Anyway, as commented above, DAP’s PR is not doing them any good. And local newspapers always report internal fightings of DAP to lower voters’ confidence.
Their policy are affected by what BN does. This means BN even has indirect control over its policy… scary.
I would prefer if they can come up with a shadow committee/cabinet like the UK parliament. Instead of just a bunch of policies all over the place.

The thing is that what DAP lacks, as the first commenter have pointed out, is good PR. DAP is extremely poor in communications - look at DAP’s website, for one. For one thing, the extensive use of all caps and small fonts would drive my Communications prof bonkers. Then there is the long titles - okay, fine, I’m guilty of that, but what excuse does DAP has? Headlines should be short and catchy - “Ong Ka Ting should submit a report card for his performance as Minister” isn’t.

Then there is their other promotional materials - I once saw a flyer by DAP - despite being politically-inclined, I found it hard to read. Even PAS leaflets are a easier read (hint: hard, long words don’t show you’re smart, just that you’re dense)

And the last point is DAP’s abysmal command of Malay - anything they come out in Malay just doesn’t sound eloquent. They sound like someone rushing through a translation from English - which is generally a bad thing.

Its probably a good thing there isn’t televised debates - DAP MP’s themselves are horrible in the command of BM - their counterparts in the PAP (the President, Prime Minister, Senior Minister, Minister Mentor, etc.) all have a stronger and more eloquent command of the language.

Its not to say all other parties are substantially better - in fact, the fact they are very poor (UMNO General Assembly on TV? Oh, what a bad idea..). DAP could have used this for their own advantage.

BN has done well because of money politics in this regard, but it isn’t too difficult to win a majority of the popular vote if (and this is a big if) the opposition manages to get its act together. The opposition has consistently won ~40% of the vote, and if it has a real plan to advance the country, a shadow cabinet that can do more than be a mirror image of BN, and can craft its policies in terms to appeal to the typical voter, it can do much better.

After all, a Californian doctor was able to convince me he can govern the country better than any of our current politicians - which says a lot about their ability. :p

In short DAP got to do some rebranding exercise.

cheers

For all the example of policies that the DAP has, I’d like to point out that they are merely media statements *in response to government foul-ups*.

They are allowing the government to define the discourse!

And worse, the DAP is allowing itself to be a *mirror* to UMNO and BN, rather than a party in its own right with its own identity, its own ideology, it’s own ideas - instead of currently being the foil to government antics.

The DAP seems to be transforming into an opposition for the sake of opposing…!

i think DAP suffers from bad PR. hahahahhahaha. well anyway, i do think that the lib dems have more of a detailed plan than DAP ~~

well, points noted but what i would personally like to see is an actual ALTERNATIVE Development Plan (vs 9MP)+ an annual ALTERNATIVE budget.

but i agree that due to the lack of sophistication of the majority of the voters, DAP + the opposition can get away from ACTUALLY DOING MORE in formulating alternative policies.

i feel that the Opposition can do more.

also, most political strategies are multi-layered. there may be an overall stand on policy ie abolish NEP and then there will other TACTICS to woo voters via bread-and-butter issues.

however, we must not underestimate the voters’ sophistication, for some things like ISA can be put in terms that rural folks can understand, ie wrongful imprisonment without a court hearing violates islam.

so, the whole political process is a communication between the parties and the rakyat.

my main contention with DAP is that after 50 years, it did not try to be part of the government and at least put some of their beliefs into POLICIES.

so, as much i appreciate DAP’s efforts, they need to up their efforts on policy design, and implementation, or at least getting it passed as LEGISLATION.

:D

tks so much for clearing the air.