KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28- Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor(Pic) today refuted claims that Malay support for the government was waning. He said the result of a survey conducted by the Merdeka Centre earlier this month might not necessarily give an accurate picture although the decline was only two per cent from 63 per cent.
“The survey result may not necessarily be accurate because we have received a different response. We depend on our surveys and the feedback is that young people have begun to support the government,” he said. Tengku Adnan spoke to reporters after officiating at the pre-launch of the Barisan Nasional (BN) Squad in conjunction with the “Rakyat Bersatu, Negara Maju” (A United People, A Progressive Nation) programme at the Putra World Trade Centre, here.
He said the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) to the people, including single unmarried individuals, had made the people happy because they appreciated the government’s concern for them.
Tengku Adnan said the opposition political parties played on the emotions of the people and instilled in them hatred for the BN and government policies.
“The government’s enemies make use of lies and slander to confuse the people and youths. They are good at using psychology,” he said, adding that they gave the impression that young people did not support the government. He also dismissed the assumption that the social media war had been won by the opposition purportedly because it had more blogs and Facebook accounts than those which defended the government.
“In fact, in the virtual world, there are many social sites which champion the government and respond to the accusations and slander of the opposition, but there is a tendency among the people to look for opposition blogs to satisfy their emotional need,” he said.
On the BN Squad, he said it was the brainchild of former Umno Youth chiefs who collaborated with several residents associations of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The squad, to be officially launched next week in Rapat Setia, Ipoh, would help establish a BN community bold enough to express its support for the government through vehicle stickers and T-shirts, he added.
BERNAMA
