semua baik ...konon...kalau umno semua tak baik.Typicaly haprak mentality!

      Delete
    2. Spot on bro/sis

      Prof kangkung

      Delete
    3. What you mean "spot on" you fucktard
      The stinking of UMNO starts with najib and rosmah

      Compared to najib UMNO of course opposition is a better choice
      Look at the national debt, it's on the graph

      Unless you just stepped out of a cave, monkey man

      Delete
  12. Program sukarelawan pastu kelas wajib ponteng

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some classes and tests had to be postponed to make way for Umno’s celebration

      Delete

  13. Satu juta kah latang apa atak kila maa aa ,itu tatak latang punya lagi lamai maa aa .

    Tatak latang punya sutak pasti mau "ubah" punya maa aa , kasi biar lor rr ,lia olang mimpi syok syok ,kalau nanti jaga balu tau lea aa .

    ReplyDelete
  14. Before a uitm student attend opposition gathering and UMNO will say forbidden to use the student
    Nak fokus belajar konon
    Now attending umno gathering then suddenly it's ok?
    This is najib tentacle at work
    Macai and dedak berpisah tiada
    "Harap maklum"

    ReplyDelete
  15. a sign of times.. Our undergrads forced to adopt the herd mentality. If there is even a remote chance of a better future for this beloved nation of ours, we will need thinkers, not sheep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. colourblind.

      herd mentality,

      Herd mentality sutak mula dari kechik di malaysia maa aa .
      Bulayu pegi sekolah kebangsaan ,Cina pegi sekolah Cina ,India pegi sekolah Tamil ,sutak manyak lama ini macam hat jadi maa aa ,tak tau lea aa bila bolih jadi betut-betut Malaysian malaysia maa aa .

      Sutak besar itu pekala sama jagak jadi maa aa ,UMNO manyak salah kasi biar ini macam jadi lea aa . Cina masuk pati Cina ,Bulayu masuk parti Bulayu ,India masuk pati India ,sutak macam tatak bolih Ubah lagi lor rr , kalau undi pon ikut kepala maa aa .

      Luluk pon itu macam maa aa ,ikut kawasan maa aa .

      Delete
  16. Students fill in the empty seats

    Tolol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chinese students go to chinese school just to served Dap agenda....!

      Super Tolol

      Delete
    2. Jho low is Chinese too
      Mana jho low
      Cai mana jho low cai

      Greater tolol

      Delete
    3. Super Tolol, chinese schools were the creation of MCA or BN, paham???

      Delete
  17. Apa ada hal, Annie.
    Pas baru bertalaq dengan PKR. Lepas ni umno pulak bertahaluf siyasi dengan pas. Gerenti "hasil" nya lumayan untuk pas dan juga umno.
    Tapi yang sebenarnya rakyat Malaysia ni dah tak boleh terima lagi perangai warlord warlord umno ni. Dia orang ni semua ingat kita ni buta mata, pekak telinga ke ? Tebiat macam penyagak pembesar umno ni dah buat orang Melayu meluat dengan umno.

    Cakap pembesar umno berdegar2 tapi dalam setiap ayat ada selit pembohongan. Apa yang kita boleh harap lagi kepada umno ni ? Kalau la betul umno ni ikhlas dan tak ada apa yang nak disorok, terangkan kepada rakyat satu persatu semua perkara yang rakyat soal tapi tak pernah dapat jawapan. Jangan menyorok di belakang technicality undang2.

    Apa guna bersorak2 hidup melayu tapi hanya untuk mendapat sokongan sedangkan yang sekarang bertambah ramai orang Melayu yang malu dengan perangai wakil wakil rakyat Melayu yang mereka dah undi.

    Tak payah harap nak menang PRU14 la umno ni. Walaupun segunung duit ditabur nak raih sokongan. Siapa yang nak dipimpin oleh orang yang bila berkata dia dusta ?

    Pergu mampos la umno. Lagi cepat lagi bagus.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nak peduli apa... public-fund ke, duit-Party ke, duit-peribadi.
    PM dia, Menteri KeWANGan pun dia. Tubuh pula 1MDB, guna Jho Low sebagai orang-tengah dan berhutang atas nama Rakyat tanpa due diligence dan tanpa dibawa berbincang dalam kabinet.

    Dah tak nampak 'sempadan'. Dah la... duit Zakat orang Kapir tak boleh sentuh, Duit-hutang atas nama Rakyat 1Malaysia berbilang Bangsa & Agama, boleh pula digunakan taja Haji Tok-Tok Imam untuk menampakkan seolah-olah 1MDB 'berjasa' kepada Agama, Bangsa & Negara. Popularity pun dapat.

    Sempadan bidang-kuasa Judiciary, Legislative & Executive pun dah nampak kabur.

    Baik tak payah jadi Negara Islam contoh la. Buat malu Melayu-Islam je. Nama anak-anak pun, Melayu dah kurang letak nama yang mencerminkan Islam atau Arab. Buat susah anak-anak je... bila dah besar nanti, pergi US ke apa... kena profiling... identity check atau body-check.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Those greedy dumnos who did not get anni lucky draw prizes are rebelling, what a sham & cash is king!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kesian pun ada tgk geng-geng pakatun ni meroyan.

      Tunggu ajalah GE14 is just around the corner.I hope Pakatun supporters tak rasa kecewa dgn keputusan PRU14 nanti

      Prof Kangkung

      Delete
    2. Kesian oo aku tengok dumno ni melancap dengan master najib

      Kesiiiiaaaaaannnnnn

      Delete