Najib, the drummer

COOL BEAT: The formula is playing well with others – not

being too flashy, keeping good time and paying attention to details.

A LITTE bird told me if I did not watch the special short video, showing our Prime Minister beating the drum, then I must.

I heard Najib was deejaying a pre-Chinese New Year programme, sending greetings to the Chinese community in Mandarin together with his son Nor Ashman -- and the programme was aired by radio stations a week before Chinese New Year.

The duo discussed the definition of their names in Mandarin with Najib saying his Na-Ji means embracing luck and all positive things while Nor Ashman said his was si ji ping an which means peace for all seasons. It was very impressive.

But, of course, that was before I heard Celine Dion singing the Chinese folksong mo-li-hua (Jasmine Flower) in Mandarin with Chinese soprano Song Zuying on China State TV New Year Gala Show, welcoming the Lunar New Year.

I have also seen banners with pictures of Najib dressed in a Chinese suit, sprouting up prominently in the streets and highways of the Klang Valley and Penang.

I have also seen his picture printed on metal tea boxes and ang pow (red packets) -- which I thought was a bit too much.

Ang pow packets symbolise happiness, auspiciousness, prosperity and luck and are usually decorated with lucky symbols such as Chinese characters of the three immortals  -- Fook, Look, and Sow -- or Chinese zodiac animals, depending on the year the red packets are to be used. There has never been a personality printed on ang pow packets or gifts for New Year before.

I have also read his greeting letter, quoting Deng Xiaoping’s crossing the river by feeling the stone, reminding the Chinese community that refor-mation should not be rushed and that he is emulating the spirit of Deng in implementation the transformation programme.

Now, back to the special short (drum) video.

The first scene showed a little girl and her family in the midst of busily pre-paring to celebrate Chinese New Year at their home.

Like a busy bee, the little girl moved around the house excitedly, trying to lend the elders a helping hand. First, she told grandpa who was writing Chinese calligraphy on red paper that the stroke should be longer.

In the next scene, the little girl dashed into a room, searching frantically for something before emerging with a dusty old drum.

While she was sitting outside her house, looking at the drum, a man (the footage only showed part of his legs) appeared. She walked towards the man and asked: “Do you know how to beat a drum?”

The lower part of the man’s face, shown on the video, was distinctive of Najib’s lips and moustache. The man took up the drum and left.

The soft background music then changed to the grand beating of the drum. The little girl’s eyes sparkled and she gasped!

A pair of hands was seen beating triumphantly on the drum. More drummers joined in, firecrackers were lit, lion dancers pranced to live and a sizeable crowd gathered to watch the New Year spectacle.

Everyone was curious to know who the main drummer was. And the crowd did not have long to wait to find out. Their searching looks turned into awe and then applause when the “star” drummer was revealed – it was Najib, wearing a red Chinese costume, flinging both arms to signify the end of the performance.

The little girl whispered into Najib’s ear Gong Xi Fa Cai while Najib wished her the same.

It ended with a shot of the Chinese word Ji on a piece of red paper with Najib appearing to clasp his hands together to wish the crowd Gong Xi Fa Cai in Mandarin.

But lo and behold, the beautiful short video was spoilt by a glaring oversight – the word ji was written wrongly. Anyone conversant with Chinese knows the bottom horizontal stroke of the word is shorter than the top one.

Remember, at the beginning of the video, the little girl told her grandpa who was writing Chinese calligraphy on red paper that the stroke should be longer?

Could the elderly man have been writing the word ji? Or could he have been misled by the little girl into writing the second horizontal stroke longer?

From letters, red packets and greeting cards to tea boxes, I feel our Prime Minister has been misled by a group of public relations advisors not well-versed in Chinese culture -- just like this grandpa.

The short video also showed the burning of firecrackers which are still banned in the country.

All in all, the array of New Year greetings has done more harm than good to Najib’s image.

The STONE theory -- from Deng Xiaoping’s crossing the river by feeling the stone -- sounds convincing but are there really any stones to feel? Where is the other side of the river? Is there still time for Najib to find the way and learn as he continues to hit the campaign trail or has BN lost itself in the middle of the river?

Crossing the river by feeling the stones – well, it certainly is a trying and risky endeavour as well as a maze!

Buddy Rich (1917-1987), an American jazz drummer and band-leader also world’s greatest drummer, when interviewed, said:

I don’t think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can’t create his own interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that’s written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom.

This could be food for thought as Najib embarks on his election campaign in the country’s fiercest general election ever in the weeks ahead.