KUALA LUMPUR – Incumbent Indera Mahkota MP Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah has caught netizens’ attention after his campaign video was deemed to bear uncanny similarities to one produced four years ago by an American politician.
The Bersatu man recently released the video for the upcoming 15th general election (GE15), where he urges the constituents to vote for his Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Attentive netizens claim that his speech, which was recorded in Malay and played as a voiceover in the video, is just like the one in English by New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who promoted the video during her US Congress election campaign.
A comparison of the videos was posted on Tiktok by user @tenteratrollkebangsaan. The posting received over 143,000 views, hundreds of comments, and over a thousand shares by late afternoon today.
@tenteratrollkebangsaan Calon PN, Saifuddin Abdullah kantoi ciplak video kempen ahli kongres AS 2018
♬ original sound - tenteratrollkebangsaan
@tenteratrollkebangsaan Part 2 : Video kempen Saifuddin Abdullah, calon PN parlimen Indera Mahkota ciplak video kempen ahli kongres AS 2018.
♬ original sound - tenteratrollkebangsaan
In the accompanying caption, the uploader alleges that Saifuddin “ciplak” or plagiarised the US congresswoman’s video from 2018.
Saifuddin’s video appears to echo the rhetorical flow and message of Ocasio-Cortez’s, with minor differences that are more specific to his own campaign.
For example, Ocasio-Cortez mentioned in her video that she was not born into a wealthy and powerful family, and she adds that her mother and father were from Puerto Rico and South Bronx respectively.
“I wasn’t born to a wealthy or powerful family,” she said.
In his video, Saifuddin basically says the same line, but in Malay: “Saya bukan dilahirkan dalam keluarga yang senang atau berkuasa.”
He then adds that his father was an Islamic teacher and his mother a teacher.
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Many netizens expressed amusement at Saifuddin’s script, thanking his campaign team for releasing a “translated version” of Ocasio-Cortez’s video.
One netizen compared Saifuddin’s script to a student copying his friend’s homework.
“When your assignment is due, and you ask your friend for the answers,” said user @azmillionaire.
“‘Can I copy your homework?’; ‘Yeah, just change it up a bit so it doesn’t look obvious you copied’,” said user @soodsahak, where he references a well-known meme about plagiarism.
Another commenter provided a comical scenario.
“He gave his PA (personal assistant) (RM)5,000 to make the script, the PA hired a subordinate for 500, (and) the subordinate then hired a young intern for 50. Hence the outcome (is worth) 50 from the 5,000,” wrote user @cheng8711.
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Saifuddin served the first term of the last parliamentary term as the minister of foreign affairs, beginning under then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He later quit PKR after Sheration Move and joined Bersatu.
He continued serving as foreign minister under Dr Mahathir’s successor Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and later under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob before the Parliament was dissolved.
Saifuddin is defending his Indera Mahkota seat in GE15 in a four-cornered fight. He is up against Barisan Nasional’s Quek Tai Seong, Pakatan Harapan’s Zuraifi Ismail, and Pejuang’s Dr Mohamad Nor Sundari.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, commonly known by her initials AOC, continues to serve as a representative of New York’s congressional district since 2019.
A message has been sent to Saifuddin seeking his comments on this matter. – The Vibes, November 7, 2022
