Post Merdeka: Copycatting and Cheating Ourselves : Part 1

Part 1: Sweetening The Numbers

I saw a few screenshots of the same tweet but by a few people. Looking at the tweet handle and their names, it reminded me of running a stress and sanity test of an application that I have conducted two years ago at a Hewlett Packard facility in Petaling Jaya. For example: 

Back at the facility, I would create a spread sheet containing a list of usernames, and encrypted passwords - all dummy in nature so that the HP's utility program would proceed to create the user profiles and other primary user-related data contained in one of our application modules.  For example, the tweet handle above TAN CHOR KHAI in particular is somewhat matching to a default tweet Id that I would use if I am to create a dummy / test account using a real-name user account permitted only scenario.

Why would someone - judging by their names, handles and their identity would put in something that was written by someone. The retweet function doesn't result like this. A retweet tag would definitely be visible if I am retweeting something else. It is almost tough to cheat the Twitter system if you are trying to retweet something there.

Based on the next screenshot by Politweet above, if as a user that wants to tweet or retweet material that can be shared with other friends, the twitter handle of a person would preferably show something imaginative rather than a plain straightforward user handle. But something is not right: based on the tweet above, there it is not likely that every user coincidentally were at Queensbay mall when the first tweet was written. The logic by that scenario is surely as some would say that it is written by a bot program, with multiple bot-style tweet ids.

If what Rais Yatim (a.k.a Ayah Dino) said of 3.6 million tweets of #Merdeka55, people including him are actually cheating themselves as to get themselves complacent. That's also the effect of the mainstream press not publishing articles showing elements of dissent against the government. Complacency would be one of  the end products from that way of managing. 

Cheating themselves would eventually catch back on themselves. Take the Enron scandal as a the clearest example. 

Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow had misled the entire board of directors and the audit firm Arthur Andersen via account loopholes, special entities, hiding bad debts and so forth. In order to show Enron favorable fiscal finances, the accounts were manipulated based on the forecast figures to their ideals.

Eventually by November 2001, $11 billion were lost when the stock plummeted from $90 in mid-2000 to that time. Arthur Andersen subsequently wind-up, losing customers as the result of the scandal.

Interestingly, the attendance for the Merdeka 55 at Bukit Jalil stadium is also another way to demonstrate the tricks to sweeten up the numbers:

1. Monies and bonanzas for GLC-staffs, students, undergraduates to come for the event.

2. Compulsory orders for staffs, otherwise being blacklisted

3. Indons, Banglas and Nepalis attending there.

It's very simple to explain why this happened. Remember Hari Korperasi Negara?

On 14 July, people were also paid monies to attend that event that was officiated by Najib at the same venue. 

It was only half-full. When Najib started his speech, many started to leave the stadium, out of boredom. Embarrassed by that incident, the minister, Ismail Sabri (a.k.a Ayah Dafi) blacklisted and transferred 5 directors of the Cooperative Commission to cover up his mistakes. 5 state directors were transferred in the space of 24 hours. Executive Chairman and deputy were recommended to be terminated or reduction of salary upon investigation.

No matter what directive that has been put or otherwise, the government is still cheating themselves as to sweeten the numbers. It's like Enron but in the different scenario.

So we have cheated ourselves, particularly on those naive. Many have reacted aggressively, but not aware that they have been cheated and misled by the very own organisation that they are supporting. That's the problem of not reading extensively. The claim of Malaysians reading an average of 2 books per year holds true to this day.!

To be continued....