WORKING THE GROUND: PM Abdullah affixing the BN sticker inside a taxi in Penang as his wife Jeanne looked on. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

In a show of unity, they kicked off the propaganda war to woo Malaysians as the race towards the March 8 polls began in earnest.

From manifestos to ad campaigns, the battle is on.

This year, the BN's slogan is 'Selamat, Aman, Makmur', or 'Security, Peace, Prosperity'.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi launched BN's 23-page booklet - thick not just with promises but also with reports of the coalition's achievements in the last four years.

It is not the first time a report card is included - there was one in 2004 - but it is more significant this time around.

PM Abdullah pointedly referred to the report card several times.

'If we really listed everything that we have done, it would be as thick as a book,' he said.

An aide to the Prime Minister told The Straits Times there was a far longer version of the manifesto, but the coalition decided in the end to release the shorter one.

The report card is perhaps more significant than the promises, as PM Abdullah's administration has come under a lot of flak for not living up to the hype created by the BN campaign for the 2004 elections, which it won handsomely.

'Many people see that not many changes have been made. This time around, they are assessing the promises against the track record,' said Associate Professor Agus Yusoff, a political science lecturer at the National University of Malaysia.

Up north in Penang, the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) too released its manifesto.

Penang is where the DAP has dispatched many of its big guns, in a bid to grab more seats by seizing on unhappiness over inflation and crime, a sentiment particularly prevalent among urban Chinese.

The DAP manifesto went straight for the jugular by promising that poor households that lived on less than RM500 (S$220) a month would get RM6,000 a year, funded by Malaysia's petrol revenue.

It was an astute move as many have complained that the soaring profits earned by state oil corporation Petronas, thanks to high global oil prices, have not benefited ordinary Malaysians.

'Petronas makes about RM70 billion profits last year. DAP's proposed fiscal stimulus package, going by our calculations, costs only RM35 billion. Petronas' money is the people's money,' said DAP leader Lim Guan Eng.

Anticipating such 'bullets', the BN placed full-page advertisements in all major newspapers yesterday and also printed booklets to show that the government had been spending billions to keep essential items affordable.

How far will printed words count in the election?

'It's a common belief that only journalists and academics pay attention to manifestos,' said political analyst Wong Chin Huat, a spokesman for the NGO Civil Society Initiative for Parliament Reform.

He noted that many voters tend to see them as empty promises - on the part of the ruling BN, because of its less-than-sterling track record; as well as on the part of the opposition parties, because they have no hope of forming the next government.

But things might be slightly different in Malaysia today. For one thing, unkept promises are a theme of this general election. There has been much talk about the BN's failure to live up to the hype it created in 2004 and the overwhelming mandate it won then.

PM Abdullah himself had several times alluded recently to the perception that his administration had not kept its promises, and pointed repeatedly to its achievements.

More importantly, the BN manifesto made a few concrete promises, including pledges to provide new places of worship and relocate existing ones.

There was even a clear reference to the demolition of Hindu temples that led to thousands of Indians taking to the streets on Nov 25 last year.

'These promises, the candidates will take to their campaigns,' said Mr Wong.

It is notable that even the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia is taking its manifesto seriously, enough to omit from its document an earlier promise to hold elections for local authorities.

The party had failed to keep that promise in Kelantan, which it governs.

It also dropped mention of an Islamic state, substituting it with a welfare state, to avoid spooking non-Muslim voters and alienating its opposition partners.

With the propaganda war launched, the real work begins as candidates pound the ground to meet voters face to face.

'The candidates are not even likely to read the manifestos, but the ideas will seep out,' said Mr Wong.

carolynh@sph.com.sg