In KUALA LUMPUR
WHEN I first spotted (and voted) in the poll on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s blog on Thursday afternoon, there were only a few hundred votes.
By the evening, it had shot up to over 10,000. Twenty-four hours later, it was over 35,000 and counting. Every few minutes, a couple of hundred votes are added.
The poll asked readers to vote whether they agreed with the Malaysian government’s decision to switch the language of instruction for Math and Science back to Bahasa Malaysia and the vernacular languages. It is now in English.
More than 80% voted against the move.
Dr Mahathir had uploaded the poll, saying "Seems to me like the Government is not listening to the voice of the people. Perhaps a blog poll might enlighten the Government as to the opinions of the people."
Online polls are not new, of course, but they are new to BN politicians who tend to view the new media with suspicion. It’s still new to many of them, and they are also unused to the clamour of dissenting views.
But they have been forced to change by the new political climate.
In recent weeks, some BN politicians have even begun interacting with the public through the Internet, going one step further than their opposition counterparts who have had a long headstart in this area.
On the same day that Dr Mahathir uploaded his poll, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin took part in a live Internet chat hosted by the New Straits Times. It was short – just half an hour – but this is the first time I recall such a senior Minister doing so.
Mr Muhyiddin is the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister.
Other BN politicians who have taken part in the NST’s live chat include the Malaysian Indian Congress president S. Samy Vellu who even gamely answered questions about his hairdo.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has been tirelessly Twittering away to explain the switch in the education policy, and has responded to scores of comments from his ‘followers’.
It’s a new world, and on Thursday, after a breathless string of tweets posted during a break in campaigning in a by-election in rural Kelantan, Mr Khairy mused: "Updating Twits esp debate on #PPSMI in car from Laloh to Manek Urai Lama. 2 universes. Deep, rural heartland & deep, profound Twitterverse."
Mr Khairy and the Federal Territories Minister Raja Nong Chik have also held live chats on their facebook profiles, although the volume of comments tends to overwhelm them.
Today, Prime Minister Najib Razak uploaded three videos on his blog where he replied to questions about his first 100 days, the environment, and his plan for key performance indicators for his Cabinet.
Truth be told, these were not terribly exciting – and Mr Najib’s tweets are more pedestrian. Today's example: 5.00pm - Appointments.
But it is an astounding change from a year ago when the BN barely seemed to notice that the Internet existed.