Brickfields, in the Bukit Bintang parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur, witnessed a small miracle on Sunday, Dec 5: for the first time in living memory, a politician came acalling for no reason other than he wanted to.

The former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, came to celebrate Deepavali with the people of Brickfields, a rare gesture from any politician, as few could remember a similar function there in the past two decades.

There is one reason for this: it is so electorally docile that the election commission, in its wisdom redrew it as an adjunct to several parliamentary constituencies in every constituency delineation over 30 years: Damansara, Siputeh, Lembah Pantai, Bukit Bintang.

We know why: to ensure a BN win. That did not always work that way: we now have a DAP MP.