With one day left for campaigning before polling on Sunday, the real fight for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat appears to be taking place in the Malay heartland while the non-Malay votes seem to be gyrating towards Pakatan Rakyat.

Located mostly in the northernmost region of the constituency in Hulu Bernam, the Felda settlements, long believed to be BN’s ‘vote bank’, appear caught in the middle of a tug-of-war of sorts for votes.

NONE On the Pakatan side, the big push came in the form of a convention launched today in Sungai Tengi organised by the Organisation for the Children of Felda Settlers (Anak) though the response to it this afternoon was fairly dismal.

Anak president Mazlan Aliman said the movement was growing in popularity but had been heavily resisted by Felda and the federal government.

In Sungai Tengi, he said, other parties had tried ‘to sabotage’ the Anak event by attempting to takeover their venue for another event.

In Sungai Tengi Selatan, he added, Anak was completely barred from entering the area.

Felda also appeared to outshine the Anak event by holding their own carnival just next door with activities similar to that of  its rival.

Among the issues championed by Anak and Pakatan for the settlers is what they claim as disparity in Felda’s revenue sharing.

One billboard featuring the PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim was spotted in Felda Gedangsa with the wording noting that Felda was one of the largest companies in the world and that the settlers should share in that success.

Growing defiance in Felda

Presently, PKR Felda affairs bureau chairperson Suhaimi Said explained, settlers whose smallholdings are managed by Felda can only receive up to RM1,500 a month.

However, if they chose to take over the responsibilty, they could earn up to RM5,000 a month from a similar acreage, he added.

Such exploitative issues, said Mazlan, had led to the growing popularity of Anak ,particularly among the younger generation of settlers in Hulu Selangor.

"The happy news is that more and more people are coming up to me to tell me about the abuse which Felda commits. It shows they are starting to show courage and are willing to fight back," he noted.

NONE Felda settlers are largely believed to be BN voters for fear of biting the hand that feeds them.

Mazlan, however, believes that new votes from Felda Sungai Tengi and Felda Sungai Buaya in the southern region of Hulu Selangor will help PKR exceed the 20 percent of votes they received from Felda settlers in the 2008 general election.

Together, both streams contribute approximately 3,600 of the roughly 17,000 votes from Hulu Selangor’s five Felda settlements.

Ever optimistic, Suhaimi claims that they have, in fact, superceded securing the 26 percent of votes which they were aiming for and they currently had about 40 percent of support.

PAS treasurer-general Hatta Ramli, who was campaigning in Sungai Tengi today, was of the opinion that the settlers would vote for Pakatan in protest against the unfair deals handed down by Felda.

But a protest could also take the form of spoilt votes which is believed to explain why Felda settlement streams contributed heavily to the more than 1,000 spoilt votes registered in Hulu Selangor in 2008.

Spoilt votes again?

Non-partisan posters and banners around Sungai Tengi declaring a preference for a Malay candidate indicated this could again be the case come polling day on Sunday.

Most of the people met by Malaysiakini in the Felda settlements today said that they could not imagine voting for any other coalition other than BN.

But the BN candidate this time around is P Kamalanathan, who despite trying to win over voters by introducing himself with a Malay name, ‘Kamal’, is ethnic Indian.

But the poor attendance at Anak’s event today also raises doubts over Pakatan’s ability to wield its influence over the Felda areas. Earlier this afternoon, Malaysiakini found only about 50 people attending their event though the expected figure appeared to be at least 500.

NONE Sungai Tengi residents met today said not much could persuade them to vote against BN having voted for the ruling coalition in so many elections before. Single mother Fatimah Ibrahim said she would be favouring the BN because she claimed Pakatan had not fulfilled their 2008 general election promises.

"The state government is a liar. They told us that they will assist single mothers but nothing came out of that," she spat out.

Settler Khairuddin Abdul Aziz concurred that he could not imagine voting for any other coalition other than the BN.

But he indicated unhappiness with Felda, hesitating before giving a non- committal answer: "I am satisfied with the satisfactory things that they (Felda) do."

It would seem that it this  asimmering dissatisfaction which is keeping BN on its toes with BN big guns - coalition chairperson Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin - both put in appearances in Hulu Bernam.

Najib today handed out RM50,000 to individual Felda settlers in Sungai Buaya promising them even more later to show that he meant business.

That figure is part of the sum owed to the settlers when they sold their land to a private developer after being persuaded to do so by the BN state government in 1994.

It ain’t over yet

Cold hard cash notwithstanding, the game is not yet over.

azlan Earlier today, Pakatan Rakyat’s Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim urged Sungai Buaya settlers to accept the cash doled out by BN but reminded them that it was no long-term solution.

He pointed out they only now getting payment for a transaction done 16 years ago.

The presence of PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat - believed to have come to defend Zaid against BN attacks on his character - at the Anak convention tomorrow may also bring some votes to the Pakatan side.

Interestingly, another non-aligned banner put up between Felda Sungai Tengi and Gedangsa reads: ‘ Apr 23 to 25: Jihad! Demi doamu Tuan Guru, pemberontakan akan berlaku! ’ (Due to your prayers Tok Guru, a revolt will occur!)

VIDEO l 2.27 min

Felda settlers slowly warming up to PKR