Partyforumseasia: Some strategists from more party-politically volatile countries may have envied the “stability” of UMNO’s Malaysia and the number of “safe deposit” constituencies for so many years. The last general election in 2008 came with a brutal wake-up call for all those who have believed that power and access to assets would continue forever. Populist but not necessarily popular campaign goodies and the ferocious use of the pro-establishment media signal that BN, for the first time in decades, has doubts about winning the next election.
Dr. Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)  in Singapore, comments on what has changed already before the next election coming up in April:

Straits Times, 22.3.2013