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COMMENT | I must say that this video is one of the cringe-iest I’ve seen in a while.

There would be nothing wrong with the song itself had it been viewed on the Internet in some other context. It is mildly amusing, if not particularly imaginative, but fairly uncontroversial as far as political messaging goes.

However, to see the chief minister, of a Harapan-run state at that, encouraging young children to sing along to it at a state-run tuition programme, well, that is politics at its most low-brow.

I should hope that an elaboration as to why this is inappropriate would barely be necessary at this point, in the year of our lord, 2018.

It is noble for the state to run tuition programmes to help underprivileged kids succeed in life. It is disgusting and predatory to use those programmes as a platform to instil dislike in young children.

In what world is it alright for a state government to try and shape partisan views for children who are barely even half the voting age?

The song, set to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” seems almost purpose-built to gain traction amongst young children.

What on earth was the aim here? To hope that children would go home, sing this song to their parents and influence them to vote for Harapan? Are we now weaponising children as part of an “anything goes” political war?

In true Lim Guan Eng and DAP fashion, the response to criticism has been to lash out and cry ‘double standards’ because no action was taken against Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor when he went to a Putrajaya school and led students there in waving Umno flags and singing Umno songs.

I agree with Lim 100 percent in that what Tengku Adnan did was also wrong and disgusting. There is also no world in which such blatant partisanship would be allowed in schools.

For the love of all things honourable though, two wrongs do not make a right.

Yes, in an ideal world, the punishment for both should be the same; but we live in Malaysia and double standards by the government is par for the course.

If Lim believes that Malaysians will thus give him a free pass for acting badly merely because BN acts badly, I think he will come to find himself mistaken.

Lim goes on to make the lame excuse that his programme was not at a school and was held on a weekend.

Does he expect us all to collectively go: “Oh, that’s alright then. Weekends don’t count and we all know that what happens outside of school, stays outside of school.”

Apparently, Penang is Las Vegas now...

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