Red Bean vs Blue Wave: Why BN is losing the cyber war

The Blue Wave Army and Ahmad became the pinata of the day, as Malaysian netizens whacked them left, right and centre, much like its candy filled donkey-shaped Mexican party game prop.

Last week saw another escalation of the BN-Pakatan Rakyat cyberwar, when the alleged proposal of a Blue Wave Army by Umno politician Datuk Ahmad Maslan to counter Pakatan's supposed Red Bean Army caused much ado in the world wide web.

He reportedly suggested this as a means to counter the alleged slander that Pakatan is supposedly spreading via its so- called Red Bean Army of cyber warriors.

The clash by supporters of both political entities took centre stage on social media platforms, the online battle demonstrating why perhaps that BN can never hope to win the cyber war.

One page was set up on Facebook, although it is unclear by who really, claiming to be the Blue Wave Army, and within minutes began to see clashes from BN's online supporters and anti-BN and pro-Pakatan netizens.

One posting which went viral was by one of the alleged Blue Wave Army cybertroopers claiming to have the MUET certification but made a very glaring mistake asking those opposed to BN to "open your ice".

MUET or the Malaysian University English Test, is an English proficiency test that students seeking entry to Malaysian universities must pass.

Needless to say the "ice" opening statement became an internet meme as anti-BN and pro-Pakatan netizens went to town with it.

Twitter was flooded with tweets commenting on the cyber trooper force, many ridiculing the idea and a lot of them poking fun at the misspelling of "ice" for "eyes"

The Blue Wave Army and Ahmad became the pinata of the day, as Malaysian netizens whacked them left, right and centre, much like its candy filled donkey-shaped Mexican party game prop.

After the withering fusillade against him and BN for the supposed proposal, several blogs later ran a statement apparently from Ahmad claiming that he never mooted the idea but was misquoted by reporters.

However, the initial news item on him proposing the idea was carried by national news agency Bernama, controlled by the BN-led government.

But be that as it may, the supposed BN cybertrooper mobilisation in response to Ahmad's alleged rallying cry has been found wanting, railroaded by the anti-BN and pro-Pakatan counter move.

But some may say that perhaps the Blue Wave Army page itself was a parody set up by those who are intentionally ridiculing it. If this is so, then there is more to be said about the humour, wit, skill, dedication and commitment of the anti-BN netizens.

This is because whatever that BN is accusing, the majority of those trolling them on the internet are not paid nor indeed are they Pakatan supporters, but are generally the enlightened children of the information age.

As the internet is the information superhighway, these are those who live, breathe and embody the free flow of information; they ask questions and find answers, two things BN does not like.

Furthermore they do not condone moronic stupidity, or blind loyalty that the ruling coalition tries to instil in the rakyat. For this reason alone, they oppose BN and while some are Pakatan supporters, many aren't

And therein lies the reason why BN cannot fight them, for they require no funding nor special allocations like BN cybertroopers and bloggers, or BN cyber initiatives like its online youth volunteers or Umno's Unit Media Baru.

To the anti-BN crowd this is a holy mission, to seek out, expose and shame stupidity where they find it online, especially when in real life the government's grip is becoming more restrictive.

And while they do exist, the anti-BN online netizens are not organised by anyone, PKR, PAS or DAP, nor are they instituted in the Red Bean Army which has become BN's bogeyman in asking for more allocation to fight the online war.

In truth, when it comes to the Red Bean Army, the BN are chasing ghosts, for there is no such thing. What they are up against is an enemy far more vast and increasingly numerous - the legions of right-thinking netizens.

The Ant Daily