I regret that for six days, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had failed to condemn the thuggish ruckus and riot at the 1MDB “Nothing to Hide 2.0” forum at Shah Alam on Sunday when he should have been first to do so.

It is even more regrettable that Najib made joke of it, referring to “flying chairs” during his visit to PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s stronghold of Permatang Pauh.

Isn’t this the strongest indication of high-level UMNO “hand” in the thuggish ruckus and riot at the 1MDB “Nothing to Hide 2.0’” forum in Shah Alam, where there was rowdy and “samseng” behaviour of flying slippers, flying chairs and flying “flashes”?

The rowdy and thuggish ruckus at the 1MDB “Nothing to Hide 2.0” forum and the disrespect shown to the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, is most regrettable, but the failure of the Prime Minister up to now to condemn such rowdy and thuggish behaviour is doubly regrettable.

The visit by Najib to Permatang Pauh yesterday is 100% a political one, reminiscent of his Chinese New Year Open House visit to Penang in February 2013 with his unforgettable public relations disaster when he introduced the top South Korean pop star Psy of “Opah Gangnam Style” asking four times “Are you ready for Psy?” followed three times with the question “Are you ready for BN?”

The crowd at Hang Chiang College field shouted “Yes” four times to the question “Are you ready for Psy?” but were equally vehement in their shout three times of “No” when Najib asked “Are you ready for BN?” – and there was a video of Najib ‘s supreme embarrassment which went viral throughout Malaysia during the Chinese New Year before the 13th General Election.

It is significant that when he recently visited Selangor, Najib talked about Barisan Nasional recapturing the Selangor State Government, but when he visited Penang, he conspicuously did not talk about recapturing Penang State Government in the 14GE, but only recapturing Permatang Pauh.

But it is clear that even on whether UMNO/BN can recapture Permatang Pauh, he also lacks confidence, which probably explain why he dared not repeat his “Gangnam Style” question by specifically asking the people in the “manufactured” crowds whether they are ready for BN to win Permatang Pauh” – which might turn Najib’s visit to Permatang Pauh into a grave disaster!

(Speech at a kopitiam dialogue in Pokok Sena in Kedah on Friday, 18th August 2017 at 4.30 pm)