On the first day of the Penanti by-election campaigning period, three of the candidates, except Aminah Abdullah, have started their campaigning.

anwar ibrahim dr mansor othman pkr candidate for penanti state seat by election 280409 03 PKR candidate Mansor Othman ( pic, right ) and independent candidate Nai Khan Ari have both chosen the Penanti market to meet the voters this morning.

Meanwhile, Kamarul Ramizu Idris, adopted a more religious campaign method - visiting a local religious school and promising to promote the "sekolah pondok" system.

However, there was no sign of Aminah, who has threaten to show evidence on her allegation that PKR had tried to bribe her to withdraw from the campaign.

According to her personal assistant, they will plan her campaign activities today and she will start her campaigning tomorrow.

Although it is generally accepted that he will definitely lose, Nai Khan Ari still look confident and tried to win the voters' support through his humble attitude.

His first destination was Penanti market, near to the PKR election headquarters at Yayasan Aman building.

‘A cat fighting a tiger’

penanti by election 240509 nai khan campaign 04 Accompanied by his wife and supporters, Nai ( left, in dark shirt ), a Malaysian-Siamese, bows to voters and introduced himself as "anak jati penanti", hoping that voters can give him a chance to serve.

He also distributed his namecard with a logo and telephone number.

Although Nai was able to deliver a positive image to the voters, whether this will translate into votes is another thing.

Ehsan and Lathiffa, a Malay couple who were enjoying breakfast, pointed out: "This is a PKR stronghold" and believed that the voters would vote in favour of the PKR candidate because of the party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who widely known as "anak Permatang Pauh".

penanti by election 240509 nai khan campaign 02 When asked by the media after the walkabout, Nai admitted this is a battle of "a cat fighting a tiger". However, he stressed: "I am not afraid".

Coincidentally, Mansor also change his schedule at the last minute and visited the market too. However, both candidate didn't meet as Nai only arrived soon after Mansor left.

Before starting the walkabout, Nai also prayed at a Chinese temple near his operation room as today is the first day of the month in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Kamarul cuts his hair short

penanti by election 240509 kamarul holding umbrella Meanwhile, Kamarul chose to start his campaign at Manabi'ul Ulum religious primary school at Kubang Ulu.

Introducing himself as the president of Parti Iman Semalaysia, Kamarul said: "I want to promote the system of sekolah pondok to the world and hope that private sector and individuals can help to develop this pondok Penanti."

Wearing his symbolic black shirt and sunglasses, Kamarul also appeared in a new look today - he has cut short his long hair. He said he did this last night because a voter demanded it.

penanti state seat penang 200409 "Yesterday, a voter said that we like you, but you have to change your appearance. Because here is kampung, the people here are not open-minded as the urban people," he explained.

Kamarul also distributed leaflets to voters in the nearby warung. He had used these leaflets during the previous Bukit Gantang by election.

He explained that about 2000 leaflets were left in the last by-election, so he "recycled" them in this Penanti by election, adding that he has also printed new leaflets.

When asked about his election budget, he answered that it will be around RM30,000 to RM40,000. Kamarul also complained that he was unable to rent any premises as an operation centre.