Personalised letters from BN president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi have reached 500,000 voters' mailboxes throughout the country over the last few days. The letter's envelope, which does not bear any postal mark, states: Pesanan dari Pak Lah (A Message from Pak Lah.)

The letter urges the addressees to come out and cast their votes on Sunday for the candidates and parties of their choice. "I will respect whatever decision you make," says Abdullah in his letter.

"Failure to do so would be a burden for me in facing God in the hereafter," he adds.

"You may have to travel quite a distance which will cost you some expense, but believe me, the time and money spent are an important investment. It is a sacrifice and social responsibility besides an answer to a fardhu kifayah (religious request)," Abdullah says further.

He reminds them that voting is a 'special right' given by the government to uphold democracy. "(Therefore), please use that right wisely," advises Abdullah.

However, the arrival of the letters has raised eyebrows in some quarters. The letter is believed to be targeted to voters who stay outside their constituency.

Polls observers point out that this 'campaigning by mail' is a novel approach never seen before under previous administrations. They said the opposition, already constrained by a very short campaigning period and no access to the mainstream media, would be put at a further disadvantage.

'No time'

Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Dr Syed Hussin Ali, meanwhile, revealed that his late mother-in-law was among those to who the letter was addressed.

"If deceased people are among the addressees, it shows that the electoral rolls have yet to be updated satisfactorily proving PRM's past claims right," he said

Syed Husin also questioned whether the national postal body, Pos Malaysia, was being paid to deliver the letters for Pak Lah.

"It is well-known that BN uses government machinery for political purposes but it is shocking how it has now begun using corporatised bodies," he said.

A Pos Malaysia official, when contacted, confirmed that they were being paid to deliver the letters throughout the country and that there was no postal marks on the envelopes as "time is running out."