Rumour-mongers going on overdrive

THE rumour-mongers seem to be going on overdrive. Over the past week, Malaysians have been bombarded with an avalanche of fake news.

Most of these have no basis. The rumours are not even sound. They are believed because some Malaysians simply want to believe these rumours.

It is a classic case of wishful thinking or simply blind political expediency.

Sure, there is a lot of unhappiness on the ground. The government has not been explaining fast enough.

There should be a competent spokesperson who is convincing in their narrative to take on this role, like in the United States and even China.

They are needed as they will probably do a much better job than ministers who contradict each other or worse, contradict themselves.

When things go wrong, they blame the press for purportedly quoting them out of context. It is always the media's fault but never their fallacies.

When the King met the heads of the political parties last week, the rumour mill worked overtime to claim that His Majesty would lift the Emergency and in some bizarre cases, even claimed a new Prime Minister would be appointed.

Well, that's not how the laws and politics work. At least, in Malaysia.

The Emergency ends on August 1. That means we still have about six weeks to go.

Remember, there is also the 19-member independent special committee on Emergency 2021, comprising members of various backgrounds and expertise.

They are public health experts, representatives of opposition political parties, renowned figures in education, health, security, public order, public administration and law, muftis and chambers of commerce.

Well, surely their views would count too, although it may be in an advisory capacity.

Then, of course, there is the view of Cabinet, especially the Prime Minister.

The King would then have to decide after listening to the input of the various sectors, including even his brother Rulers.

The rumour-mongers seem to have followed up swiftly, fuelled by speculations in a news portal that Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein will be appointed as the successor to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Just like that, Hishammuddin is to be the PM. There was no substantive basis to the news item and there was a fake letter from Umno stating that the party's supreme council had sacked him.

Surely, Hishammuddin would have been issued a show-cause letter and the disciplinary panel would need to meet first. All these would have been public knowledge, and yet many people believed the fake letter.

It didn't help when another news portal known for peddling questionable news stories followed it up. But there were enough Malaysians who believed it.

It even became more creative and humorous when faked digital posters of the new Cabinet line-up went viral.

PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was supposed to be PM with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as his deputy and Umno president Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi. The two purported DPMs on the list were enough to kill off Anwar's chances.

If anyone is to be PM, he needs to ensure he first enjoys his party's support. In our present circumstances, this means the support of other coalitions or supporting political parties.

We cannot say so and so should be a PM because we think he will make a good one or we like it.

Sorry, this is not a direct election for the PM post. The PM has to be someone who enjoys the support of his peers in the Dewan Rakyat.

The most outrageous fake news was a recycled one that resurfaced last week regarding an alleged interview in 2020 by tycoon Robert Kuok on the country's economic policies.

There was no such interview with The Star, and he has also issued a statement to say the article is fake.

Neither has he offered to give free vaccines to anyone as insinuated or claimed.

I am not sure if the tsunami of fake news, as a fellow journalist calls it, results from frustrations from the ground or politicians/operatives taking advantage of it or too many of us are working from home. Or just bored from 8pm onwards.

Simply forward aje lah.