And the verdict is - MONEY SPEAKS!

Malaysian politics is certainly a roller-coaster ride…..it goes up and it goes down but the only consistent factor is that the rakyat will vote for money.
All the recent by-elections were lost by Pakatan Rakyat because of two consistent factors outside of their control: ie Money and Postal Votes. These by-elections should be renamed BUY-elections.
So what can be done?
Pakatan Rakyat and especially PKR has lots to learn and change. Learn from past failures and learn from DAP’s campaign style and strategies.
PKR and to an extent PAS is still campaigning the old ways – the BN style. Sweet talk the rakyat, dish out a few candies here and there, “whack” the opponent. This approach does not work for PR because we lose out to BN’s huge machinery and endless bank account.
Look at DAP – their campaign is based on MARKETING; they sell themselves and their achievements with a mascot and theme song too. They even have cuddly toys that supporters buy and the voters see themselves as being a part of the whole campaign. It has been proven to work and being able to overcome even BN’s machinery and money.
We can argue that DAP’s win is because of the Chinese voters who cannot be easily bought. This is true too so BN may just spend more and do more in Chinese areas before the next General Elections.
So what is the next step for Pakatan Rakyat?
PR must seriously look into the issues that they are campaigning on. PKR’s approach of defending Anwar Ibrahim at all costs against Najib can no longer work. The REFORMASI struggle is no longer relevant if it remains focused on DSAI only.
Word on the ground in Sarawak is that they want to know what Pakatan Rakyat can do for them in real terms. They want to know how they can continue to earn a living and that their rice bowls will be protected.
The general man on the street in not bothered with talk of Justice for Teoh Beng Hock , of Kugan or Amirulrashid. In Sarawak for example, if a few people from Semenanjung is banned from entering Sarawak, so what – they are not bothered. If Taib is corrupt, so what – as long as I still can earn a living even though I dun have pipe water or electricity. I can still manage with a generator that the good BN government gave my village.
Clean and fair elections and a corruption free government: that is your problem. It does not matter to me – even when PR becomes government you cannot be clean. All politicians are the same. So I better stick with the ones I know from before.
So even here in Semenanjung, basic bread and butter issue matters to the makcik and pakcik in the kampong and they are the majority. Lopsided contracts, human rights are terms that are alien to them.
In as much as we are all concerned about these matters and it is these issues that form the basic fundamentals to our struggle, it does not work in an election campaign in the interiors and in the villages.
Even DAP’s wonderfully managed marketing campaign will not work in the interiors and in the villages.
Therefore PR must relook and rebrand themselves in order to have a fighting chance come the next GE. Perhaps, learning from DAP; PKR and PAS must start a Marketing Style campaign for the villages and the general middle and lower middle class Malay community.
It is undeniable that PR has got the Chinese and middle-class Malays and Indians in the pocket but PR must keep them in the pocket. PR has lots more to do to get into the hearts of the middle and lower-middle class Malays and Indian voters.
PR must be seen to be able to put food on their tables and a roof over their heads. PR must be seen to be able to give them a sense of security instead of being seen as people that always go protesting this and that; issues that they do not really understand.
For the urbanites, PR must ensure that in the States that they are governing now, pothole are patched, traffic lights are working, drains are flowing and developments controlled and sustainable. These issues if resolved assures that votes remain in PR pockets.
So the difficulty is in the bread and butter issues. BN has done a great job in telling the people that PR cannot do anything because they have never done anything. BN is right too because PR has never been in government to be able to do anything nor does PR have the money to do anything. So PR’s marketing must focus on educating the rakyat on PR’s current limitations and creating that dream of what PR can do and will do once in government.
Creating that dream (Yes We can) is what won Obama the presidentship. PR must likewise create that dream and certainly move away from REFORMASI and the DSAI shadow. Perhaps PKR should swallow humble pie and clinch on DAP’s ” UBAH” battle cry for the coming GE13 – and that dream of Putrajaya can indeed become a reality.
Berkhidmat Untuk Rakyat.