National leadership is all about sacrifices in the interests of the nation and it should not be driven by selfish motives to enrich BN leaders and cronies.

It’s unfortunate that the current leadership is being tainted with corruption scandals. Indeed, using government funds to deceive the public is unforgivable.

The government has spent hundreds of millions using overseas PR agents and local firms to spin stories to make it look good. Umno has engaged bloggers and cyber troopers to deceive the public.

It is evidently clear the pseudo-spinning by BN is visible in the social media. There is plethora of fake stories, fake tweets, fake statistics, fake electoral rolls, fake ICs, fake citizenship and fake photos.

The Najib Abdul Razak administration has spent about RM100 million in improving its image through Apco and other overseas public relations agencies.

To use Bernama or the local mainstream media in the PR campaign to boost the waning popularity of BN government is a desperate attempt to gain voters in the next general election.

A leader’s weakest point is his vanity. It is for this reason the Najib administration (the PM's Office) has spent hundreds of millions on public relations and image consultants to paint a rosy picture of the government.

The international media has exposed some of these foreign PR consultants faking as commentators, journalists and columnists. Some are under investigation and some fired in their own countries.

The BN has to learn something that is basic. When voters suspect the usage of fake, false and flimsy spin in the media, the voters are not going to believe them. As a result, BN will suffer a credibility crisis as it is experiencing now.

Recently, Bernama has apparently faked the attendance of the crowd in PM's house. The more one looks at the photo, it is clear that it is doctored.

For example, the depth perception of the people in the foreground (lighter shade) and the people in the background (darker shade) simply don't match. The spin doctors seem to have overlooked the fact that this doctored picture was for PMO use only as the digital print shows.

The giveaway is easy to recognise - the people in the background look "flattish" or two-dimensional whereas the people in the foreground shows a bit of the third dimension. The size correlation of the people under the flag - the two men and the two ‘makcik’ are completely out although they stand practically side by side.

And despite hasty denials by the national news agency Bernama that the photo had been altered, critics believe the incident will boomerang and make the already upset colleagues in Umno even more "hopping mad" at the latest attempt to pull wool over their eyes.

What Malaysians cannot understand is why PM Najib and his spin doctors are turning to doctored photos to mislead and deceive the public.

So, what's the truth? Is Najib a crowd puller? If so, why are people being paid from taxpayer’s money for creating big attendance at all Najib events? In addition, they are also being ferried, given ‘nasi bungkus’, souvenirs, T-shirts, hampers, rice bags, pocket money, etc.

S RAMAKRISHNAN is a DAP senator.