Mahathir believed BN would win hands down. Opposition would need the help of all the Gods combined in the universe to win the just concluded 13th general election. Based on the strong assumption that more Malays, Indians and Chinese would vote for BN as compared to 2008 tsunami, the hope of regaining two-thirds majority was very real. Hence Mahathir’s dilemma – if Najib could regain the lost two-thirds majority, the latter would be invincible and this will definitely strengthen the then caretaker prime minister’s grip on the throne. He needs to somehow weaken Najib by sending the much tainted Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Nordin. Najib can win but cannot do so with a landslide victory.
Meanwhile, Najib thought he would do better than his predecessor sleepy head Abdullah Badawi. Even if he couldn’t regain two-thirds majority, he should have no problem getting more than 140 parliamentary seats achieved by Badawi. He was ill-advised by his team of advisors – that he couldn’t possibly do any worse than Badawi considering the free flow of money, food, beers, sexy ladies, lucky draws and whatnot to the Chinese voters especially in Penang. For the first time in their lifetime, the Chinese were treated like a King and Penang island was transformed into heaven.
Najib also put on Chinese costume and played drum like a clown during Chinese New Year to amuse the Chinese. He believed he was freaking popular with the Chinese and he particularly proud of his “Ah Jib Gor” Chinese name. He promised new Chinese schools wherever he went. Underground betting was also doing brisk business with RM100 win for RM1 bet in favour of Lim Guan Eng’s defeat. According to rumour mill, the stake was so high that you can sell your vote for as much as RM6,000 a piece in Penang. Then came the mega crowd to almost every single opposition’s ceramah.
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