VIDEO | 4.39 min  

GE13 WATCH PENANG Days of campaigning under the hot sun has given him a tan, exhaustion and a near loss of voice, but PKR's candidate Lee Khai Loon is ready to face the toughest battle of all - a six-corner fight in Machang Bubok .

The state seat snuggles safely under the Bukit Mertajam parliamentary constituency, which was held by DAP's Chong Eng and was a former Gerakan stronghold before it was wrested in 2008.

NONE Lee faces BN's Tan Lock Heah, Kita's Vikneswaran Muniandy, and three Independents - (former PKR leader and deputy state assembly speaker) Tan Hock Leong, (former BN Machang Bubok coordinator) Ooi Suan Hoe, and (Persatuan Putra Pulau Pinang founder) Wan Balkis Wan Abdullah - and none can claim certainty of the results on May 5, polling day.

Despite the challenges ahead, Lee ( left ) is happy with the public's response towards his candidacy as they reach out to shake his hands, smiling, during his walkabouts and house-to-house visits.

"Most people are supportive, and they are satisfied with the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Penang," he told Malaysiakini when met at his office in Alma.

He disclaims allegations of him being an outsider as he lived and worked in Selangor for many years, saying "I am always in touch with what happens in Penang, I have family and friends here who support me."

"What is most important is that I am hardworking, approachable and want to bring about a new (form of) politics," he said, adding that his experience as an activist in the Youth for Change NGO and a councillor at the Selayang Municipal Council would be an advantage to the community.

He would address the issues of development, ensuring that heritage villages are preserved, and the community's need for public recreational spaces like football fields are provided as land is scarce due to ownership by private companies.

Determined to do his best

Lee is aware that the presence of Independents may split the votes among his opponents, giving him an advantage, but he realises that support for his party may also be halved between him and Hock Leong, the incumbent who is quite well-known among the voters.

NONE Hock Leong - who was abruptly dropped from PKR's candidacy list without any given reason - said he has not yet gone down to the ground due to the lack of promotional materials as he scrambles against time to get them ready by today.

"I know this is an uphill task, especially for an Independent, but after nomination day on April 20, I just told myself that I have to proceed and do my best," he said when interviewed in his residence in Taman Sentosa.

Despite recovering from a mild stroke he suffered last year, Hock Leong ( right ) seemed rather confident of his chances as the other four candidates besides Gerakan's Ooi - including Lee - are strangers to the constituency, which comprises of 30,827 voters - 52 percent Chinese, 37 percent Malays and 11 percent Indians.

"They have not been seen around here and have not done any work to serve the people here sincerely," he said, who has been contributing to welfare organisations in the area for the past 30 years.

On voters' preference to vote for party and not candidates to enable Pakatan to capture Putrajaya, Hock Leong expresses hope that people would not be "misled" by certain quarters.

"Voting me in as candidate even though I am Independent will not affect Pakatan's chances at Putrajaya as that is determined by parliamentary seats," he explained, urging voters to return the Bukit Mertajam seat to Steven Sim Chee Keong, the Seberang Perai municipal councillor.

When asked as to why people would vote for an Independent like him, Hock Leong said he would like to serve them better after these five years, claiming boldly that "I am also scandal-free, unlike some people in the party".

NONE In 2008, Hock Leong won the Machang Bubok seat from Gerakan's Lee Kah Choon with a whopping majority of 4,080.

Likewise, Lok Heah ( left ) is undeterred by the six-corner fight in the busy town nestled between the industry driven Kulim and semi-rural area of Cherok To' Kun where PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim's family home is located.

"I let it be," he said unfazed, adding that he noticed some shift of support away from the Pakatan-led government over the last general election in 2008, where the party he represents - Gerakan - was wiped out without any seats.

"I can't tell my chances (of winning), but so far it has been encouraging. The people need a representative in the state assembly (who can raise their issues)," he added, when met at the start of the 1Malaysia free dinner in Taman Sri Kijang last night.

"I will use my experience to try and solve the people's problems like flooding in the area which has become increasingly worst since eight years ago," stressed Lok Heah, who claims to be an adviser to 71 NGOs in Penang, including the Malaysian Res Cresent (Penang branch).

He brushes off allegations that he was fielded because he was allegedly "a crony" of state BN chief Teng Chang Yeow as he worked as the latter's special assistant.

"I have no time to entertain such allegations," Lok said curtly, as he went around meeting diners who came in scores to feast on the free hawker food and free flow of drinks.

'BN's win due to 1Malaysia'

He distanced himself from the organisers of the 1Malaysia event, saying he was merely a guest, and left after a brief encounter with the crowd.

NONE But the 1Malaysia dinners where participants are given free food and T-shirts, lucky draws and performances may pull some votes to the BN candidate, which the organisers tacitly supports.

Despite denying its BN-links, the community sees these events as being organised by the coalition.

"BN is most likely to win, with these dinners (in Machang Bubok) and elsewhere, with the number of flags all around," said Devi Yamali ( right ), when met at the dinner event in Taman Sri Kijang last night.

"The 1Malaysia (NGO's organiser) is the same as BN," she added when asked on the organisers of the free dinners.

However, the 49-year-old single mother refrained from condemning the current Pakatan state government or incumbent former PKR leader Tan Hock Leong, saying that "they have done work for us too".

"But as a single mother without a job, I did not get much. I received the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) though, and that was how I came to know about the BN candidate (Tan Lock Heah)."

NONE The 1Malaysia slogan of "unity, peace and stability" also seemed to have infiltrated the minds of voters, possibly drawing some votes for the BN candidate.

Goreng pisang hawker Osman Salleh ( right ), when met in Alma, said he does not care who wins the election as long as "we have peace and stability".

"As long as we want to do our business, it is okay," added the 70-year-old former hotel staff, who declined to badmouth the state's alleged marginalisation of Malays, as often touted by Umno.

"Umno, too, seems to have a lot of problems, with so many Independent candidates," Osman quipped, while his wife behind him chipped in that he was an ardent fan of the party.

Malaysiakini also found that the negative propaganda against Pakatan leaders in the media appear to have crept into the people's psyche, with some being uncertain if things would change, despite Pakatan's slogan of "Ubah" and "Ini Kalilah".

NONE Pointing at a Chinese language paper featuring the advertisement with the slogan of "Who do you want as prime minister," hawker Beh Liew Yi ( right ) said nothing much would change with the elections.

"It's either (caretaker Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak, (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim or (PAS president) Abdul Hadi Awang! No matter who we vote, ultimately, it is all their people," he said, frustrated.

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