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By Gobind Rudra COMMENT In case you missed it, here is the news. On Sunday the assembled and agglomerated might of Federal Government of Malaysia struggled mightily to produce a narrow victory in a parliamentary by-election in the country seat of Hulu Selangor, to reacquire it as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Federal Government of Malaysia's controlling shareholder Barisan Nasional. A combine harvester put together by Federal Government of Malaysia and Barisan Nasional, and driven by the prime minister, Najib Tun Razak, found rough going in trying to steamroll their opponent, the private citizen Zaid Ibrahim, a lawyer. The effort seemed to have run out of steam, producing a margin of victory of only 1,725 votes. Of that number, 767 were the postal votes of policemen and soldiers. The remaining 958 votes came, it is believed, from elderly agriculturalists and their families grateful to the prime minister's father, Tun Abdul Razak. Some 2,000 of such settlers work the land on several schemes in Hulu Selangor. Tun Abdul Razak is widely credited with having settled thousands of landless people on giant land schemes in parts of the peninsula. There they toiled for decades to produce an agricultural behemoth named Felda, now the world's largest plantation company and part of Federal Government of Malaysia's sprawling corporate empire of world-beating enterprises. A return to 'the true path' Jubilant board members and shareholders of Barisan Nasional, the dominant controlling shareholder and also ultimate holding company of Federal Government of Malaysia, hailed the victory as a momentous occasion. They noted that the figure of 1,725 was an 800% increase over the measly 198 obtained in 2008 by its competitor, an ailing doctor who died recently. Major efforts were made to re-acquire the territory Almost with religious fervour, they noted that the people of Hulu Selangor had seen the light and returned to the true path and the true faith. No effort had been spared to secure the conversion of electoral deviationists, who had elected a member of the deviant group known as Pakatan Rakyat in a general election in March 2008. Najib sowed the seeds of victory with personal visits to the length and breadth of the seat showering blessings on the various communities. Federal Government of Malaysia gave timely aid to its controlling shareholder, Barisan Nasional, loosening its Treasury purse-strings to fund various charitable ventures. Among these were: a RM33mil scheme to build 250 new houses for Felda settlers; a renewed promise of a RM85mil highway interchange which had yet to be built after being first promised in 1994; payment of RM50,000 each, and the promise of RM160,000 an acre, to 100 settlers who had originally been promised RM1mil each in 1994 for handing over their land for private development which later failed; land title for an Indian temple illegally occupying a plot of land; RM3mil for refurbishment of a Chinese school; and various amounts for other community and religious purposes. Language of reconciliation

In contrast, Najib's opponent, the private citizen Zaid Ibrahim, could only muster the aid of State Government of Selangor, a subsidiary of noted corporate raiders Pakatan Rakyat. They provided free water supplies and some land titles for a displaced community of descendants of immigrant workers, who have lived as temporary occupants for 50 years or longer. To counter this, Najib personally visited a Chinese school and spoke to the community in language they would understand. Kalau k ita menang ini election, lu datang KL carik gua," he said in the Sinkeh dialect of Malay. Then, reverting to standard Malaysian, he added: I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school boards account. He is also believed to have said: "If we lose tomorrow, don't come." On Wednesday, a delegation duly visited the head offices of the Federal Government of Malaysia to receive the promised RM3mil, and to hear Najib announce that "I have paid my dues." (It was not revealed whether he spoke Sink eh again.) The delegation did not reveal if the RM3mil was paid with Najib's personal cheque as his words implied. Reporters were not allowed to ask if Federal Government of Malaysia had sent a bill for that amount to its controlling shareholder, Barisan Nasional, to reimburse various payment made on behalf of Barisan Nasional. It is also not known whether the Federal Government of Malaysia would send a bill to controlling shareholder Barisan Nasional for other services rendered on its behalf. Complaints by competitor Such services were provided by members of the press, police force, the Election Commission, the Public Works Department, the Department of Orang Asli Affairs, Rela, and other agencies, aided by school and community leaders, who made extra efforts to aid Federal Government of Malaysia and controlling shareholder Barisan Nasional. In view of this, board members, shareholders and supporters of the main competitor, Pakatan Rakyat, complained that they were only allowed the use of their own volunteers, most of whom were also minority shareholders of Federal Government of Malaysia and who complained that they were always sidelined by the controlling shareholder, Barisan Nasional especially its dominant division, Umno. Minority shareholders complained they were sidelined by the majority However, disgruntled analysts noted that Federal Government of Malaysia's victory margin of 1,725 votes fell far short of the 6,000 declared as the KPI performance level expected by Barisan Nasional corporate headquarters. Moreover, the 1,725-vote margin is also only 12% of the 14,483 majority obtained in 2004. Many analysts believe the result is a poor return on investment (ROI) for Barisan Nasional. The margin represents only 3.5% of the total votes cast. It is not known if the shortfall will have any impact on the final dividend, which is yet to be declared. Controversy as marketing tactic However it is believed that the 6,000 was announced as a preemptive move by the deputy chairman of Barisan Nasional, Muhyiddin Yassin, to embarrass the chairman, Najib, in advance of the result. Muhyiddin is rumoured to be planning a boardroom coup to take over Barisan Nasional and Federal Government of Malaysia, aided by yet-unknown figures. Analysts also speculate that Najib's success in re-acquiring Hulu Selangor may lead him to declare an early final dividend, after closing accounts ahead of time and holding an unscheduled annual general meeting next year. The aim will be to reacquire State Government of Selangor, once also a wholly-owned subsidiary.

On a side note, Barisan Nasional headquarters remains quiet on whether it has yet conducted a performance appraisal on P Kamalanathan, the proxy chosen by Najib as the vehicle for the takeover and acquisition of Hulu Selangor as a new Barisan Nasional subsidiary. Kamalanathan's mission statement was to meet all 60,000 people in Hulu Selangor before voting day on Sunday. It is not known if he succeeded. However,he used his public relations training to earn wide publicity by embracing the chairman of Perkasa, one of Barisan Nasional's offshoot subsidiaries which specialises in niche marketing. He had also earned wide publicity and controvery over a kiss for the deputy chairman of Barisan Nasional. Public relations practitioners now believe Kamalanathan studied controversy marketing as a minor subject for his controversial communications degree. After its success in re-acquiring Hulu Selangor as a subsidiary, efforts are now being made by Federal Government of Malaysia, backed by its associate enterprise State Government of Sarawak, to aid controlling shareholder Barisan Nasional in fending off a new takeover bid by Pakatan Rakyat for the Sibu division. Heavy trading of assets is expected to take place. Interim results will be announced before the end of the coming month. After 40 years of newspapers and journalism, Gobind Rudra occasionally break s into flights of fancy 2d3deb32eeac07a486aa111d577278298cc6afdd