"Dia tak leh kecek Kelate," (He cannot speak the Kelantanese dialect), a villager in Kampung Lata Rek within the Manek Urai constituency said last night.

"Weh jangai pandang kat dia aje, hamba tengah berceramah ni," (Hey do not stare at him only, I am addressing the crowd here) ,"said PAS Kelantan deputy commissioner II Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, and state exco member gently ribbing the Penang leader.

Such was the warm welcoming atmosphere conjured up for Lim, despite his being a non-Muslim at the Manek Urai constituency where Malays make up 99.2 per cent of the population.

Shouts of "takbir" rang out as Lim ended his 20 minute speech.

Unlike the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's ceramah at Manek Urai, Lim's event had caused just minor congestion along the roads leading to Lata Rek.

NONE Lim, ( right )who is also DAP secretary-general, admitted being handicapped where speaking the local dialect was concerned at the start of his ceramah, but once, he took the microphone, he touched on issues close to the villagers' heart.

He attacked the Barisan Nasional government while emphasising the necessity for good governance and the need for "taqwa" (fear of god) and a responsibile administrat

Social policies for needy

Lim also shared his experience in running Penang, where he claimed to have learnt a lot from PAS's influential cleric and Menteri Besar, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat in implementing policies designed to help the less fortunate.

Among the policies introduced emulating Kelantan, was a scheme to help single mothers called "amalah" here, and policies to alleviate hard core poverty among the people within a year.

The Penang Chief Minister also took the opportunity to tell the voters that each of them would be losing RM500 as a result of the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, the cost of which has escalated to RM12.5 billion.

ong tee keat pkfz klang visit 060508 12 He said someone there has walked away with much money but those responsible have yet to be charged.

"No action is taken against the Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee Heung and Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing over their involvement in the losses. It is all right if everyone of us was making RM500 from the project.

"However, as now the costs had risen to RM12.5 billion, each and everyone of us would have to be paying RM500 in tax money to cover the losses. This is daylight robbery, however, I am not surprised as this is the BN," said Lim, an accountant by profession.

BN: cannot stop corruption

Lim said Umno and BN had not been successful in eliminating corruption and as a result the people have to meet the losses.

He said too many projects have incurred escalating costs.

He pointed out that the roof of a stadium less than a year old in Kuala Terengganu under the BN government had partially collapsed.

"All this is because of unnecessary corrupt practices by the BN. They do not have taqwa as they may feel they may escape punishment in this life. However, they do not remember the hereafter," said the Penang Chief Minister to cheers from the crowd.

mahathir lee kuan yew visit comment 110609 02 "Even former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( right) had admitted that there are corrupt people in Umno and the Cabinet. His admission shows that something is truly wrong with Umno and the BN. So is this the kind of people that you want as your elected representatives?" Lim asked.

He said the BN's candidate Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat may not be corrupt but "we fear the party that he represents which is now known to be very corrupt as admitted by Dr Mahathir himself ".

The Penang Chief Minister called on Manek Urai voters to come out on polling day to prevent Umno and the BN from winning.

"You know there is a likelihood of phantom voters. So, the voters in Manek Urai must come out in large numbers to vote to ensure the victory of PAS' Mohd Fauzi Abdullah," he said.

VIDEO | 5 mins