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Who should 'keep reinventing'? The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN)coalition in Penang or the voters themselves?
The 'Keep Reinventing' slogan was adopted by the state BN as its motto for the March 8 general election amid the expectation of a swing among Chinese and Indian voters against the government.
Recognising the grouses on the grounds, the slogan was to show that the Gerakan-led state government has been constantly improving itself from good to better and that the ruling party has been able to keep up with the changing times after being in power for almost 40 years.
But it has since backfired with opposition party DAP taking every opportunity at its ceramah (political talk) to turn the tables on its political rival.
At the launch of a seven-metre high 'rocket' on Sunday evening, DAP leaders led by its state chief Chow Kon Yeow shouted the slogan 'Keep reinventing, vote DAP!' to cheers from the crowd.
The zinc-sheet rocket, located in front of a market at the heart of the Georgetown city centre that fell under the Tanjung parliamentary seat, was an initiative from the local residents.
Koh: It's change for the better
Not just that, DAP has also cheekily erected banners carrying the words 'Vote DAP' on each of the white-and-blue 'Keep Reinventing' BN banners around the island (photo below).
From afar, anyone could mistake these to be DAP banners pleading for votes.
“It saves us half of our costs,” a DAP member quipped.
Worse still, the last word in the slogan’s Mandarin pronunciation, ‘zai zhuan bian’, sounds like ‘pian’, or cheating. This makes the entire phrase to mean ‘to cheat again’.
Not surprisingly, the word ‘cheat’ was sprayed around town where-ever the ‘Keep Reinventing’ slogan appeared.
DAP politicians have since turned this into a song at their ceramah to take a swipe against BN for ‘cheating the people again and again’.
The opposition party’s banners were also seen posing questions about what ‘reinventing’ BN could do to put the lid on the high cost of living and fuel prices.
Nevertheless, outgoing chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon insisted that the slogan was to remind the Penangites how much the island state has transformed over the past half century.
He argued that these changes could only continue by electing BN into the state government.
“The opposition is asking the people to change for the worse,” Koh told reporters last week when quizzed on the opposition’s move to expropriate the BN slogan in their electoral campaign.
In power for far too long
This however will not stop the opposition from stepping up the attacks, urging Penang residents to vote for a change in government instead of a ‘reinvention’ from the BN.
“It (Gerakan) has been in power for so long, how to reinvent?” asked DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng at a ceramah at the Rifle Range flats in Kebun Bunga two nights ago.
Lim, who is running for the Bagan parliamentary seat and Air Putih state seat, said problems ranging from judicial corruption to traffic woes on the island could only be solved by kicking out the incumbents.
Apart from that, DAP’s Bukit Bendera candidate Liew Chin Tong has also argued earlier that Koh’s apparent choice of successor for the chief minister post, given his age, would be hard pressed for any kind of ‘reinvention’.
Liew was referring to senior Gerakan’s state exco Dr Teng Hock Nan, 62, who is widely expected to take over from Koh, 58, as the latter is seeking to move up to the federal administration.
Although Teng has had close to three decades of experience in running the state’s affairs, the DAP candidate however argued that the veteran leader had overstayed his welcome.
At the end of the day, it would be the voters who would have the final word on BN’s ‘Keep Reinventing’ slogan. Their verdict will be known on March 8.
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