The much-hyped match-up in Machap between the MCA's Lai Meng Chong and the DAP's Liou Chen Kuang turned out, from all the reports that I've seen, to be pretty much of a muck-up for those of us who were hoping for a fair contest that might have given Barisan Nasional (BN) a fright.

Even with the last-minute aid of an impassioned address by Anwar Ibrahim, the resurgent Parti Kedilan Rakyat star, the DAP polled a mere 400 or so votes more than it received in its five-votes-to-one drubbing back in 2004.

But that was hardly surprising in the light of the way BN threw MCA and Umno celebrities, several sports stars and heaping helpings of goodies at the electorate's grateful voters. All the usual suspects were on hand to spread the BN message and the handouts that are customary on such occasions.