Pakatan Rakyat's highly-charged final dinner last night managed to outdo the pro-BN 1Malaysia Chinese New Year concert, drawing over 1,200 excited Tenang folk.

tenang by election 280111 pakatan ceramah crowd All the 100 tables at a Chinese restaurant at Labis were fully occupied by Pakatan supporters.

Those who did not buy the RM20 dinner vouchers passionately followed the speeches of the Pakatan leaders through screens set up in tents outside the restaurant.

tenang by election 280111 pakatan ceramah crowd outside 03 Others who could not squeeze themselves into the packed tents, were forced to stand outside, with umbrellas sheltering them from the light rain.

Pakatan leaders, including PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP star speaker Nga Kor Ming, were accorded a rousing welcome by the crowd upon their arrival.

Pakatan VIPs in dream crowd

tenang by election 280111 anwar surrounded by crowd Thunderous applause, cheers and piercing whistles, together with the DAP campaign theme song heated up the atmosphere, as if in celebration of a Pakatan victory in the by-election.

Pakatan leaders had to spend a few minutes to make their way through the crowd as the people jostled with one another to shake hands with them.

As soon as the leaders sat down, the dinner table was besieged by dozens of enthusiastic people wanting to pose for pictures with them.

tenang by election 280111 dap dinner normala 02 PAS candidate Normala Sudirman, ( centre, at left) who put in a brief appearance at the dinner, was greeted like a superstar.

It was obvious that Pakatan's call to don red clothes had received enthusiastic response. Almost all attendees had pasted red stickers on their clothes sporting the Chinese word 'huan' (change), the DAP campaign theme for this by-election.

Some DAP campaigners described it as 'Pakatan fever', a repeat of the Sibu by-election where the party unseated the incumbent in an uphill battle.

Poor show for MCA

tenang by election 280111 hot dance at 1 malaysia new year party Meanwhile, the 'Malam Mesra 1 Malaysia Sambutan Tahun Baru Cina', which was held just 600 metres away at Dataran Labis and featured local artistes and deejays from national Mandarin radio station AiFM, attracted only some 500 locals.

The festive concert organised by the Pekan Labis village security and development committee (JKKK) and other local Chinese NGOs, had invited MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek, deputy president Liow Tiong Lai and Labis MP Chua Tee Yong as VIPs.

tenang by election 280111 fireworks at 1 malaysia new year party MCA campaign leaflets lambasting PAS' Islamic state agenda were distributed during the concert.

Laptops, mobile phones and hampers were among the prizes given away in a lucky draw. Chua also handed out letters of compliment, signed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, to seven students from SJK(C) Labis who scored 7As in the UPSR last year.

The crowd was entertained to two rounds of two-minute fireworks as a curtain raiser and to mark the end of the concert.

In a short speech, Chua reiterated the MCA stance that voting for the PAS candidate would be seen as supporting an Islamic state.

tenang by election 280111 chua soi lek at 1 malaysia new year party He ( right ) warned that the prime minister and his deputy would replace 1Malaysia concept with Islamic policy should the Chinese community favour PAS in the polls.

However, at the Pakatan gathering, Lim, who is also penang chief minister, jogged the memory of the people that former Umno president and prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the first to declare Malaysia an Islamic state in 2001.

"Who announced that this is an Islamic state? Not Pakatan or DAP, they were Umno and Mahathir! And it was supported by MCA, MIC and Gerakan."

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang Hadi also moved to allay any fears the people may have by highlighting the equal treatment the Terengganu Chinese community enjoyed when the state was under PAS from 1999 to 2004.

tenang by election 280111 dap dinner 03 These included land titles for Chinese new villages, allocation of land for Chinese burial grounds and abolishing road tolls.

"You can ask the Chinese and Indians in Terengganu. We protected their rights and freedom of religion and culture during our rule," he said.

Apart from stressing Pakatan's pledge to run a clean and competent government, de facto coalition leader Anwar Ibrahim impressed the Chinese audience with his limited command of Mandarin.

"If we want nian nian hao (good time every year), then we must march to Putrajaya, If Najib and his wife Rosmah (Mansor) are still in Putrajaya, the we will be bu hao (not good)," said Anwar, prompting cheers from the audience.

tenang by election 280111 dap dinner nga kor ming Nga ( right ) challenged Najib to approve the Segamat Chinese community's demand for the construction of a new independent Chinese high school before polling day.

"If he doesn't approve, we shall sing Sudirman (Arshad)'s song to Azahar - Balik kampung, oh... balik kampung . We shall send Umno to the National Museum and MCA to the Nirvana Memorial Park (Chinese burial ground)."