With 36 hours to go before polling day for the Hulu Selangor crown, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's efforts to reach out to Felda settlers may see some returns after all.

However, things were not always this easy for him with many dismissing the 17,000 voters from the five Felda settlements as a lost cause.

It was easy to see why.

NONE Attendance at his ceramah at the settlements were mediocre at best. In non-Malay areas in the constituency where he can easily rake in thousands of appreciative ears, PKR struggles to pass the 500 mark in the Malay heartlands in the northwestern part of Hulu Selangor.

Even at last night's ceramah in Felda Sungai Tengi, the crowd was no more than 300. It did not help that the programme was scheduled to start at 9pm and Anwar did not show up until close to midnight.

While other speakers such as pro-PAS National Felda Settlers Children's Association (Anak) president Mazlan Aliman, PAS central committee member Mohamad Sabu and the party's Negeri Sembilan chief Zulkefly Mohamad Omar tried their level best to keep the locals entertained, the long lull before Anwar's appearance was too much for them to endure.

Even party workers became jittery upon seeing the crowd slowly tapering off, and took to the microphones to remind them over and over again that the ‘ketua umum’ would appear as part of his whirlwind tour of Felda settlements in Hulu Selangor.

And some say that Felda Sungai Tengi is the most receptive settlement in Hulu Selangor to PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim.

Change of tune and tactics

But when Anwar eventually showed up straight from another ceramah at Felda Sungai Buaya, the crowd was forgiving.

I NONE n fact, it might be fair to say that the locals' response to him may even be more encouraging as compared to his first visit to the settlement two weeks ago where even cheers and applause were hard to come by.

This time, Anwar also changed his tune and tactics. Reducing the focus on Apco's Jewish links, he went straight for the jugular - the exploitation of Felda settlers.

Spending the bulk of his time charging at the federal government for allegedly exploiting the settlers and equating it as slavery, cheers were noticeably louder than at his usual rhetoric.

“I don't agree with how Felda is run now because Malays are not slaves,” he said to thunderous applause.

BN locks in votes of older Felda folks

Anwar also rubbished Prime Minister Najib Razak's RM50,000 handouts to Felda settlers as part of a 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.

NONE “They promise RM50,000 now. But they gave RM1,000 first and hold onto the rest of the money until the 13th general elections,” he said.

With the settlers at Sungai Tengi warming up to Anwar, PKR workers are nevertheless still wary, especially after Najib had cruised into town earlier doling out cash.

“The young settlers may identify with Anak's struggles with Felda exploitation, but the older ones are still easily swayed by money.

“BN can already pocket the support of the older generation who still remember Najib's father (second prime minister Abdul Razak who launched the Felda scheme to resettle the rural poor into newly developed areas),” said a party worker who declined to be named.

“But with the money, they are cementing its position further.”

VIDEO l 2.27 min

7,000 Felda settlers hold key to victory