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Not fair to ask me about Perkasa, laments Mei Fun
Published:  Mar 15, 2014 11:39 AM
Updated: Mar 18, 2014 5:00 AM

DAY 4 KAJANG What’s happening in the by-election campaign in the state constituency of Kajang? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.

5.20pm: Balingan - Meanwhile over in Sarawak, Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin announced their candidate for the by-election there as 48-year-old Dalat district officer Yossibnosh Balo.

Pakatan has yet to announce its candidate.

2pm: BN candidate Chew Mei Fun has ticked off several banners bearing her portrait with Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali found at Sungai Chua in Kajang.

The banners read, 'Perkasa has integrity, Umno has credibility?'

“This is gutter politic,”she laments during a press conference in Bukit Angkat today.

Meanwhile, MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon chides Chinese newspaper Oriental Daily for publishing a cartoon which he claims defames Chew, who is also the party vice president.

The caricature, which shows Chew and PKR's candidate Wan Azizah Wan Ismail racing each other with the latter asking, “Hi sister! Are you here as my running mate?”

To which Chew replies, "[email protected] first, then you will know the results!”

Reserving the right to lodge a police report, Chong says the comic tarnishes Chew's image as she would never utter abusive words.

1pm: BN candidate Chew Mei Fun insists she has no links with Malay supremacist group Perkasa even though she was caught attending functions together with its members.

She said it is unfair to ask MCA to respond on the matter, especially on Perkasa's claims that several BN government agencies had provided funds to the pressure group.

"You should ask them (the agencies) instead of me, as I don't know. You can't question me based on what Perkasa had said.

"You have to be fair with me right? I think this is not fair," she said.

Chew was caught sharing the same stage with Negri Sembilan Perkasa chief Ruslan Kasim during a ceramah session organised by Umno in Kajang.

As a self-proclaimed protector of "Malay rights" Perkasa has often made public statements offensive to the Chinese community.

11.45am: Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir says he is torn about joining the campaign when the country is facing a major challenge in the disappearance of the MH370 MAS flight.

"The campaign is caught between giving it our best while feeling the loss of the aircraft," he says when met at Kampung Sungai Kantan.

He says the by-election should not have happened as it was aimed only at solving PKR's internal problems.

"Therefore we sometimes feel at a loss, because we are brought in to campaign for a by-election that should never have taken place," he says after gracing an awards ceremony at the Gayong Malaysia silat centre.

11.30am: PKR counters MCA deputy Wee Ka Siong dan Selangor Umno information chief Noh Omar's criticisms over traffic jams and flood issues raised during BN's campaign.

PKR deputy treasurer-general Low Chee Chong says the two BN leaders are playing up issues that have long been in existence even during BN rule.

He says Kajang folk acknowledge the bad traffic in Kajang town began in the 1990s and not after 2008 as claimed by the BN leaders.

As for the flooding, Low says Selangor has taken major efforts to widen and clean up Sungai Jelok, the source of the flooding, and has built higher bridges across the river.

"As at the end of 2013, the floods no longer occur. It's clear Wee Ka siong and Noh Omar doesn't know what has transpired in Kajang.

"They only play up past issues," he says.

9am: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has breakfast with BN candidate Chew Mei Fun and voters at Warung Saliha, Taman Indah, Sungai Jelok.

After food, the duo make rounds of the food stalls to canvass for votes for BN.

"I urge you all, please give your vote to BN," Khairy tells the stall owners.

11.30pm: PAS Salor assemblyperson Husam Musa says a vote for PKR candidate Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is a vote against injustice in the country.

"The government can punish (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim in the court, but we can punish the government through the ballot box," he stresses while speaking to the 500-strong crowd during a Pakatan ceramah at Kajang stadium.

Husam, who is also Kelantan state executive councillor, quips the premiere Najib Abdul Razak's key performance index (KPI) programme is akin to "kangkung performance index".

11.40pm: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announces that the state is ready to offer itself as one of the bases for the search-and-rescue effort for the missing MH370 aircraft.

Since the aircraft may be in the Straits of Malacca, the Andaman Sea or the Indian Ocean, Lim says the state is willing to offer logistical support to assist the federal government.

"We will open our doors and welcome everything, except bomoh (shaman)," he says, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd at the ceramah.

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