A DOUBLE TRIUMPH FOR BARISAN!!

In The Name Of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. We Seek Your Mercy In Prayer For The Quick Recovery Of Our Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Mohd Najib Abdul Razak. Amin.

Perfectly Balanced Scale

As I had quietly prayed for and expected, Barisan Nasional won a Double in the seats of Galas and Batu Sapi. As the latter is one that was held by BN until the death of its representative, I opted to go to Galas, where the seat was held by PAS which has led the State government for the last 20 years. This seat was also left vacant after the death of its representative.

OBSERVATION ON GALAS

The BN campaign in Galas was under the stewardship of Statesman Mentor and a 9 term MP for Gua Musang, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (TRH).

Bearing witness to BN winning back the State seat from the “government” under his direction taught me a lot about the method and approach we should adopt in reaching and getting the attention of the people. There is not a “one size fits all” method in campaigning. We have to study the culture of the target voters and assimilate. Only then can they identify with us. More importantly as shown by TRH, exercise humility. It doesn’t cost much. In addition, if we all do our homework well and really know the area in which we serve, the campaign cost could be kept to a bare minimum, like in Galas.

They Come To Him

The UMNO Division chiefs who are usually election directors in their respective areas should keep TRH’s approach which is having many small cell meetings with the rakyat at coffee shops with the occasional big speaking functions, as one of the options in their campaign strategies. When the smaller crowd has direct and personal interaction with the candidate or leader of the pack, they would in turn become our agents to spread the word to their community, relatives and friends about our goal and aspirations. But if we can’t even sell our “product” to the small group, don’t even dream about winning over the mass using the short-cut method holding big “ceramahs”.

Yes, in Galas, Gua Musang, it was not about the candidate. It was about the salesmen in the form of Tengku Razaleigh who has kept his word and served the people of Gua Musang exquisitely for 50 years that made them bank on BN’s promise just on his word alone.

I was privileged to be with TRH on nomination day and on the eve of the election. He seemed calm and cool compared to the other leaders who came to check on the developments. One senior leader, who was asked, said that he only smoked cigarettes under heavy stress, and he looked exactly that after coming out of the briefing room puffing away. Perhaps that’s the difference between someone who knows his worth and another who is unsure of his work. TRH delegated his work meticulously and trusted his judgment.

The Calm and Collected Statesman On The Eve Of The Election

He even had time to relax and have tea with us for a couple of hours while reading printed copies from the new media on his campaign, realizing how important they are in this new age.

The majority of voters in Gua Musang voted Tengku Razaleigh’s way and Barisan leaders should appreciate that fact instead of taking the glory solely attributing it to national policies with only the opposition giving him some credit. Make no mistake, our newly formulated national policies are stellar, but the voters of Galas believed in it more because TRH was the one pitching it to them.

TRH had made my prediction good by winning the day with more votes than we had lost in the 2008 election, in The Patriot’s October 8 article on him at http://tpj-one-thepatriot.blogspot.com/2010/10/ku-li-or-not-to-be.html. There was a spread of almost 1800 votes since the last election in Galas.

We’ll take this win however it came, as honestly speaking, it was Barisan’s great strategy of allowing TRH to hold the reins, and the will of God, that allowed us to achieve the desired result. The handsome majority of more than 6,000 votes in the Batu Sapi win also boosted BN’s spirits as it is evident that with the return of the “estranged” voters to the fold, fundamentals and common sense are beginning to prevail.

Now Let Us Accept This Win With All Humility, Thank God And The Voters For Their Trust In Us, And Work Even Harder To Fulfill Our Promises. The Rest Will Fall In Place Nicely. If It Is Ordained, It Will Be Our Destiny To Regain Our Former Glory And Bring This Country Back To Greater Heights Achieving Developed Status In Time For The Year 2020 As Envisioned By The Great Mahathir Mohamed.