YOURSAY | ‘I will respect him if he doesn't do things that make it difficult to respect him.’

#RespectMyPM campaign gains traction

Tholu: I wonder if the late former president of Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, had launched a similar campaign begging his people to respect him as president just before fleeing the country with his wife in fear of his life after the rise of the People’s Power revolution.

By the way, if the aim of the campaign slogan is to exhort the rakyat to respect the premier, well, I think the campaign organisers have bungled with the choice of words.

In their haste to shore up support for Najib Razak, they did not realise the slogan phrase “respect my premier” actually appears to request us, the rakyat, to tell others - presumably foreigners such as the Bangladeshis, Indonesians and the Myanmarese, to respect him.

Why would we want to do that when we ourselves abhor our premier?

Poor fellow. He perhaps has sensed that the support for him by his people is fast and furiously slipping out of his hands and he has turned to begging for support to remain in power.

Desperate times call for desperate and ignominious measures.

Res Ipsa: Respect must be earned, not demanded. It is as simple as that. So far, all the action and inaction by our premier clearly veers away from the realm of respect.

How do we respect someone who plays dumb after being caught with unthinkable amounts in his personal bank accounts?

Or someone who has been "slandered" by major publications such as the Wall Street Journal but who cares not to have his reputation restored by suing them?

To make matters worse, instead of being consistent, he only goes after the weaklings with the aim of putting fear in them.

By his own action and deeds therefore, he has lost any residual iota of respect among the majority of the rakyat. No campaign, whether online or otherwise, would serve as redemption.

Senior: I will respect him if he doesn't do things that makes it difficult to respect him - the latest being using the Official Secrets Act (OSA) on the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB report. Is that a sign of something to hide?

Anonymous 2&027714_56894904: If you personally dislike a democratically elected leader Najib, then challenge him in next election. Respect our country's democracy.

Anonymous 2402841456904249: Najib, when you are dealing with difficulties and you feel like you don't have the strength to stand anymore, do not allow yourself to see that as a sign of weakness, it is just a sign that you are human.

Allow someone who cares to be strong for you. It is easier to be strong for someone else than it is it to be strong for yourself.

What you must do is, ignore what former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has done to you. You must continue your journey as a premier and fight for the rakyat.

Firestone: If you have to hire cybertroopers to show respect to you, it’s better you just accept reality and resign... this is really getting ridiculous.

Anonymous 1890491455255851: Perhaps this concept might be new to Umno but you can't just demand respect.

Who you are as a person and your actions as a leader will determine whether you get respect. So a thought might be to start doing right by the people and this country, so you can start earning it.

Kool: Join the 'Citizens Declaration'. Respect the rakyat and not an individual. Bring power back to the people and not to a bunch of allegedly corrupt and power hungry thieves. I will respect my premier if he is not Najib Razak.

Ericlcc: In some countries like Japan, when their leaders commit mistakes, they will bow humbly 90 degrees and seek forgiveness from the nation.

But in countries like Malaysia, when premier makes mistakes, he expects the nation to apologise and seek his forgiveness because his action is beyond reproach.

Now which culture will produce better and more accountable leaders? Respect my premier? No way. Not if his name is still Najib.

Drngsc: Dear 47 percent premier, will you respect the people of Malaysia? Before you ask us to respect you, will you respect us?

Having allegedly taken billions of our money and wasting it, will you respect us and explain it to us?

If you respect us, we will surely respect you. If you do not respect us, then do not expect us to respect you. Plain and simple.

Ericomc: How to respect a premier who is embroiled with massive scandals and blatantly plays the racial card to divide the people. And how to respect a premier who is leading our beautiful country into a failed state.

Perhaps only collaborators and cronies in Umno who directly benefitted or are benefitting from the premier, are the ones to go all out please the premier. What a shame.

No BS: Nowhere nations or companies would it consider okay to be caught with secret donations in one's personal account.

How to win respect when your own cronies declare you innocent but hide the incriminating documents? Wake up premier, we are not stupid.

The Analyser: Yet another diversion away from reality in Malaysia. It has become pretty clear that Umno will use any tactic it can buy to further its cause.

This campaign is quite meaningless, because the only true measure of the attitude of Malaysians to anything, is in the ballot box.

Dalvik: Being a Malaysian and respecting the premier can be entirely two different matters. If the premier is a crook, and is destroying the country's reputation by accepting a 'donation' in his personal account - I don't think the respect is due.

Respect has to be earned, not through just using hashtags on the internet.

Amateur: Indeed, respect is only meaningful if it's earned, not bought or forced.

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