GE14 | Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak strongly defended the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), saying if the people wanted more, they should return BN as the ruling party in the coming 14th general election.

Najib said his administration dishes out the money "to care for the people", adding that never in history has the federal government provided BR1M to the people.

He then slammed the opposition for criticising BR1M.

"They say BR1M is dedak (chicken feed), that it is corruption but when they launched their manifesto, they also put it in.

"It's only been months and they have U-turned," Najib said, while a voice from the crowd shouted "senile!".

Najib asked what was wrong in helping people with BR1M, saying even in the United States, 45 million out of 300 million people are provided food stamps, which they exchange for food items at the supermarkets.

"Here, we pay it directly into your bank account," he added, with cheers from the crowd at a BN session with the people in Balik Pulau, Penang.

Najib reminded the crowd that he has increased BR1M by 100 percent, saying they will be receiving RM800 by June, in time for the Hari Raya, and another RM800 in August.

"Who gives it? Why do we give it? Because we are able to administer the country well," Najib said.

"Do you want more? Then let BN win (in this GE). What is so difficult about that? What do you get when you vote the opposition?

"You get floods, water (surcharge and tariff) increase, and in Selangor, you get buckets," he said to laughter.

"It's a wrong choice, really useless. You should place your hope in BN," Najib added.

In March, caretaker Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng insisted that the Harapan government would be able to continue paying the handouts even if it abolishes the GST, which was introduced in 2015.

Meanwhile, Najib reminded Penangites that their state government had failed to fulfil 51 promises it made during its 10-year rule of Penang.

He said he was informed of the matter by state BN chief Teng Chang Yeow, who greeted him at the airport earlier today.

In contrast, Najib claimed BN had fulfilled 99.4 percent of its promises to the people. "Talk is cheap, but when you make a promise, you must fulfil it," Najib said.

Free spectacles

He said he also learnt that the DAP-led Penang administration had approved 39 hillslope projects in five years. "People suffer, developers get projects, so think carefully," he said.

Peppering his speech were shouts of who Balik Pulau belongs to which the crowd responded with a hearty "BN".

He then took a dig at the Penang Institute for its research paper recommendation that the number of civil servants in the country is reduced.

Based on findings by a group of researchers, the study had said if Malaysia had as many civil servants as Germany, then Malaysia would only need 430,000 after adjustments for Malaysia's smaller economy.

"We have just given our civil servants an additional annual increment in July and this is because we appreciate them," he said.

"If the opposition takes over, many will be victimised," Najib warned.

On Apr 5, however, then chief minister Lim Guan Eng had explained that the proposal by the state's think-tank was never tabled at the state legislative assembly.

Lim said the proposal was merely comments by independent parties and had not been adopted by the state government.

"It was never the state government's stance," Lim had insisted, referring to Najib who criticised the study by saying if the recommendations were carried out, 1.2 million civil servants would lose their jobs.

After the official speeches, free spectacles were given out as gifts to about 5,000 people while Takaful insurance policies were presented to BN campaign workers.

Najib also approved an RM10 million project to build an overhead bridge at Kampung Seronok.

"For the big projects, wait until we win back Penang," Najib said.

"But so far, we have never left Penang behind, in this five years, we have spent RM4 billion on Penang for various projects," he said.