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By-election washed out by floods
Published:  Jan 31, 2011 8:47 AM
Updated: 2:56 AM

your say 'A responsible EC should have called off the election seeing the water level had risen to the height of a four-wheel drive engine.'

Unofficial: BN wins, majority around 4,000

Anonymous_5fb : I congratulate Umno for the win but they have to ask themselves whether they are proud of the win and whether they have won in the proper manner.

Voting in bad weather coupled with floods had caused great inconvenience to the voters, both in Felda areas as well as the Chinese in Labis town.

Umno would have scored some brownie points if the Election Commission decides to defer the voting process and go all out to help those facing flood problems. But winning seemed to be the top priority than anything else, especially when they ferry those from Felda and not the Chinese in town.

Pemerhati : It makes you wonder how so many people can be so stupid as to vote for a party whose leaders are so corrupt and have been plundering the country of billions of ringgit as revealed by news reports that say that close relations of BN leaders without any track record have suddenly become billionaires or have made some huge investments.

One reason could be that these simple rural people are not fully aware of the massive plunder as the media is completely controlled by these thieves and they are easily influenced and brainwashed by the constant BN propaganda.

The opposition too seems to have made some serious blunders. They have not gone all out to inform these people of the massive thefts and they did not capitalise on the swing towards the opposition of the Indian electorate in 2008 as shown by its blunders in the Kampung Buah Pala episode in Penang and Anwar's arrogance in refusing to meet the influential Hindraf leaders when they went to his office to see him.

Temenggong: No surprise here. It was a forgone conclusion. In fact, it is a disgrace to Anwar Ibrahim, PAS and DAP. Whether Anwar, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, or Lim Guan Eng - it makes no difference. Without Hindraf, there was no ghost of a chance to create at least some movement, some wave, in the electorate. This was the missing element.

This result will be repeated in Merlimau, where the Indian voters are higher at 14%.

SusahKes: Chua Soi Lek, I do think you need to pack your bags. You think the hungry Umno hounds will let you speak now for the Chinese Malaysians? Not that you've been doing a great job in this regard. Can I buy you a ticket to Tunisia? I hear loser politicians are learning some 'inspiring' new lessons there.

P Dev Anand Pillai: This was envisaged from the beginning, so there is nothing very great about BN's victory. Perhaps Merlimau will also be in the bag and BN can start its campaign immediately by stuffing money into the voters' mouths there soon.

But as they enjoy their victory, the undercurrents are getting stronger by the day. Nobody knew when the tectonic plates shifted under the Indian Ocean near Sumatra to create such a monstrous tsunami in 2006. So similarly, it is coming to Malaysia. Tunisia and Cairo have been hit and we will never know when Kuala Lumpur will be next. So enjoy yourselves whilst you can, BN.

To Cikgu Normala Sudirman, stand again and win in the coming general election. You are young and much healthier looking than BN's Mohd Azahar Ibrahim who looks obese. As usual, as long as the rural Malays are kept poor, they will vote even for the shoe of the BN candidate.

Retnam: Tenang has an unhealthy representative now. Good chance there will be a by-election there soon.

One thing is clear from this election. Nobody bothered about the Indians. This means Indian votes are no more relevant. And so are Hindraf and HRP (Human Rights Party). Pakatan does not need to bother about these clowns.

Amirul Raziq: The opposition simply cannot win over the Indians without going through HRP whom they trust and respect, and that's a fact. I hope the arrogant PKR and DAP can get it into their thick skulls that if they have dreams of going to Putrajaya, they have no choice but to cooperate with HRP and look into the grievances of the Indians to get them to vote for Pakatan. Every vote counts and every Indian vote is valuable.

Rain and floods mar voting in Tenang

Aku Melayu: Thank you to all the smart voters in Tenang who voted for BN. You have made the right choice. Thank you for returning Tenang to BN. BN as always and with its proven record, will honour all its promises to bring development to the nation and to Tenang in particular.

The Tenang folks came out in full force despite the bad weather because they wanted to tell Pakatan that they are not easily swayed by their rhetoric anymore. They have seen nothing positive from the Pakatan-controlled states after March 8, 2008.

All they saw and hear are the Pakatan state leaders blaming the previous state governments over every problem that crops up instead of solving them. That's not what they want from a government. Syabas Tenang voters.

Justicekini: Flash floods only occur when the flow of water is unable to dissipate fast enough. This may be due to improper drainage system.

Floods happen very often and Tenang folks are fully aware this. But did the BN ask the local government/local district council to resolve the problems? BN voters seemed more keen on goodies and cash. May the people of Tenang suffer less floods.

Anonymous_40f4: After all these years and hundreds of millions of ringgit spent by the Department of Drainage (DID) on flood mitigation, there are still frequent floods. I wonder where all the money went.

Anonymous_5fb: Kalau pun Tenang itu banjir di saat genting sebegini, siapa yang menyebabkannya kalau bukan Umno/MCA yang selama ini 'memerintah' di Labis dan kawasan-kawasan sekitarnya?

Kalau dia orang yang pandai-pandai belaka (kononnya, lah) ini 'memerintah' dengan bersih, teratur dan cekap, takkan banjir akan berlaku. Teruslah banjir jika masih nak undi Umno. Tetapi, hakikatnya ialah, bukan semua orang Umno itu jahat, kalau tidak, kita pun tidak ada pemimpin PAS yang dedikasi macam Khalid Samad yang mempunyai abangnya Shahrir Samad di Umno.

Wong Jiang Fung: After 54 years of development by BN, the water drainage in Tenang still sucks like hell. The BN government never bothers to do simple thing like making bigger ‘longkang', so we see floods every rainy season. BN, where is your proven record? Where is your development for Tenang?

Pakatan decries selective assistance to voters

Ghkok: After 53 years of BN rule, the residents of Tenang are still putting up with these floods. I know some people will say even US and Australia, there are floods. But US and Australia are experiencing unprecedented amounts of rainfall, never before encountered. Whereas in Malaysia, we are perpetually inundated with rain.

This is nothing new. It has been raining like this since 53 years ago. And yet, places like Tenang continues to flood. And yet, people continue to vote BN. And yet, things remain the same - irrigation and drainage never improve, no dredging of rivers, just like in Sibu.

Secondly, if the flood is as bad as what it shows in the photos, surely the right thing to do is to suspend the by-election so as not to risk the lives of voters, EC personnel, volunteers and rescuers, and everyone concerned. Surely, life is more important.

Black Mamba: A responsible EC should have called off the election seeing the water level had risen to the height of a four-wheel drive engine. Perhaps BN is sure of victory that it doesn't warrant an emergency in Tenang.

If this by-election win for BN is an indicator of a larger snap poll, BN better hold on to their horses as the Malaysian public has seen that they are using the government machinery for their optimum advantage, disregarding the non-Malay electorates and it will certainly backfire when the state election is held again during the 13th general election.

 


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