Raja Petra stumps for PAS

By Carolyn Hong, The Straits Times

Monday, 12 January 2009 08:56

Controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, recently released from detention, is such a famous figure, he gets curious stares everywhere he goes in Kuala Terengganu. Some locals even ask to be photographed with the blogger, sporting his trademark beret and pipe.

Raja Petra is in town to campaign for Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) candidate Abdul Wahid Endut, ahead of the Kuala Terengganu by-election on Saturday. Mr Wahid is up against Umno's Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh and an independent. The by-election was called after Umno MP Razali Ismail died in November last year.

'I am neutral, but I subscribe to certain aspects of the opposition such as bringing reforms to Malaysia,' said Raja Petra, 58, who does not belong to any political party.

He runs the Malaysia Today website, which publishes his hard-hitting columns that take on the most powerful politicians in Malaysia. Three other political bloggers have joined him in campaigning for the opposition in Kuala Terengganu as well as in cyberspace.

Although Kuala Terengganu is too rural to be Internet-savvy, Raja Petra said he has met voters who are familiar with his writings. His postings are frequently distributed as leaflets in the villages.

The opposition's focus is the 8,000-plus Chinese voters said to hold the key to this election, as the Malay vote is split.

Raja Petra speaks at one or two rallies nearly every night, and also to smaller groups of voters, to whom he talks about PAS and the Islamic state.

'When the voters see that we are not Taleban and we support PAS, it gives us a chance to explain things to them,' he said.

His message blends well with the opposition campaign, which is focusing on recent controversies such as those raised by Umno Youth chief aspirant Mukhriz Mahathir's call to turn vernacular schools into national ones, and a Penang Umno leader's description of the Chinese as immigrants.

A PAS banner has gone up in the Chinese area labelling Umno as extreme. Leaflets have also gone out showing a picture of Penang Umno leaders tearing up a poster of Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon after he protested against the description of the Chinese as immigrants.

Still, it is not certain to what extent this will mean more votes for the PAS candidate. In the March general election, 65 per cent of the Chinese votes went to Barisan Nasional (BN).

But this time, the Chinese are turning up at opposition rallies by the hundreds. At the rally last Saturday, many were seen stuffing RM50 (S$21) notes into the donation boxes.

They cheered for the PAS candidate in his robes and skull cap, and were wowed by the star speaker, Ms Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. There is some euphoria in the opposition camp, which believes there has been a swing in its favour. But it is also aware there is a week still to go.

Pakatan presents united front on stormy night

By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider

Sunday, 11 January 2009 15:28

Amid a biting wind blowing in from the South China Sea and short but sharp spells of rain marking the monsoon season, a crowd gathered last night in Chinatown here, at an open air parking lot roughly half the size of a football field. They came to follow a series of speeches organised by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) campaigning for Abdul Wahid Endut in the current by-election here. Young and old, Chinese and Malays, in groups and alone, they came. Some even brought their own plastic stools.

Most, however, stood between the cars and the big puddles, umbrella in hand, listening intently as one after the other, the speakers from DAP, PKR and Pas took to the stump. Foremost among the speakers last night was the princess of reformasi and daughter of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim: Nurul Izzah. She showed up in her bright blue baju kurung, standing in the back of a lorry lit by fluorescent lamp. She lacked the oratory skills of her father. But the crowd paid attention as she spoke to them about the fight for justice. She pointed out the unfairness of the system, recounting how on the same night Kuala Lumpur, police had arrested participants of a candlelight vigil for the Palestinian people in Gaza being battered by Israel. She implored the people of Kuala Terengganu to make a choice for change on polling day on Jan 17. As she spoke, the mainly Chinese crowd listened. Some nodded their heads. After 15 minutes, Nurul Izzah left, rushing off to another ceramah elsewhere. But others stepped up to take her place.

The highlight of the night was the candidate himself. Wahid’s popularity seems to be growing, especially among the Chinese crowd. The five-term assemblyman for Wakaf Mempelam got them laughing with his tale of how Datuk Ahmad Said used to challenge him to boxing duels outside the state legislative assembly before he became Terengganu Menteri Besar. But his tone turned serious in the blink of an eye.

In recounting past incidents at public rallies in Batu Enam, Batu Rakit and Batu Buruk where the authorities had used tear gas and even fired live bullets to disperse the crowd, Wahid drew parallels between the local situation and the Palestine-Israel conflict in Gaza now.

“What is the difference between the people of Terengganu getting shot at and the people of Palestine getting shot by Jews?” he asked. The crowd went silent.

Malaysia Today blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin, attracted almost as much attention with his talk on racism in Malaysia and how he, too, is a victim, despite being a Malay.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok almost stole the show with her speech on the politics of fear, heavily punctuated with humour that belied her grave face. She reminded them how last year’s independent candidate for the General Election had campaigned on a bicycle and “cycled away with 600 votes”. Kok asked the crowd not to believe what the BN said. Repeating a rumour that a minister had “advised” the civil servants that action would be taken against them if they voted PR, she pointed out that it was a trick, that every vote was secret and remained so; that the Election Commission burns the sealed ballot papers half a year after election and the MPs from both sides witness the ceremony. She implored the voting community to give their votes to PR.

“So pitiful,” said a Malay lady selling satay nearby.

Noticing the questioning look, she explained, “It’s pitiful that they have to speak on the back of a lorry.”

FLOGGING A DEAD HORSE

Sunday, 11 January 2009 14:38

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This is what The Star said today in its column The Star Says………..

Voters’ right to know what’s on offer

THE issue of hudud laws in an Islamic state has acquired greater relevance since unprecedented Opposition gains last March. But instead of greater clarity and understanding, things have become murkier.

The differences have exposed fissures in Pakatan Rakyat, as its squabbling leaders generate more heat than light. To help clear the confusion, let us be clear on some main points.

First, Malaysia is not and was never meant to be an Islamic state. It is a Muslim-majority nation with Islam as its official religion, and freedom of religion is enshrined in the Constitution.

An Islamic state is ruled by Islamic scholars implementing Islamic law as the nation’s sole or principal legal system. If Malaysia were already an Islamic state, there would be no need to make it one, nor any need for further debate.

Second, a nation’s laws affect all who live in it regardless of faith. Muslims may be directly affected by hudud laws, but non-Muslims would at least be indirectly affected by sharing geographical and social spaces in the country. Even foreign workers and tourists must observe a nation’s laws, and cannot claim immunity just because they are not citizens.

To deny such realities is to be so naive as to be unfit for public office, or so deceitful as to deserve no electoral support.

Third, PAS and its Pakatan partners must fully inform the public about what hudud precisely entails, after agreeing on that themselves, if they respect the democratic principle of citizens making informed choices at elections. Anything less is tantamount to seeking power by stealth.

By bickering over the subject and then fudging it, PR leaders have abdicated their responsibility to those they claim to serve and represent: Malaysians. And yet their disagreement is no surprise, since a third of Pakatan insists on hudud, another third on rejecting it while the other third just hopes the controversy will go away.

But it is not going to go away, particularly when PAS is bent on actualising hudud when it wins federal power. This is all the more reason for greater clarity and transparency now, so that people can know what is being sold to them.
**********************************
Yes, that was what The Star said today in its editorial column. And we must remember that The Star is owned by MCA and is therefore a Barisan Nasional mouthpiece -- just like the other Umno-owned mainstream newspapers and television stations like Berita Hairan, Utusan Meloya, the Dire Straits Times, TV Tiga-suku and whatnot.

Umno does not have any issues to use in the Kuala Terengganu by-election. The PAS candidate is a five-term State Assemblyman and has no ‘baggage’ like the Umno candidate, Wan Farid Wan Salleh. Even when PAS got wiped out in 2004 and all the top PAS leaders hit the dust, Wahid Endut still won the Wakaf Mempelam state seat. This shows Wahid is practically invincible and can win even when his party got massacred. Therefore, we can assume he is well liked by his constituents.

In Terengganu, it is partly about the party and, sometimes, mainly about the personalities. For example, the late Member of Parliament for Kuala Terengganu, Razali Ismail, garnered the PAS votes even though he was an Umno candidate. His wife (now widow, of course) and the wife of the one-time PAS State Assemblyman for Bandar, Azmi Lope, are sisters. So, based on family ties, those PAS supporters aligned to Azmi voted for Razali. Personality came before party.

Azmi Lope won the ‘Chinese’ Bandar state seat in 1999. Earlier, in 1990, Ustaz Harun Jusoh, also from PAS, won that seat. In 2008, the Bandar seat went to MCA. And although the other three state seats -- Wakaf Mempelam, Batu Burok and Ladang -- were won by PAS, the Parliament seat of Kuala Terengganu went to Umno, basically because of the ‘Chinese’ Bandar seat. Therefore, it was the Chinese who gave Razali Ismail the win, no doubt about that.

The Bandar seat will also be the determining factor in the 17 January 2009 by-election. If PAS can’t win the votes from the Bandar constituency, even if they can retain their votes from Wakaf Mempelam, Batu Burok and Ladang, they will have a hard time trying to win the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency. Say what you like, the Chinese are going to determine who will be the next Member of Parliament for Kuala Terengganu, not the Malays.

So, what else can MCA do other than flog a dead horse called Hudud? This is the only issue they can use. There are no personal issues against the candidate. He is spotless, squeaky clean, and a likeable character. Running him down is a non-starter. In fact, it is counter-productive and can backfire badly. So they have to run down his party instead. And the Hudud issue is the only ‘weapon’ they have in which they can use against his party.

But why are MCA and The Star the ones who are playing up the Hudud issue? The Barisan Nasional candidate is from Umno, not MCA. Should not Umno instead be playing up the issue? Surely the Chinese would believe Umno more than MCA -- seeing that the Umno chaps are ‘fellow-Muslims’ while the MCA chaps are ‘kafirs’, and therefore would understandably be ‘anti-Islam’. If the ‘fellow-Muslims’ from Umno whack the Islamic State and Islamic laws, it would be more credible than coming from the ‘kafir’ Chinese of MCA.

Yes, Umno demands that PKR state its stand on the Islamic State and Hudud. MCA, in turn, demands the same thing from DAP. But while they demand this from PKR and DAP, Umno and MCA are maintaining a deafening silence as to their stands on the Islamic State and Islamic laws.

Umno knows that if they were to openly oppose the Islamic State and Hudud, while this may sway the Chinese voters, it would, however, antagonise the Malay voters. Not everyone supports PAS. At best about 40% of the voters support the opposition. The ruling party would have about 40% support as well. Then there are the 20% uncommitted or atas pagar (fence sitters) voters. Their task would be to win the hearts and minds of the 20% fence sitters, half of them Chinese and the other half Malay.

If Umno were to whack the Islamic State and Hudud, they may successfully win over half the 10% fence sitters, the Chinese, but they will send the other half, the Malays, into the arms of the opposition -- plus some of the 40% ‘committed’ may also swing to the opposition as well.

The Chinese represent only 11% of the voters in Kuala Terengganu. Therefore, 89% are Malays. 60% of the Chinese voted for Barisan Nasional in the last election while 40% went to the opposition. If Umno tries to sway the Chinese by using the Islamic State and Hudud issue, they may get another 10% of the Chinese votes, but they will lose much more in terms of Malay votes. Why swing 1 Chinese vote and lose 10 Malay votes in the process? The nett effect will be lesser votes for Barisan Nasional.

So, Umno is steering clear of the Islamic State and Hudud issue. It does not dare state that it is opposed to the Islamic State and Hudud -- as this can be interpreted as Umno is opposed to Islam. It therefore leaves this matter to MCA and The Star to handle. Then it would be the Chinese ‘kafirs’ from MCA and not the Muslims from Umno who are ‘anti-Islam’.

But MCA would not dare do anything so sensitive if not sanctioned by Umno. What if the Muslim NGOs suddenly organise a demonstration to protest MCA’s perceived opposition to Islam? Will Umno agree with the Muslim NGO’s or will it instead stand behind MCA? If Umno does not back MCA, then they would be leaving the Chinese party out to hang. But to back MCA would only give an impression that Umno is also anti-Islam.

It is actually quite a gamble that Umno is playing. Sure, MCA and The Star may yet be able to sway the Chinese on the Islamic State and Hudud issue. But it runs the risk of losing even more Malay support. Thus far, however, PAS has not played up this issue or tried to point out that MCA, the sleeping partner and nominee of Umno, is anti-Islam and therefore this makes Umno anti-Islam as well -- since no way MCA can whack Islam without Umno saying so.

PAS would prefer to not use these issues as election fuel although they can if they wish to. PAS knows it can go to town on the matter and gain much mileage with the issue. Last night's arrest of 21 anti-Israel protestors in Kuala Lumpur is one case in point and can 'prove' that Umno is anti-Islam. But PAS would rather win the election with Chinese support. And they are going to great pains to win the hearts and minds of the Chinese rather than by demonising Umno with regards to its stand on Islam.

PAS is looking at things beyond just the Kuala Terengganu by-election. No doubt it wants to win this by-election. But it wants to do so with Chinese support rather than just Malay support and with the Chinese voting against them. 11% is not really that large. If PAS campaigns on the platform that Umno is anti-Islam it can win more Malay votes than the Chinese votes it loses. But in the long-term PAS would lose. If it can win the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat with Chinese support, the message PAS can send to the rest of the country would be: if the Kuala Terengganu Chinese who know PAS better can support the party, why not the Chinese from the rest of the country?

It is a very clever long-term strategy that PAS is adopting. It knows that just on Malay support alone it can win some seats, or even states. But it can never form the federal government. To form the federal government it needs the support of the Chinese, the Indians, and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. Therefore it has to first win the Kuala Terengganu parliament seat, which has only 11% Chinese and Indian voters, before talking about the rest of the country, which has a higher percentage of non-Malay voters.

It is risky for PAS, of course, because it is banking on non-Muslim support to win when it can increase its support from the Muslim voters by playing up the ‘Umno is anti-Islam’ issue. But if PAS wishes to look beyond Kuala Terengganu, then this has to be the way to go. PAS needs to win the trust of the non-Malays. And Kuala Terengganu is a good place to start. And if it succeeds in Kuala Terengganu on 17 January 2009, then it can begin to set it sights on taking PAS to areas where the Chinese are even more the kingmaker. And thus far it appears like this may happen.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE KUALA TERENGGANU VOTERS

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Saturday, 10 January 2009 11:00

Dear Voter,

I trust this letter finds you in good health. You probably already know why I am writing to you. So please allow me to dispense with all the bullshit and cut to the chase, as much as this may appear extremely abrupt and not within Malay culture. I feel I should not labour too much on Malay, Chinese or Indian culture when our mission is to see the emergence of a new culture, a Malaysian culture, a melting pot of cultures if you like.

I am not a politician. I am not a political party member. Neither am I holding any position in any political party, association, movement, or whatever. I am just, what the government calls me, a Blogger. Why they call me a Blogger I do not really know. But I suppose it is because they view me as being behind Malaysia Today and they consider Malaysia Today a Blog.

Anyway, what the government chooses to label me as is not important because what I am going to say to you is not about me but about the future of this country. So, maybe what I would like to be called is a Malaysian. That’s right. I am a Malaysian, just like you, and I am addressing you as one Malaysian to another.

On 17 January 2009, you will be coming out to vote in the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Nevertheless, while you may view this as merely a by-election, it is not really a by-election as much as it is a proxy war between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. Yes, it is an election to decide whether you, the Kuala Terengganu voters, are happy with the federal government or whether you would like to send a message to Barisan Nasional that you are not happy with the way Malaysians are being treated.

On 8 March 2008, half the Malaysian voters voted for Pakatan Rakyat. Granted, it was not a vote in support of Pakatan Rakyat as much as it was a vote against Barisan Nasional -- a protest vote, as some would call it. But whether it was a vote in support of Pakatan Rakyat or a vote in protest of Barisan Nasional is not really the issue. The objective was to send a message to Barisan Nasional that the people are not happy. And the people demonstrated this by not voting for Barisan Nasional.

But did Barisan Nasional get the message? Did they take pains to change? No! What happened instead was that Barisan Nasional became even more arrogant. They did not understand that Malaysians have had enough of the arrogance of power and the result of the 8 March 2008 general election was meant as a medium to send a message to Barisan Nasional that 51 years was enough. No more arrogance! But the arrogance continued. Barisan Nasional did not repent. Instead, they demonstrated even more arrogance.

The Permatang Pauh by-election, again, proved that Barisan Nasional had not repented. The dirty tricks they pulled off managed to reduce Anwar Ibrahim’s majority from almost 20,000 to just 15,000. Okay, Anwar Ibrahim still performed better than Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the general election just five months before that. He still got two out of three votes or 66% of the votes. But what would have happened if the vote-majority had been razor-thin like what happened in Kuala Terengganu on 8 March 2008 where the Umno candidate won by a mere 600 votes? The almost 5,000 votes that they robbed Anwar Ibrahim of would have turned victory into defeat.

I am aware that many of you have received RM300 over the last few days. Some have received RM500 and others as much as RM1,000. This money is aimed at buying your votes. They hope that once you take this money you will feel obligated to vote for Barisan Nasional and that you will feel guilty if, after taking the money, you vote for Pakatan Rakyat.

Well, don’t feel guilty. Take the money by all means. But you need not vote for Barisan Naisonal even if you do take the money. The money does not belong to Barisan Nasional. It belongs to the people. It is your money. So you are just taking back the money that was originally yours in the first place.

Do you really think Barisan Nasional would hand out money that belongs to them? No way! They took this money from you. Over 25 years, from 1974 to 1999, they siphoned out an estimated RM12 billion in Oil Royalty due to Terengganu. Then, from 2000 until 2008, they siphoned out another RM8 billion in the guise of Wang Ehsan. That comes to a total of RM20 billion. And how much are they throwing back at you in this 17 January 2009 by-election? Yes, that’s right, only RM80 million.

Okay, RM80 million sounds like a lot of money. It certainly is when you consider that the law says you must not spend more than RM200,000 in the election. So RM80 million is way above the allowed RM200,000. And that is just the Ang Pows they are going around town to hand out to the voters. What about the posters, flags, banners, balloons, T-shirts, caps, food and drinks, vehicles, helicopters, police outriders, salaries, etc., which you, the rakyat, are ultimately paying for? Don’t be surprised if I tell you that the total amount spent is going to touch at least RM250 million and that this is probably the most expensive by-election ever. And we are yet to calculate how much it costs to station 6,000 police personnel in Kuala Terengganu over the two-week period.

But whose money is all this? Why, yours of course. They are spending your money, or should I say, wasting your money, just to retain the Kuala Terengganu parliament seat. And why the need to spend what may come to RM500 million in the end-- if we take into consideration the total mobilisation cost -- just to win a by-election? Well, as I said earlier, it is because the Kuala Terengganu by-election is not just a by-election but a proxy war between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

Malaysians from all over the country are hoping that you, the Kuala Terengganu voters, will do the right thing. And the ‘right thing’ here is to send a message to Barisan Nasional that you can’t be bought, especially with your own money -- which they robbed from you in the first place. Also, send a message to Barisan Nasional that you have had enough of the arrogance, the threats, the rampant corruption and wastage of the rakyat’s money, the abuse of power, and whatnot. Tell Barisan Nasional on 17 January 2009 that 52 years is enough. After 52 years it is time for change.

With regards to the 6,000 police personnel based in Kuala Terengganu over these two weeks, don’t be too alarmed. Sure, it is partly meant to intimidate you and to give an impression that trouble may be brewing over the horizon, especially if Barisan Nasional does not win the by-election. But this is not the real reason. Remember, when they handed you the RM300, RM500 or RM1,000, they asked you for copies of your identity cards on the excuse they need this ‘for the record’? Well, it is not really ‘for the record’. They want to use these copies of your identity cards to create ‘phantom voters’. And don’t be surprised if on Polling Day many of the 6,000 police personnel turn up in ‘plain clothes’ to vote in your place.

They are hoping that at least 20,000 to 25,000 of you will not come out to vote. This is quite normal because in any election the best we can expect is a 70% or so voter turnout. 30% of 80,000, therefore, comes to roughly 20,000 to 25,000 ‘no show’ voters. They can then always ‘safely’ increase the voter turnout to 75% and no one will be the wiser. This means they can pad the ballot boxes with about 4,000 to 5,000 ‘additional’ votes with no problems whatsoever. Now can you see why they need 6,000 police personnel in Kuala Terengganu? Take a wild guess and no prize for the right guess.

I urge you, therefore, to come out and vote so that you can deny them the opportunity to vote in your place. And come out early. Come out as soon as the polling stations open. If you go and vote after lunch you might find you are not able to vote because you ‘already voted’ -- as many found out in the Permatang Pauh by-election on 26 August 2008.

In the Permatang Pauh by-election, at least 600 voters could not vote because someone else had already voted in their place. And that is only what was reported. Many just silently went home without complaining that someone had voted in their place. We expect the incidences of ‘sudah undi’ to be very high on 17 January 2009. And if that happens lodge a protest. And make a police report as well. In Permatang Pauh, about 50 police reports were made -- and of course no action was taken.

One issue they are playing up to the hilt is the issue of the Islamic State and Hudud laws. This is aimed at frightening the Chinese voters. Why don’t you turn the tables on them and, for once, place Barisan Nasional on the defensive. Ask Umno what their stand on the Islamic State is. Instead of allowing them to demonise PAS, ask Umno to declare that they are opposed to the Islamic State and will never agree to Islamic laws. Make this a condition before you decide whether you will vote for the Barisan Nasional candidate. If Umno refuses to do this then why are they demonising PAS? Will Umno, therefore, not also be considered in support of the Islamic State and Islamic laws?

Then ask Umno why they are giving so much problems to the Christians. The Christians are very unhappy with the Umno-led government’s policy on churches and the Bible. But all this is happening at federal level and only in the Umno-run states. The Christians face no problems in Pakatan Rakyat-run states, not even in Kelantan. Is it not Umno, rather than PAS, that is intolerant of the non-Muslims? This is the reality. And almost 20 years of PAS rule in Kelantan lies testimony to this.

So why are they demonising PAS when it is Umno that causes so much problems for the non-Muslims? Many reject PAS because they fear Islam. But PAS has been very tolerant and helpful to the non-Muslims. Kelantan offers the non-Muslims permission to build places of worship even when they did not approach the state government for permission. Umno repeatedly denies non-Muslims permission to set up places of worship.

Yes, it is time that Umno be asked to state very clearly its stand on the Islamic State and Islamic laws. PAS is not in power. PAS can never be in power. PAS has only 23 seats in Parliament. Even if it wins the Kuala Terengganu by-election it will still only be 24 seats. PAS can never win more than 30 seats in Parliament. Even in the best of times, like in 1999, it won only 27 Parliament seats. PAS can never go beyond 30 seats. Anyway, every general election, PAS contests only 60 seats. So how can it win more than that?

It is Umno that leads the federal government. And it is Umno that decides the policies and makes the rules. And it is Umno that is giving the non-Muslims all these problems. So why is PAS being demonised? Why do the non-Muslims fear PAS? This, I can’t seem to understand. You fear PAS because of what it MAY do if it comes to power -- even though it can never come to power, not without DAP and PKR. But you do not fear Umno when it is already in power and is the one giving the non-Muslims all these problems. Is this logical?

It would be very nice if the Kuala Terengganu voters, once and for all, force Umno to state its stand on Islam. Let Umno declare its stand openly and before 17 January 2009, if they dare. I dare bet that they won’t. That is because, while they are demonising PAS on its Islamic State stand, Umno itself does not dare state its stand. At least PAS is honest about the matter. Can we say the same for Umno? Umno whacks PAS but it is not PAS that is the problem to the non-Muslims. It is Umno.

I would like to end by saying I hope you, the Kuala Terengganu voters, will not let Malaysia down. We are depending on you to teach Barisan Nasional a lesson on 17 January 2009. A message needs to be sent to Barisan Nasional. And you have the opportunity to do this in the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Do this for Malaysia. And, more importantly, do it for the future generation, your children and grandchildren. You owe them this much.

Yours truly,

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Day 1, Round 1 : Pakatan Rakyat

By Raja Petra Kamarudin

Wednesday, 07 January 2009 09:34

Pakatan Rakyat was clearly the winner on Day 1 of the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Nomination Day saw an estimated crowd of 30,000 to 40,000 Pakatan Rakyat supporters against only 5,000 to 7,000 for Barisan Nasional. In spite of the mainstream media spin that reversed the figures, pictures speak a thousand words and the five pictures below tell all.

At 9.30pm, Anwar Ibrahim addressed an estimated crowd of 20,000 to 30,000 people, mostly all local Kuala Terengganu folks, at Ladang, not far from the Bloggers Operations Centre in Kuala Terengganu. Amongst those who also spoke at this Ceramah Perdana were Lim Kit Siang, Haji Hadi Awang, the Menteri Besar of Kelantan, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, and Mustaffa Ali.

Simultaneously, the Bloggers and a few DAP national leaders graced a dinner that was attended by more than 500 local Chinese residents. We went from table to table to shake the hands of the guests and saw many familiar faces amongst the crowd. The support of the Chinese was most overwhelming, and if the dinner crowd last night is a reflection of the Chinese support for Pakatan Rakyat, then the results of the 17 January 2009 by-election may yet pull a surprise for Barisan Nasional.

But this was only Day 1 and Round 1 of the campaign. We still have 11 more days and 11 more rounds to worry about. An early victory may just be a sign of Pakatan Rakyat winning the battle, but not necessarily that it is winning the war. Ultimately, it is winning the war that counts. You can win ten battles but the victor will be determined by whomsoever wins the war and not whomsoever wins the many battles along the way.

Today’s campaign will be door-to-door. Anwar Ibrahim will be officiating the Parti Keadilan Rakyat operations center at Gong Kapas and will visit 18 kampongs around Kuala Terengganu after which he will be doing a walk-about at the main bus stop and the wet market at 11.00am. The Bloggers will be covering the walk-about and we hope to upload the pictures later today.

Intelligence agencies and the BTN have informed Umno that it has lost Day 1 of the campaign and that efforts must be stepped up to ensure a Barisan Nasional victory. They realise they would not be able to win on a level playing field, so expect the Dirty Tricks Department to launch a series of dirty campaigns later today. What they have planned is not known yet other than they are not confident of victory and therefore need to resort to dirty tactics to turn defeat into victory.

The Chinese voters are fully aware that the Malays are delicately split 50:50 and that it will be the Chinese who will determine the victor. They have been told that the are the Kingmaker but the million dollar question is whom does the Chinese want as their ‘king’ representing them in Parliament as their Member of Parliament.

One issue raised by the Chinese is that they are not too confident that PAS is capable of running the state. Unlike PAS Kelantan, PAS Terengganu is not that sharp, laments the Chinese. And five years of PAS rule from 1999 to 2004 has proven this.

This has to be countered with the argument that the Kuala Terengganu by-election is not about choosing a new state government. The voters will just be sending ‘their man’ to Parliament and not voting to form a new state government. The Chinese must be reminded that the present state government will remain intact even if the opposition wins the Kuala Terengganu parliament seat.

The Chinese have no qualms that the outcome of the Kuala Terengganu by-election rest in their hands. But would they take that bold step of giving the seat to the opposition? Day 1 of the campaign is too early to determine this.

Nevertheless, as in any election, local issues are usually the determining factor. Are the Kuala Terengganu Chinese happy with their government? Do they feel that Umno and Barisan Nasional is just too arrogant and needs to be cut down to size? Is it time to send a message to the ruling party that it can no longer take the Chinese for granted and continue insulting them, call them pandatang, threaten them with ‘another May 13’, and ask them to ‘go back to China’ every time they open their mouths and express unhappiness? These would be the factors that will decide which way the Chinese will vote on 17 January 2009.

I now need to go hit the streets and do a walk-about in Chinatown. We will update you with the latest events as they develop. Till later and stayed tuned as we report from Ground Zero in Kuala Terengganu.

Anwar says Umno is like Israel

Wednesday, 07 January 2009 08:10

By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim drew parallels tonight between the conflict in Gaza and what he called the sufferings of Malaysians as he hit the campaign trail at a mammoth rally attended by thousands here.

Attempting to touch a sensitive chord among the mainly Muslim constituency here, he accused Umno, the main party in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, of acting like Israel.

"The leadership is busy collecting wealth. While Israel is punishing the Palestinian people for choosing Hamas, it is no different from Umno punishing Malaysians for choosing the Pakatan Rakyat," he told a ceramah here on the first day of campaigning for the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

Thousands of local residents had gathered to listen to a star-studded Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rally here where besides Anwar, the DAP's Lim Kit Siang and Pas president Hadi Awang were also among the top draws.

The flag-waving crowd cheered loudly during Anwar's speech, punctuated with shouts of "Allahu Akbar", which translates as "God is Great," the standard clarion cry of the Pas faithful.

With a majority of Malaysia's Muslims backing the Palestinian cause, Israel's ongoing invasion of Gaza is having a major impact on domestic politics.

Political leaders from either side of the divide have been busy burnishing their Islamic credentials, and Anwar's attack against Umno tonight will likely put BN on the defensive in the days to come.

The Kuala Terengganu by-election sees a three-way fight between BN's Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh, Abdul Wahid Endut of Pas and independent Azharuddin Mamat.

Setting the tone for the campaign, Anwar told the huge flag waving crowd gathered at a beach behind the Astaka shopping centre here that the problem with Umno was that it was corrupt and ignored the suffering of ordinary Malaysians.

Sticking to his Gaza theme, he said: "Umno, like Israel, does not recognise the chosen Hamas leadership."

The Opposition Leader also spoke on the Hudud issue, and blamed "Umno and its controlled media" for fanning religious and racial hatred.

Pas vice-president Husam Musa's recent remarks that his party would want to introduce Hudud, the strict Islamic code which prescribes amputation, stonning and whipping as punishment for criminal offences, had touched off criticisms from non-Muslim groups, including PR partners DAP.

While the Hudud issue has caused uneasiness in other parts of the country, it has little traction in the east coast states, where a huge majority of the population, are conservative Muslims.

Still, with a tight race anticipated, both the BN and PR campaigns are mindful of the need to secure the Chinese vote, which represents around 11 per cent of voters here.

The battle of Kuala Terengganu

by Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tuesday, 06 January 2009 15:52

At 5.00pm today, some of us Bloggers will be meeting the PAS leaders at their HQ in Kuala Terengganu to discuss how we can assist in the by-election campaign.

Nomination Day, thus far, shows that PAS appears to have the solid support of the locals. However, we shall be cautioning the PAS leaders in ensuring that we don’t menang sorak, kampung tergadai. This translates to winning the cheering but losing your home, or, more accurately: winning the battle but losing the war.Whatever the mainstream newspapers reported today, don’t you believe it! PAS saw a crowd of 30,000 to 40,000 supporters. And the crowd was wall-to-wall -- from the Stadium Negeri, where the nomination papers were filed, right up to the old penyu round-a-bout, where the penyu no longer lives. Most importantly, the crowd was mostly local folks and their dressing, sarong just below the knee, and Terengganu slang was so distinct there was no doubt about them being locals. I mean, only locals would shout “Hancur, hancur…….hancur bee eng” and “Menang, menang……menang Pakatang.”

Umno, however, saw a crowd of only 5,000 or so, plus-minus. In fact, there were more police stationed in Kuala Terengganu -- 6,000 according to what was reported -- than Umno supporters. Sources from inside the Umno operations centre put the figure at 7,000 supporters at the most and, according to these same inside sources, 80% were from outstation. We were told Umno brought in their supporters in 80 buses -- so these figures would certainly tally. At least Umno and we agree on this issue.

It was heart-warming to see the PAS supporters carrying DAP flags. And the Chinese, in turn, were carrying PAS flags. Even the Chinese ‘dragon’ had a PAS flag in its mouth. If you were to say that PAS supporters have feelings of animosity with DAP with regards to the Hudud issue, and that the Chinese are unhappy with PAS about this same issue, you could have fooled me. Whatever the top leadership of the two parties may be saying, the mood on the ground is that the Hudud issue is a non-issue.

Sirens were wailing non-stop as the Barisan Nasional ministers zoomed all over town escorted by police outriders. You would not be faulted for thinking that the US President was in town. In contrast to this, the Pakatan Rakyat ministers -- like the Menteri Besar of Selangor, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim-- humbly made their rounds without any fanfare and walked the streets to shake hands with all and sundry.

It seems the Umno people have some old scores to settle with their party. I was told, in the last election, a lot of money was promised. However, as soon as the election results came in, the person holding the money disappeared and those promised this money were never paid. I will not reveal the name of the place or else Umno may quickly go there to settle their old debts from March 2008.

I met some Umno people last night to feel them out and it looks like they are not too happy with the choice of candidate, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh. They feel he is the wrong choice of candidate and is carrying too much baggage. He and his brother’s links with Patrick Lim and the scandals involving the oil royalty or Wang Ehsan are a huge handicap and something they are unable to counter.

The PAS candidate, Abdul Wahid Endut, however, has no issues and Umno is hard-pressed in coming out with something to use against him. He is too clean, lamented the Umno chaps, so there is nothing we can use against him. How to defeat him when he is squeaky clean and our candidate is so tainted, sighed the Umno chaps.

The Kuala Terengganu by-election is no longer just a by-election. It is not about choosing the Member of Parliament for Kuala Terengganu. It is a proxy war between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. It is a national-level battle being brought down to the ground to the streets and villages of Kuala Terengganu. The Kuala Terengganu by-election is also about making sure that Najib Tun Razak meets his Waterloo in Kuala Terengganu. Many Umno people feel, if Barisan Nasional loses Kuala Terengganu, it will reflect on Najib and raise the question of whether the people have rejected him as the next Prime Minister. It is almost like Najib’s career will be made or broken depending on how Umno performs in Kuala Terengganu.

The Public Prosecutor’s office in Kuala Terengganu has been put on a 24-hour alert and some prosecutors have been told to sleep in the office. According to what we have been told, they expect to arrest some opposition people over the next 12 days, and if that happens they want to speedily charge them for whatever crimes the police may say they have committed. This is not about speedy justice but more to get them off the streets and remanded for two weeks until after the election when they can no longer do harm to Umno.

More from Kuala Terengganu later as and when new developments unfold. Meanwhile, stay tuned as we bring you the latest from ground zero. Your Blogging team based here in Kuala Terengganu will be hitting the streets later today to meet the voters and to talk to them about what we are all in Kuala Terengganu for. We shall impress upon them the need to send a message to Barisan Nasional that the 8 March 2008 Tsunami, and the repeat performance in the Permatang Pauh by-election, is still strong and still very much alive.

Yes, we are not facing a by-election in Kuala Terengganu. It is a national-level battle fought by proxy in the once sleepy town of Kuala Terengganu but now bustling with activity. And, just like in Permatang Pauh where the voters gave Anwar Ibrahim two out of three votes or 66.66% of the votes to demonstrate their next choice of Prime Minister, the Kuala Terengganu voters will be asked to do the same thing to send Abdullah Ahmad Badawi a ‘no to Najib as the next Prime Minister’ message.

Currently, I still stand by my earlier forecast of PAS winning the Kuala Terengganu by-election with a majority of at least 5,000 votes. I will let you know as we go along if this forecast changes.