‘Otak rosak’, ‘idiots’, criminals: #UndiRosak advocates face insults, mockery

(MMO) – “If i ever see supporters of #undirosak i will kill your parents and make you watch.” goes a tweet by a Twitter user with 805 followers.

The (likely exaggerated) outburst is one of many insults and attacks, including from Pakatan Harapan (PH) politicians, against Malaysians who are expressing their plan to spoil their votes in the 14th general elections (GE14) to protest against both the federal Opposition coalition and the long ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) using the hashtag #UndiRosak.

“I’m not going to hashtag and give spoilt children any credence. But #otakrosak is apt,” Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) supreme council member Tariq Ismail posted on Facebook Tuesday, using the Malay hashtag roughly meaning “brain-dead”.

“A bunch of spoilt brats crying over spilt milk whilst over the dinner table they don’t like the food and instead asks the host to cook a meal they want with the intent to spoil the mood of everyone.

“You are more gutless than the BN cytros and fanatics. At least they make a stand,” he added, using the short-form for “cybertroopers”.

The movement of mostly anti-establishment young people, who plan to either spoil their votes or abstain from voting in the GE14, appeared to have gained momentum after PH announced Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom many Opposition leaders used to denounce as an autocrat during his administration, as their prime minister candidate.

On Twitter, a graphic by user @pilocarpine101 titled “Guide to GE14” listed a question: “Are you a ‘p****k’?”, with the “Yes” answer leading to #UndiRosak. The popular graphic has since been retweeted over 150 times and reposted by many others.

Parti Amanah Negara vice-president Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus, in a Facebook post, had even told the police and Election Commission to take action against those advocating spoiled votes.

The Amanah leader questioned if spoiling one’s vote was a crime under Section 124B of the Penal Code that prohibits activities “detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, punishable with 20 years’ jail.

“Any intervention by legal enforcers like PDRM against the freedom in campaigning to not go out to vote or to spoil their ballots is the last option if something really threatens the nation,” Hasanuddin said in a statement last week, using the Malay initials for the Royal Malaysian Police.