PKR’s ceramah in rural Hulu Selangor last night attracted only a modest crowd despite featuring a line-up of many top leaders, including the party's usual crowd-puller Anwar Ibrahim.

anwar pkr leaders at sungai tengi 040410 crowd The mostly Malay crowd of 400 in the Felda settlement of Kampung Desa Maju, Sungai Tengi,  barely cheered or applauded the long list of speakers, unlike the response to Anwar elsewhere.

The cold reception underscores the party's uphill task in securing votes from Malay-majority parts of the parliamentary constituency. In this, nothing has changed since the 2008 general election.

In the Malay predominated Ulu Bernam state seat, where Sungai Tengi is located, PKR's Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad had only bagged 5,375 votes, behind Barisan Nasional's G Palanivel who secured 6,855 votes.

One ceramah participant, who was clearly not impressed with the speeches, described the sudden attention shown to Sungai Tengi folk as merely a "political stunt".

“All of them (politicians) are the same, they come here only when they need our votes… we never see them in the vicinity otherwise,” said the vegetable farmer, 51.

“Yesterday, the prime minister was here and he gave out hampers and pocket-money to our children… today (Pakatan Rakyat) is here. We will see what they have to say.”

She has lived in the village since the 1970s, but said the way of life has never changed.

Mohamad Taha Abdul Samad, 64, was a little more enthusiastic because he was finally able to see top national leaders in the village.

“As far I can remember, we have never had a ceramah or visits from any politicians… we have never even seen the state assemblyperson... Our village is too small for them to campaign here but all these people are here now," he said.

Mohamad Taha hoped that the government will provide more financial aid to encourage the second generation of Felda settlers to remain in such settlements and improve the local economy.

He also openly declared his support for PKR and Pakatan Rakyat, which he believes have allowed the people to reap more benefits.

azmin ali 01 Other than Anwar, the speakers at the event included Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, parliamentarians Azmin Ali (Gombak, right ), Zuraidah Kamaruddin (Ampang), Lee Boon Chye (Gopeng) and Yusmadi Yusoff (Balik Pulau).

One after another, they tried to work the crowd by raising national issues and exposing the 'evils' of Barisan Nasional and its backbone, Umno.

Anwar plays Apco card

As the final speaker of the night, Anwar gave an impassioned speech about his ongoing Dewan Rakyat feud with BN over the controversy surrounding Apco Worldwide consultancy firm.

anwar pkr leaders at sungai tengi 040410 anwar “Umno talks about defending Islam and Malay rights, but in the same breath, it has signed a contract with a public relations company that was involved with, and is led by, former Israel intelligence officers.

"Now they defend Apco and are trying to suspend me a member of parliament.”

Anwar was referring to the move to have him disciplined for linking the government's 1Malaysia agenda to the 'One Israel' initiative.

Azmin took pot shots at BN over its "atrocities" when it ruled Selangor and spoke at length on how state resources were abused to feed corrupt politicians.

But under Pakatan, the state government is committed to "giving back to the people", Azmin said, urging voters continue supporting PKR.

khalid ibrahim Khalid stressed that he has been an "honest and transparent" menteri besar during his two years in charge, and claimed that his sole purpose is to make life better for people in Selangor.

Politicians from both sides of the divide have been making a beeline for Hulu Selangor since Zainal Abidin's death caused the seat to be vacated for a by-election.

Nominations will be held on April 17, while polling will be held on April 25.