The nomination centre for the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary constituency at SRJK (C) Puay Chai (II) was a hive of BN supporters this morning effectively eclipsing the small number of opposition supporters who accompanied their candidate.

A wide buffer zone was erected outside the school gates to separate supporters from both sides by about a distance of 200 metres. The MPPJ's Light Strike Force and police personnel were on standby but proved to be unnecessary with no untoward incidents reported.

Adding to the election atmosphere was the SRJK (C) Damansara Save Our School (SOS) Committee who took the opportunity to unfurl a large banner in front of the BN supporters protesting the closure of the school ( photo ).

Parents and residents unhappy with the school's closure had approached the DAP to take up their cause and the opposition party has been actively pursuing the matter with the authorities. The vernacular school was shut in 2001 with the reason that the building was no longer safe. While most of the students have been relocated, there are still some still studying there.

Supporters from both sides were made to wait past 11am for confirmation of their candidates eligibility. Several of them with full election gusto began chanting 'For the future of the party, it is worth the wait' to keep up the spirits of their fellow supporters under the blistering sun.

Inside the school, DAP's Ronnie Liu kept things going for a bit longer when he objected over the alteration of the alphabet 'o' to 'u' for the word kampung in his adversary's nomination form.

The returning officer said the objection was petty, overruled it and it finally announced that the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary seat will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional's Chew Mei Fun and DAP's Ronnie Liu.

'Holistic approach'

Chew ( photo, right ) a former journalist and advertising manager, says she is confident of retaining her seat. Liu, also in the advertising industry, was a bit coy on his chances though he reveals that he believes he has a 50-50 chance.

The candidates for the constituency's two state seats are BN's Dr Wong Sai Hou ( photo, left ) and DAP's Ean Yong Hing Wah, a businessman, for Kampung Tunku and BN's Lim Choon Kin, a lawyer, and DAP's Yim Chee Pooi for Damansara Utama.

Dr Wong of the MCA is the party's division chairperson and also the BN chairman for Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU) while Yim is DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang's political secretary

Referring to her manifesto, Chew said she will be pushing for both 'personal development and infrastructure development' while Liu says he will be fighting for the re-opening of SRJK (C) Damansara.

"Personal development is as important as infrastructure development therefore we will take a holistic approach in developing Petaling Jaya Utara," Chew says, adding her past efforts had shown encouraging results with residents actively participating in social services.

She stressed that she is all set to work harder for PJ Utara residents and is prepared to face the challenges that will be coming her way.

Elaborating his party's manifesto, Liu says he intends to enhance public safety by improving the police force and making better use of its personnel.

"Only 6,000 out of the 80,000 police personnel in the country are entrusted with public safety, while the rest are used as bodyguards and escorts for VIPs," Liu says, adding that these figures were given by national CID chief Salleh Mat Som.

Liu also vowed to work closely with the MPPJ to ensure the cleanliness of his constituency if elected besides ensuring the collective well-being of residents.

Liu lost to Chew in the last election in 1999 by 2.8 percent of the total votes.

No longer minister?

Meanwhile, objections were also being tendered over at the Civic Centre at Jalan Yong Shook Lin, the nomination centre for the Petaling Jaya Selatan parliamentary constituency.

Keadilan's Sivarasa Rasiah had objected to BN's Donald Lim Siang Chai stating his occupation as deputy information minister on his nomination form on the basis that since parliament has already been dissolved, this could no longer be valid.

Sivarasa's gambit did not bear fruit and the returning officer proceeded to declare the seat a straight battle between Keadilan and the BN.

Outside the Civic Centre, the scene was similar to that of the Petaling Jaya Utara nomination centre with a large turnout of BN supporters and only a minimal opposition presence.

Petaling Jaya Selatan's two state seats are being contested by Keadilan's Wan Razali Wan A Kadir, PAS' Ghazali bin Shaari, independent Kamarul Jaman Seeni Mohideen and BN's Abdul Wahab bin Ibrahim at Taman Medan and BN's Dr Lim Thuan Seng and DAP's John Chung at Bukit Gasing.

Transparency call

BN's Donald Lim seemed well-prepared for his supporters with seven manifestos linked to property issues including assisting residents of Section 1 to 4 of Petaling Jaya to renew their properties' lease and making PJ Selatan a squatter-free zone by providing adequate housing.

Lim also displayed his concern for the environment by calling for the conservation of the Bukit Gasing forest reserve area in Section 5 and said he will prohibit development there if elected. Existing recreational parks such as Taman Jaya will also be upgraded, he added.

Sivarasa's manifesto , on the other hand, called for a "clean, green and safe Petaling Jaya" and the establishment of transparency, accountability and independence in all government procedures.

It calls for the restoration of local council elections to make them accountable to residents, a c lean and corruption-free local and federal governments, the gr eening the environment and s ecurity of land ownership.