Malaysian Chronicles, Saturday, 08 March 2014
THE end-lot terrace house near Pearl Avenue in Sungai Chua, which is
MCA's main operations centre for the Kajang by-election, is a hive of
activity from early morning till late night for the past weeks.
Yesterday, election workers, many in their early 20s, were seen
arranging posters and party flags while others were briefing party
members in the living room, which had been turned into a makeshift
conference hall.
On the wall outside, there were two buntings which have no direct
political element, capable perhaps of attracting the immediate attention
of visitors. One promotes an anti-dengue campaign while the other
offers of free medical check-ups.
At one corner of the porch, young party workers man a public services and complaints booth.
Every few minutes, residents, many of whom are elderly, turn up to
ask for help in matters ranging from clogged drains to loss of land
title documents.
The workers record the complaints before channelling them to party officials for action.
Barisan Nasional candidate and MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun was, meanwhile, busy making her rounds in Kajang.
Early yesterday morning, she had a walkabout at Pasar Pagi in Taman
Ceras Mas, followed by an appearance at the education and career fair at
Kompleks Metro Point. Later in the evening till late at night, she had
meet-the-people sessions at several locations in Kajang.
It is a typical MCA style of campaigning -- low key and down to earth
with emphasis given to providing services for the people and keeping it
all very community-oriented.
Chew's daily schedule mostly consists of visits to public places and
functions in the daytime, and meeting voters in small groups in the
evening.
Not known for giving fiery speeches, she is calm and collected when
she explains to those present at her meet-the-people functions about her
plans if elected.
She may not have the eloquence of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PKR's
candidate, but Chew holds the advantage when it comes to offering
sensible touches to the campaign which is hotting up as nomination day
on March 11 draws near.
Perhaps her lack of aggressive posturing may even turn out to be the
crucial ingredient, which could possibly turn the tide come polling day
on March 23.
Still, the underdog tag worn by Chew and the rest of the BN campaign
crew seems to be obvious considering PKR's intense activities in Kajang
since day one.
Anwar, on the other hand, has obviously been preparing for the
engineered by-election for quite some time as his party workers appeared
to be well coordinated, down to the minutest details on how to carry
out their campaign.
Operating from a four-storey building in Sungai Sekamat, they
appeared confident, particularly in winning an overwhelming bulk of
votes from Kajang's Chinese voters in a repeat of the outcome of the
13th General Election in May last year.
PKR won the Kajang state constituency of more than 38,000 voters in that election by an almost 7,000-vote majority.
Political observers estimated that
up to 90 per cent of the Chinese voters in Kajang had given their
support to PKR. Malays make up 48 per cent of the voters; Chinese, 40
per cent; Indians, 10 per cent; and others about one per cent.
Anwar has, so far, been obvious about his campaign strategy; he is
going all out for the Malay votes, believing that votes of the Chinese
community are already in his pocket.
Most of his scheduled ceramah, all the way to nomination day, are
concentrated in Malay areas, where they draw a few hundred strong crowd
per night.
PKR's campaign in areas with a sizeable Chinese community has, so
far, been led by its vice-president, Tian Chua, during the day.
Anwar would, on most days, only turn up later in the evening, first
for maghrib prayers at one of the mosques or surau in areas where there
is a concentration of Malay voters, before proceeding to another venue
nearby for his ceramah.
While Chew may talk about improving healthcare services, traffic flow
and basic needs of Kajang folk, the opposition leader mainly focuses on
accusing the BN government of being responsible for all the problems
afflicting Malaysian society.
It is a total contrast between the two potential candidates in a contest, which could be dubbed David versus Goliath.
The outcome, which will have far-reaching consequences, especially
for Selangor, could, however, still go either way, depending on what the
folk of Kajang want -- a good service-oriented wakil rakyat with a
track record of hard work in her previous constituency in Petaling Jaya
Utara, or a smooth-talking populist leader who fashions himself as the
country's alternative prime minister. -NST
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