vox populi small thumbnail 'Even small inroads into the BN's so-called fortresses can be considered as an achievement. Patience will eventually produce the required results.'

'Sibu may be a lost cause for DAP'

Patriot: The rakyat of Sarawak are so encased in the BN's ideology that it is going to be very difficult to get them to change. They have always been shortchanged and their leaders so comfortably established on their thrones of great wealth and power and have had full control over the minds of their people. It is going to be like asking the leopard to lose its stripes.

However, even small inroads into the BN's so-called fortresses can be considered as an achievement. Patience will eventually produce the required results. First, West Malaysia must change to lead the way for the East to follow suit.

Fairplayer: May I correct the views of many West Malaysians about Sarawakians and Sarawak? In numerical terms of constituencies, it looks like Sarawakians are blindly and gullibly swallowing the BN gospel. Most of those who support the BN candidates are naive, ill-informed, ill-advised, brainwashed and unread ignorant folks, be they rural or urban folks.

However, if we study carefully the number of individuals who voted for change, we would realise that they are concentrated mainly in the urban centres where most voters are literate, well-informed, well-read individuals with minds of their own.

Unfortunately, Sarawak still falls into the hands of the corrupted BN government because most constituencies are created to be located/distributed in rural places, where the population is much smaller (thereby, much easier to control, manipulate, deceived and programmed) than in urban Pakatan Rakyat-strongholds.

So perhaps we should fight for more allocations of seats in the densely-populated cities based on a certain minimum population.

Doubt: The terms used to describe the voters in Sarawak - is this the opinion of all Sarawakians? This kind of profiling is very unbecoming of people who want change. Just because some do not want this kind of change, or even prefer what is available now, should not be called such derogatory names.

I as a person who wants change do not agree with your assessment, and we should recognise change as something that comes gradually. Some take time, some need convincing. But calling them names should not be the style of change-seekers.

Fairplay: If we are to let change come "gradually", we may as well just go to sleep. How clean are the BN leaders? How many are living in simple houses? How many have amassed millions, if not billions, soon after becoming elected reps? How many continue to live humbly? How many throw their weight around when someone dares to challenge their weaknesses?

I can list on... If we don't move fast, their corruption, malpractices and deceitful ways are going to gain momentum faster than you realise and consume the whole nation with their pollution. Serious change-seekers cannot sit back or relax and watch change gradually come.

Cala: There is the unfair distribution of seats not in proportional to the number of voters. As an example, you may find a parliamentary seat in Wilayah (Kuala Lumpur) consists of more than 100,000 registered voters, while a parliamentary seat in a rural Selangor would be lucky to have 25,000.

Is it not another hallmark of the Election Commission?

Sibu voters: Still waters run deep

ONG: If the description in this article of the people of Sibu is anywhere near accurate, then the people of Sibu must be among the more pathetic ones in the world.

WandererAUS: Sibu electorates are so tightly chained to BN that they have resigned themselves to be "slaves" of BN lords of Sarawak. They are contented when just offered with a handful of peanuts... their lives are early to bed, early to rise, make their bodies healthy but their brains very unwise!

BN wants them to stay this way, so that they could be exploited. This is the fine art of deception that BN have mastered to the fullest.

Henry Lau: The Sibuans know the lot - that the entire government, be it local, state or federal, are corrupt. More importantly, they know that this election will not solve this monumental national problem.

DAP will lose this by-election if they failed to focus on local issues. Forget about the opposition giants from the peninsula. They are lightweight here. Address the concerns of the man-on-the-street and what should be done to improve their lots.

Day 2 - Khalid Samad visits church

CK: What happened to the allegation that former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sold our land in Sarawak to Brunei? What about the BN government's closure of a newspaper publishing office that caused thousands of Sarawakians their jobs?

Ben: DAP must work closely with other component parties of Pakatan Rakyat to win this by-election. I hope to see more local leaders from PKR involved in the campaign.

'Illegals' to be booted out when PKR takes over Sabah

Brainless: The local Umno leaders in Sabah are working hands in gloves with the National Registration Department and federal leadership in giving all sorts of documents to these foreigners as long as they can vote for the BN.

The BN government in Sabah is a government by illegals for the illegals, which is illegal.

Habib RAK: We need to remind ourselves that the illegal immigrants are humans, too. Thus, their position must be handled in a holistic manner. Whilst we need to be firm about their illegal position, nevertheless, we need to also handle them humanely.

True, this problem was created by Umno/BN at the expense of the people of Sabah. Still, I would appeal to Pakatan Rakyat not to vent their frustrations at Umno/BN by mishandling the issue of illegals. Tact and humanity are absolutely necessary.

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