Mah: My posters, too, were vandalised
DAY 4 TELUK INTAN What’s happening in the by-election campaign in the parliamentry constituency of Teluk Intan? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.
8.59pm: An analysis on Facebook users who are potentially Teluk Intan voters show that there are more staunch BN supporters than there are Pakatan Rakyat backers.
Social media analyst Politweet said that of the 32,000 Facebook users residing within 20 kilometres of the constituency, 27 percent are only interested in BN.
Conversely, 18 percent of users are only interested in Pakatan while most, or 55 percent, have mixed political interests.
7pm: BN candidate Mah Siew Keong says he regrets that his opponent Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was heckled yesterday.
However, he claims that his posters had also been vandalised.
“I went to town and I saw one of my posters with black paint smeared on my face,” he says.
He was meeting about 40 registered voters at Taman Desa Aman at a function organised by the Malaysian Indian Association.
He says although this housing estate was won by DAP in the previous general election, he was confident that Gerakan’s meet-the-grassroots programme would capture the voters’ hearts.
“We have carried out a programme for single mothers.
“Although we had lost previously, we have worked hard here. Last year, we carried out three programmes here,” he tells reporters after the event ends.
6.39pm: Police dismiss Dyana's claim that Teluk Intan is suffering from a serious crime problem which is unsettling to constituents, reports Bernama .
Hilir Perak police chief Goh Kok Liang says the allegation by the DAP candidate was completely untrue.
"Such an allegation is purely a perception of the opposition. The crime and security situation here is under control," the newswire quotes him as saying.
Goh cites statistics to show up to yesterday only 150 cases of crime had been reported in Teluk Intan this year, reflecting an average of one case a day.
4.34pm: Polls watchdog Bersih 2.0 says that public amenities, like schools, should be made available for use to all parties without double standard during campaigning.
This is in reference to the Education Ministry's decision to allow BN to use a school for campaign for a fee in Teluk Intan.
It also calls on the police to act strictly against provocateurs like the youths on motorcycles who yesterday heckled Dyana.
"Both show that the authorities under the BN government is stil lopsided and did not get the message sent by 54 percent of Malaysian viters who wanted change and fairness," it says referring to the portion of voters who voted against the BN in the 13th general election.
It also calls on the authorites to reconsider the banning of the use of musical instruments at nomination centres in Section 24A of the Election Offences Act.
"This offence does not have the same gravitas as acts that disrupt public order like the motorcyle act," it says in a statement.
BN's Mah is also lauded for vowing to not host dinners during campaign and hopes all parties emulate this.
4pm: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, in his speech, claims DAP accords chances to upcoming leaders to become the face of the party, such as Dyana.
Speaking at Kampung Baru Batu 12, Lim says: “Look at the leaders who are very young, that does not mean they are not useful. In fact, Dyana herself is 27 (years of age).”
According to Lim, he was only 28 when he won his first election as a parliamentarian.
1pm: Dyana reveals that her mother Yammy Samat, who has been following her on the campaign trail since early this week, has family commitments and left for Ipoh yesterday.
When asked by the media about her mother in a press conference at the DAP by-election operations centre, Dyana, informs that Yammy has not been with her since yesterday.
“Thanks for being so interested,” she replies, a little puzzled by the interest in her mum.
12.45pm: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang says Dyana needs to be protected from the "hegemony" of Umno.
He says this during a press conference following a report that Dyana is being overprotected and is still in the shadows of senior DAP leaders while on her campaign trail.
"They want to break Dyana's spirit and principle. We need to protect her and every one in DAP from unscrupulous actions of Umno," he says.
He also urges Teluk Intan voters to come back and vote in the constituency on polling day on May 31 in order to further "protect" Dyana.
10.30am : With vast differences in terms of looks and age between the two Teluk Intan by-election candidates, the BN candidate Mah says some have urged him to dye his hair black to look younger.
“But I didn’t do it. Let it be white, I am proud of it because it is proof that I have worked for a long time in Teluk Intan,” Sinar Harian quotes him as saying at a function yesterday.
“People say that the rival (DAP’s Dyana) is pretty, and of course she is. The one here is old, but I still look okay,” the 53-year old former Teluk Intan MP adds.
10am: Selangor Perkasa has slammed Dyana for urging Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) be opened to all races.
“If UiTM is for all and non-bumiputeras can study there, where is the (Malay) privilege?
“I strongly condemn Dyana’s statement. Don’t gamble UiTM for politicking and garnering votes in Teluk Intan,” Perkasa Selangor chief Abu Bakar Yahya tells Sinar Harian.
However, Dyana, in fact, had not asked for UiTM to be opened to all races, but had called for a UiTM-type institution be set up for this purpose.
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