Now to next question: Is Najib serious? Well no one has a microscope to delve into the recesses of his mental processes and it is often said that the Devil himself knoweth not the real thoughts of Man!

However on the surface give the man some credit. He is educated; has seen the world; has the best advisors Malaysian tax payers’ money can buy! He, like the many amongst ruling elites (like Nazri), can see with clarity and without illusion that the country based on existing policies is hurtling towards a failed state. However his political will to avert the inevitable is undermined by the fear of losing power and position in face of resistance and opposition from this powerful group of reactionaries….

So where the political will is flagging to implement the central platform of 1 Malaysia (for this reason) we dismiss that platform as mere political sloganeering rather than a tool for unity and nation building!

Let’s not deride and be dismissive of the inherent appeal in the message of 1 Malaysia as a platform just because the messenger has failed so far to summon the requisite political will and courage to implement the message.

If the appeal were not there, why would the Opposition PR try so vehemently to negate it at the political level by the Selangor government trying to ban the 1 Malaysia logos on bill boards, which it now back pedals and revises to confine the ban to business advertisements only?

PR itself is unnerved by the potency of that 1 Malaysia message – just like the reactionaries against its implementation earlier said.

In the first place PR shouldn’t even think of banning the logos of that national message! Why ban it? Just because it’s chief advocate Najib cannot implement it to its spirit? You’re banning the message regardless of its merits just because the messenger Najib has not evinced the political will and sincerity so far to implement that message??? This is a national message – notwithstanding it also happens to be BN’s political slogan – and as a national message, PR has really nothing against it, and the proof of this is in PR’s seeking at all times to hold Najib to consistency of deeds against his words on 1 Malaysia. If 1 Malaysia has no merits why otherwise seek to hold Najib to his word to implement it?

And if 1 Malaysia has merits as a national message, then why does PR S’gor state govt seek to ban its logo when the merits of that message (‘1 Malaysia’) ought to be deemed “national” transcending partisan politics???

The fact that PR S’gor govt for no cogent raeson seeks to ban 1 Malaysia’s logo in advertisement will itself prove the counter-point of 1 Malaysia’s merits and widespread appeal that PR has no answer against, except that part relating to the lack of political will on Najib’s/BN’s part to implement it.

Those opposed to1 Malaysia billboards in Selangor will argue that there is no point in allowing BN to gain propaganda political mileage from a slogan that it has neither intention nor political will to execute and implement.

There is this difference here between the message “1 Malaysia” and its merits being a thing apart from the messenger and doubts about the messenger’s willingness and political will to give effect to the objectives of its own message.

Now if PR argues that the message is hollow without merits, then the onus is own PR to explain why it constantly seeks to measure Najib and his govt against its commitment and sincerity to execute this “hollow” message 1 Malaysia – if it were really that hollow! If its content were not hollow but merely weak in implementation why ban it???

S’gor State housing and local government committee chief, Ronnie Liu, threw in the legal spanner and remarked that a political message from the BN federal government was not allowed under local by-laws. “Local government by-laws in Selangor clearly state that political symbols cannot be used on billboard advertisements…“You don’t see any billboard in Selangor carrying the PKR, PAS or DAP logo,” he said.

Well why don’t you put in double the number of billboards in Selangor & other PR controlled states carrying the PKR, PAS or DAP logo then? The problem is that doing it will show the separateness of the different logos and PR component parties need to show unity under one common PR logo – which the 3 component parties cannot do so because they can’t even agree to 1 common logo for PR!

Because of that weakness and inability to compete favourably in this bill board blitz, Ronnie Liu wants to bring in legal arguments about local government bylaws not permitting political message. Since when? When previous state govts under BN allowed Bangsa Malaysia or Wawasan 2020 to be used in billboards I don’t see the Opposition complaining then by legalities of bill boards….

Here the difficulty is that 1 Malaysia is not just a partisan political logo by BN. It is a national message set by the PM of the ruling govt. “1 Malaysia” is not just an UMNO’s or BN’s political logo. It is also the incumbent govt’s logo for the nation. No doubt neither Najib nor the BN govt has done anything to show that by acts they live up to the aspiration of this logo for unity and inclusivity. But does weakness or contradiction of implementation sully the intrinsic merits of the logo or the aspiration behind it for the S’gor govt to ban it in bill boards citing late in the day municipal byelaws as excuse for PR’s own weakness and inability to come out with a common logo for PR to compete???

YB Kit himself has urged Selangor Govt to rethink its 1 Malaysia billboards ban, to disprove BN’s claims that PR was afraid of the concept – (Ref TheMalayisanInsider report of Dec 26th by Shazwan Mustafa Kamal). I agree with Kit – he is wise and can distinguish the woods from the trees – as he knows that in the competition for political mileage between BN & PR, BN will gain more (and not less) of political mileage from PR S’gor Govt’s act of banning the national 1 Malaysia logo than in allowing it.

The issue is whether S’gor state should ban the message that is good in intent but short or contradictory in implementation.

It is argued that such a slogan not carried out should be banned because it serves to mislead the people. Which really means the real issue is whether the people will be really fooled by this slogan “1 Malaysia” in the face of a glaring disjunct between words and deed by Najib/BN.

Kit in earlier thread 24 December 2010 said “This is why Muhyiddin’s claim that Pakatan Rakyat is “running scared” of the 1Malaysia concept is so ridiculous, when the concept does not even get his full support, and why the Selangor Exco SHOULD REVIEW its decision to ban the 1Malaysia logo from billboards to prove the Deputy Prime Minister wrong.

Kit’s statement implies that the people will not be fooled by 1Malaysia logo in the billboards – that the rakyat could see the apparent disjunct between what Najib/BN advocates and what they are prepared actually to implement/deliver – and the assumption of the rakyat being fooled by it is questionable in correctness.

Indeed the prevalence of that slogan in bill boards could serve PR’s objective of constantly reminding the rakyat of the gap between what is espoused by BN and that which is implemented or executed by it.

When Kit opined that the Selangor Exco should review its decision to ban 1 Malaysia logo in bill boards, Kit clearly implies that if the ban were otherwise enforced by S’gor Exco, the people Are More Likely Fooled by BN’s leveraging on such ban to argue/skew the ban as inferring PR is either (1) against the nothing inherently wrong message of inclusivity and embracing pluralism or (2) afraid of such a message as Muhyiddin claimed.

Political secretary to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim – Faekah Husin – argued that 1 Malaysia means nothing to Selangor as it is viewed as a mere political propaganda tool by Najib & BN!

That’s however missing Kit’s point ie. in the context of a contest for political mileage between BN and PR – whilst the ban by S’gor is intended to stop Najib/BN from fooling the people with 1 Malaysia promises that they cannot or have no intention to keep or deliver – the ban is more likely counter productive to negate Najib/BN’s propaganda if S’gor’s ban affords BN opportunity to skew and explain it away in terms stated in (1) and (2) above.

Then instead of the ban achieving its first objective of negating BN’s propaganda, it will more likely defeat that objective and facilitate the opposite instead – ie of BN’s propaganda that PR seeks because of reasons stated in (1) and (2) above.

With respect to Selangor state exco, I just happen to think that Kit is right and understands fuller the implications of how, on balance, the cons outweigh the pros in relation to this ban in the contest for political mileage between the 2 coalitions.