The People’s Parliament

Have you heard about the rousing welcome Ayo Ayo Samy got in Penang at the Penang Aatam 100 Vagai Show?

Heard of it but haven’t seen the video footage?

You can view clips HERE and HERE.

So, is it ’sayonara, jangan marah’ time for Ayo Ayo?

Good people of Sungai Siput, what say you?

The concerns voiced about the impact this initiative would have on the income of the newsvendors is noted.

Does anyone know how much the vendor earns for a copy of the NST delivered to your doorstep?

RM0.20? RM0.40?

Let’s just say he makes RM0.30 for the copy he delivers to you. Multiply this by 30 days and he makes RM9.00 a month from you to deliver that 1 newspaper to you daily for the whole month. If you subscribe for 2 dailies, that’s RM18.00 per month he makes from you.

That’s the amount he stands to lose if you stop buying the papers through him.

Now what if you told him you would still pay him that RM9.00 or RM18.00, not to deliver papers to you, but to pick up copies of internet-based news that you have downloaded and photostated and to then deliver these with the newspapers he delivers on his daily rounds?

He still gets his income from you, and you get to disseminate the alternative news to those who are still buying and reading the MSM.

Nanda, would this fit in with what you and your friends are presently doing?

Just a thought.

Yes, I got a call from Encik Osman of the SPR, Perak office this afternoon.

He apologised for their having not responded to our letters.

Told him that the matter has been handed over to solicitors who were making ready to take this matter to court.

He told me that we will get a response to our inquiries by next week.

Told him we would defer filing any matter into court until the end of next week to await their response. 

Helen Ang is strategising to make her Christmas wish a reality.

Read on.

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From the feedback we’re getting, increasing numbers of people have cancelled their newspaper subscription. However, this is indiscernible if we act alone here and there. To create an impact, we need one specific period when it’s clearly demonstrated to Malaysia that a lot of us are doing this, i.e. collectively refusing to buy. Why? To spread a viral contagion like how one Walk led to another to another. 

There will have to be a dedicated Boycott Week when heaps of newspapers should demonstrably be seen stacked unsold at the news stands and a similar point made in other equally unsubtle ways. We’ll let you know the date later. 

For now, People’s Parliament can start a testimonial corner where anyone who has stopped buying newspapers might post his decision, share very briefly when and why, and what his alternatives are.  

Scattered throughout the several threads on Boycott are already more than a dozen such accounts. We’ll collate these comments for starters (you’re free to ask Haris to remove your previous entry if you object to it re-appearing in compilation) and open up a sort of signature campaign. We can publicise this list when we launch Boycott Week. What say you? 

Below are two ideas from Paul Warren and CHK, which I think are great.  

Paul suggests letting media planners know that we don’t believe what the newspapers say. So how can we lend credence to what the ads claim which are printed in these untrustworthy papers? CHK suggests that we inform advertisers we will switch products because they endorse mainstream media (MSM), which means they are endorsing misinformation, e.g. instead of Milo, we will opt for another lesser-known chocolate drink. 

Here’s the integrated strategy. The message we send advertisers is they’re wasting money on newspapers; the more they advertise, the more they turn us off. 

We bombard the targeted major advertiser(s) with mail notifying them we will promote their competitors who have refrained from giving MSM what they love most – money. Ad revenue, not selfless community service, is the raison d’etre of these profit-chasing newspapers.  

Prominent advertisers, like Pizza Hut for example, are “good corporate citizens”. We, the people, are responsible citizens who will not support products and services of corporations which irresponsibly support MSM. And we expect responsible corporate behaviour in line with our lofty aspirations. Take for instance, The Body Shop. The secret of its success was an environmentally responsible image, and founder Anita Roddick’s deliberate decision not to advertise conventionally.  

People’s Parliament will tell advertisers that when we target them, we will put their product claims to the test. We are going to evaluate their corporate history. We’re going to put their activities under scrutiny. We’re going to compare them with their competitors. If they spend so much on ads, their products surely cost more in order to cover their advertising and marketing expenditure. We are against indirectly subsidising MSM in this manner!  

Paul will post a sample letter, checked for its legality by Haris, which we can all send to the advertisers to urge them to re-evaluate their media strategies. 

Hindraf overnight did more for public awareness of the Indian condition than MIC in the half century the party has been toadying to Umno. We can achieve the same: Negative publicity for major advertisers; winning free publicity for non-advertisers whose products and services are our recommended substitutes.  

CALLING for your input: We’re now doing word of mouth and word of mouse. Let’s take this to group level. Suggest the NGOs that will come on board. E-mail thepeoplesparliament@gmail.com if you can facilitate this networking. Also talk to your Resident’s Association or other groups (religious, professional, social, etc), then roll out the bandwagon.  

So far, so good … we’re on track but we need a greater sense of urgency, okay?!