Secara ringkasnya, laporan di bawah ini menyatakan bahawa Kerajaan Malaysia masih lagi meneruskan tradisi membelanjakan jumlah wang yang besar untuk mendapatkan publisiti yang positif daripada pihak luar. Laporan itu turut menyatakan bahawa langkah yang diambil oleh pentadbiran PM itu tidak disenangi oleh sesetengah pegawai kanan kerajaan kerana hal itu memerlukan perbelanjaan yang besar.

Beberapa syarikat perhubungan awam antarabangsa dan hubungan media, termasuklah syarikat Apco Worldwide dipercayai bakal menerima lebih kurang RM20 juta atas kerja-kerja berkaitan dengan kerajaan. Walaupun kontrak berkaitan dengan hal itu masih belum ditandatangani, namun pihak kerajaan dipercayai cenderung untuk menggunakan khidmat syarikat tersebut.

Berdasarkan laporan di bawah ini, perkhidmatan syarikat Apco Worldwide dikatakan telah dibawa/diperkenalkan oleh Omar Mustapha, iaitu salah seorang pembantu PM yang baru-baru ini terlibat dalam kontroversi berkaitan dengan cadangan pelantikannya sebagai Lembaga Pengarah Petronas.

Antara fungsi syarikat perhubungan awam seperti Apco Worldwide seperti yang dilaporkan di bawah termasuklah mendapatkan slot berita berkaitan dengan PM dan kerajaan Malaysia dalam CNBC dan CNN, dan melakukan kerja-kerja melobi terutamanya di AS. Laporan itu turut menyatakan bahawa Apco dan beberapa pakar perhubungan awam dari Amerika Syarikat telah membantu merangka strategi 100 hari PM termasuklah mesej 1Malaysia dan beberapa platform penting pentadbirannya.

Selain itu, pentadbiran PM juga dipercayai sedang berusaha keras memastikan lawatan rasmi Presiden Obama ke Malaysia menjadi realiti kerana lawatan tersebut akan melonjakkan imej PM di peringkat antarabangsa dan pada masa yang sama menyekat pengaruh Anwar Ibrahim di Washington.

Itulah perkara pokok yang dilaporkan dalam artikel di bawah ini. Persoalan yang cuba ditimbulkan di sini, wajarkah duit rakyat yang bernilai puluhan juta ringgit itu dihabiskan demi membeli imej dan menyekat pengaruh orang tertentu? Jika pemimpin di negara ini mempunyai karisma dan keupayaan, perlukah lagi semua publisiti sintetik ini? Bukankah lebih murni, lebih tepat dengan slogan "rakyat didahulukan, prestasi diutamakan" jika duit sebanyak itu digunakan untuk membina rumah rakyat miskin yang bersepah di ceruk-ceruk kampung.

[THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER] July 28 — The Malaysian government is continuing a Barisan Nasional (BN) tradition of spending big bucks to get positive publicity for the administration overseas.

The Malaysian Insider understands, however, that some senior government officials are not pleased that the Najib administration is considering spending large amounts to buy good publicity.

The contract has not been signed yet but the administration is understood to be leaning towards giving Apco Worldwide a big pay day.

It is understood that the services of Apco Worldwide was brought in by Omar Mustapha, the close aide of the PM who was recently embroiled in controversy over his proposed appointment onto the board of national oil company Petronas.

Typically the scope of work for companies like Apco Worldwide will involve getting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Malaysia onto slots on major news channels such as CNBC and CNN.

Bylined articles in foreign newspapers such as the one which Najib wrote for the Wall Street Journal when he took office are also targeted.

There will also be a lobbying element, especially in the United States which has traditionally been sympathetic to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Najib’s recent telephone conversation with President Barack Obama was a major coup for the foreign experts already working in the PM’s office.

It is understood that the Najib administration is also working hard to secure an official visit from the US president to Malaysia, as this would boost the PM’s international image and undermine Anwar’s influence in Washington.

This includes his 1 Malaysia message and other key platforms of his administration.
While the results so far of the foreign public relations firms have been mixed, some senior government officials are understood to be unhappy with their further involvement, especially if it comes with an escalation in costs.
But supporters of these foreign public relations teams point out that they also work to neutralise the opposition’s impact outside Malaysia by reaching out to opinion makers in countries deemed important to Malaysia.

Najib is not the first prime minister, however, to have used expensive foreign help to boost his image and that of his administration.

Tun Abdullah Badawi also used a foreign-based public relations firm to help project a positive image of himself as a progressive Muslim leader, and Malaysia as a modern Muslim nation.

The Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration had used disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.