People turn down BN ‘Gangnam Style’

Athi Shankar | February 12, 2013

DAP chairman Karpal Singh says the thousands who attended the BN-sponsored Chinese New Year open house came to watch only Psy.

GEORGE TOWN: The thousands who turned out at the Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year open house here yesterday came to watch South Korean sensation Psy perform his “Opah Gangnam Style” hit and not to show support for BN.

DAP chairman Karpal Singh said (based on the response to the Psy show) Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should know by now that the majority of Malaysians have rejected BN.

He said the thousands who thronged the state BN-sponsored open house in Han Chiang College came just to watch Psy.

He added that Najib should have realised the people have rejected BN’s 55-year rule “Gangnam Style” when they screamed “No” thrice when he asked them: “Are you ready for BN?”

Instead, the crowd screamed “Yes” thrice when Najib asked: “Are you ready for Psy?”

Karpal said the crowd’s “Big No” to BN was a public vote of no confidence in the ruling coalition.

He added that the incident showed Najib is not a smart prime minister as he should have avoided repeating his question after hearing a resounding “No” in his first attempt.

“The crowd was not only from Penang but from all over the country. Najib wanted the people’s approval for BN, but they did not give him.

“He asked for it,” Karpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP, told reporters here today.

He recalled that former British premier, the late Winston Churchill, was a smart politician in converting a negative situation into something positive.

In the immediate post-World War II general election, Karpal said Churchill, who was campaigning, had stopped by a woman and asked for her vote.

The woman told Churchill: “I rather vote for the devil than you.”

But a shrewd Churchill replied: “In case your good friend [the devil] doesn’t stand [by you], you vote for me.”

Karpal said Churchill showed political wisdom in changing a negative situation into a positive one, adding that the woman eventually changed her mind and voted for Churchill.

“Churchill was definitely smarter than Najib,” he said.

Karpal also hit out at BN leaders for attempting to exploit the issue of who would be the prime minister if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power.

He said the DAP’s choice was Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim because he was the most qualified and best suited to head the government and lead the country.

He said that PAS’ highest decision-making body, the Syura Council, did not make any official decision to reject Anwar as Pakatan’s prime minister.

“The DAP expects PAS to ultimately endorse Anwar as the prime minister,” he said, adding that BN was exploiting the matter, like the “Allah” issue, to confuse the people.