By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, Sept 13: The sincere truth will be the state government’s best weapon against opponents in facing the coming state election due in 2021.
Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs Abdulah Saidol pointed out that there have been many occurrences, especially in social media and the Internet, where information and facts have been twisted to mislead the public’s perception, especially the rural people of Sarawak.
He observed that the poor management in negative perceptions had caused the previous government to lose Putrajaya in the last general elections (GE14), and the state government would not want to make the same mistake this time.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference before Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS)’s first anniversary dinner commenced here on Thursday (Sept 12), Abdullah said although UKAS officers and staff are not cybertroopers, they are responsible for keeping track of adverse news and various allegations towards the state government especially on social media, and disseminate the correct information and counter them in all truth.
“At the same time, UKAS while gathering the various feedback, issues and grouses of the people from the ground, would analyse all these inputs and together with the state government to formulate fixes and remedies to solve them,” he explained.
“Because we know the political games being played nowadays, how the previous federal government fell because of poor perception management. So we do not want the rakyat to be misled, confused or being spun by the false and partially false news and information being disseminated in social media,” he added.
Abdullah highlighted that due to the various promises made by the new government during the last General Election (GE14) not being fulfilled, many people now have been facing difficulties economically and financially, and UKAS has a responsibility to tell Sarawakians the truth about it.
“We do not want Sarawakians to be misled by these false promises which were said to not be a holy book (bible) where it was promised that everything will be much better once they (Pakatan Harapan government) take over,” he said.
“Instead, the cost of living became higher, all the government aid before were withdrawn. All of these, in the next round of election, we want the voters to make their choice based on the truths and correct facts,” he stressed.
In that context, he said the state government should also be open to all feedback and news from the ground be them good or bad news.
“If it is bad, the various ministries should immediately find solutions to manage and fix the issues quickly.
“Do not be afraid to tell the truth (good or bad) so that the state government will give attention to it and fix it,” he assured.— DayakDaily
