Najib says he's younger and has more FB fans

DAY 8 What's happening during the election campaigns around the country today? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.

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11.15pm - Sibu, Sarawak: Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak claims he represents "change" as he is younger than all his political rivals - PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.

                                               

"You talk about change - among Kit Siang, Anwar, Hadi and myself, who can representing change?" he asks a 1,500-strong crowd in Sibu, which responds with "Najib".

He then asks: "Who is the youngest of the four?", "Who is more in tune with the younger generation?", "Who has the biggest Twitter followers in the country?" and "Who has the biggest Facebook fans?"

Each time, the crowd responded with "Najib".

"You don't need to change the government. We are changing for the better, we can bring more change.

"You said you love the prime minister, I need you to vote for my colleagues who stand in Sibu, Lanang and all 222 parliamentary seats, who are contesting under BN," he says.

"That's the way you can show me that you love me as prime minister," he adds, referring to the crowd who are wearing "I love PM" T-shirts as well as holding “l love PM” placards.

10pm - Pontian, Johor: Some 2km away from BN's event, Pakatan Rakyat holds a rock concert in an empty plot of land.

Featuring a Malay band, Pakatan candidates contesting in the area take turn to show their singing talent. Mahdzir Ibrahim ( left ), DAP candidate for Tanjong Piai, plays the guitar and impresses the audience with party's campaign song ‘Ubah’.

Ghazaley Ayiub, who is PAS candidate for Kukup state seat, performs another song, ‘Ini kali lah’ (This is the time). "Ini kali lah, ini kali lah, ini kali lah, kita berubah!"

Ghazaley is brother of PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub, another PAS candidate in Johor. Although the concert targets Malay youths, most of those who turn up are Chinese, who appear to enjoy the politically-charged Malay-language songs.

10pm - Bukit Bintang, KL: MCA's candidate for Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat Frankie Gan says his online critics are mistaken

for mocking his campaign gimmick.

He said that there was nothing wrong with an entertainer entering

politics, citing former US president Ronald Reagan as an example.

"Even Reagan was an artiste," said Gan, during ceramah attended by about 80 people in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, Gan also said that Pakatan Rakyat exhorts change, but some of their leaders, including his opponent Fong Kui Lun, had outlasted many Umno presidents.

Gan, who us famous for his singing abilities, did not sing.

9.45pm - Pontian, Johor: BN organises a mini-concert featuring a singer performing Chinese oldies in Pontian town, attracting some 500 crowd, mostly elderly folks.

Although the stage backdrop bears the images of BN Pontian parliamentary candidate Ahmad Maslan and Pulai Sepetang state candidate Tee Siew Keong, both of them are present at the event.

After several Chinese oldies, the singer who is from Penang, belts out ‘My Way’, said to be one of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s favourite songs. There is also a lucky draw which includes a LED TV and washing machine among the top prizes.

9.20pm - Pandan, KL: Downpour at Cheras Indah fails to deter a crowd of about 800 people who gather to hear PKR candidate Rafizi Ramli.

Among the speakers include caretaker Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong and Teratai DAP candidate Tiew Way Keng.

8.30pm - Inanam, Sabah: Close to 3,000 people came to watch Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim but some left early as he is several hours late.

Cars are parked 1.5km by the roadside leading to the venue.

Meanwhile, the crowd in Penampang in another part of Kota Kinabalu has swelled to close to 2,000, but many are reluctant to join in as others chant "Reformasi" when Anwar arrive. They still excitedly snap photographs.

Of all candidates present tonight, PAS' Tanjong Aru candidate Hamid Ismail and PKR's Penampang candidate Ignatius Dorell Leiking got the loudest applause.

A man wearing kain pelikat and a skull cap waves a PAS flag in the air. While the the crowd is multiiracial, most present are Chinese and the sarong-clad man is a rare sight at a Sabah ceramah.

5.30pm - Sungai Siput, Perak: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng makes a one-day trip to Perak and stops briefly in Sungai Buloh new village to campaign for the party's Jalong state seat candidate Loh Sze Yee and Dr Michael Jeyakumar from PSM, who is defending Sungai Siput parliamentary seat under the PKR ticket.

He is received by 300 villagers on his arrival and deliver a ceramah in front of the party branch office.

Guan Eng calls on the crowd to urge their friends who are working in Johor Bahru to vote for his father, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang. Kit Siang has moved from Perak to contest in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat.

"If he (Kit Siang) wins Gelang Patah, there is no reason why we can't win Jalong and Sungai Siput, right?" asks Guan Eng and the crowd responds with a loud "right".

Guan Eng also visited Teluk Intan, followed by Ipoh Barat. He will go to Taiping and Beruas tonight.

5pm - Tanjong Piai, Johor: Tanjung Piai incumbent MP Wee Jeck Seng has a meal at a coffee shop with former MCA president Ong Ka Ting, who came to the area to lend support to the former.

Wee tells KiniTV he is confident of his chances in defending Tanjung Piai because he is familiar with the locals and issues concerning them, compared to “newbie” DAP candidate Mahdzir Ibrahim a newbie.

4.17pm - Tanjong Piai, Johor: When DAP Tanjong Piai parliamentary constituency candidate Mahdzir Ibrahim and Pekan Nenas state constituency candidate Yeo Tun Siong were carrying out door-to-door visits in Pekan Nenas, a small town once famous for its pineapples, a man clad in a blue BN shirt shouted "Matilah DAP! (die DAP)" at them from a moving car.

Both candidates and their campaigners did not respond to the insult but joked among themselves.

"Don't be provoked, stability above chaos" they said, making fun of MCA's campaign slogan.

Generally the two received overwhelming support from Chinese residents there, while Malay residents did not openly express their inclination.

One Chinese grocery shop owner even offered the campaigners free drinks. 

3.47pm - Matunggong, Sabah: A woman excitedly shows Malaysiakini her hand and in a local dialect and hand signals says that she got to shake PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's hand.

She had managed to push her way through a mob of about 1,500 who almost stampeded towards Anwar, despite appeals from organisers for them to stay back.

When asked, in Bahasa Malaysia, if she will wash her hand tonight, she laughs out loud and waves a fan depicting Pakatan-friendly Angkatan Perubahan Sabah ( APS) president Wilfred Bumburing which says 'Tukar!'.

Anwar, who arrived in Sabah today, is zipping around the west coast via helicopter, starting in Labuan and ending in Penampang.

Matunggong is a state seat under the Kota Marudu parliamentary constituency contested by PBS deputy president Maximus Ongkili under the BN and APS deputy president Majiol Mahap on the PKR ticket.

Most of those who came are from the Rungus tribe. The area is more than two hours drive from Kota Kinabalu, through a winding one lane road without street lights.

2pm - Seremban, NS: As the election fever heats up, two entrepreneurs have publicly announced their backing of their favourite political parties.

A letter by Titi Latex Sdn Bhd, which is signed by executive chairperson Lim Kwee Fatt and that is being circulated on Facebook, urges its directors and employees to support MCA's Chennah state seat candidate Siow Foo Wen on BN.

When contacted, Lim confirmed the authenticity of the letter but said it was confined only to his MCA friends.

A self-declared BN supporter, the Gerakan veteran said he supports Siow as the latter is the brother of its company’s second-largest shareholder.

Meanwhile, the owner of medical glove-maker Supermax Corp, Stanley Thai, has said he will vote for the opposition for the first time in next month’s election, according to a Bloomberg report.

“Why are the Chinese against the government - it’s simple.

“We don’t want our children to suffer what we suffered, deprived from education, from career opportunities, from business opportunities,” Thai, 53, said in an interview last month.

1.30pm - Kulai, Johor: Former MCA president Ong Ka Ting has come out to defend MCA Kulai candidate Tay Chin Hein over malicious leaflets which attacked rival Teo Nie Ching from DAP.

“We know the personality of Tay. He will not use immoral tactic. This kind of tactic should be condemned. We don't agree to such acts and we do not know where the leaflets came from,” he tells some 150 people during a luncheon with singled mothers in Kulai.

Ong is referring to the image of a leaflet allegedly distributed in the constituency showing a mother telling her baby that she would come back and feed the infant after "cheating the people of Kulai" while a group of angry Kulai citizens ask her, "If you go back to feed your baby milk, then who shall we approach when we have problems?"

Tay also denies distributing the leaflets. “It was not done by me. I'm not a fool. I will not be stupid to do such thing.”

Ong, who is former Kulai MP, made his first appearance here since nomination day. He says Tay can help overcome the administrative weaknesses within the government.

1pm - Kuching, Sarawak: Sarawak PKR election director See Chee How lodged a police report over a remark made by Sarawak Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

The Borneo Post in its headline today quoted Awang Tengah saying Pakatan Rakyat would introduce "Malaysian Malaysia" and abolish the right to native customary rights land (NCR) ownership if it forms the federal government.

See claimed the statement was not only slanderous and seditious, but untrue as Pakatan is the first party to fully support and defend the NCR.

"I urge the senior state minister in particular and the BN ministerial campaigners to make this election a clean and non-violent exercise and to refrain from making such statements which are threatening voters and incite hatred amongst the populace," he said. 

10am - Saratok, Sarawak: BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak arrives in Saratok town and ups the stakes with this 'double your money' promise.

His appearance causes a stir with the 1,500 supporters and voters who greet him passionately. He is campaigning for BN's Saratok candidate William Mawan Ikon.

Mawan tells the crowd, "With humble feeling and a sense of responsibility, I am taking the chance to announce that I am going to contribute all my parliamentarian’s allowance, if I am elected."

He says this is his contribution to help the people in Saratok and a body will be set up to manage the money.

This prompts Najib to up the cash stakes to canvass a Mawan win.

"I'm willing to give a dollar to dollar contribution. If he (Mawan) gives his salary, then I will give contributions for the next five years, so the fund can be doubled up," he says, but does not elaborate where the contributions will come from.

Najib also says he is overwhelmed by the passionate reception in Saratok, as some he greets are reluctant to let go of his hand, while others say, "I love PM" and "I love you" to him.

He promises change and development to the rural area.

9.45am - Sarawak: Sarawak deputy chief minister Alfred Jabu tells DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng not to instigate the Dayak community in opposing the state's plan to develop native customary rights (NCR) land in the latter’s visit to Sarawak.

According to The Borneo Post , Jabu says the issue is simply not Lim's “cup of tea” claiming the latter knows nothing about NCR land and the ground sentiments.

Jabu says developing NCR is a “noble” effort that is “widely accepted” as it is purported aimed at eradicating rural poverty.

9am - Sarawak: PKR Petra Jaya candidate Ahmad Nazib Johari has put up an advertisement featuring himself in a traffic policepersonnel uniform at a roundabout in the constituency.

According to Sin Chew Daily , a spokesperson for police overseeing the general election has ordered the candidate take down the billboard which is considered an offence under the relevent election regulation.

On the billboard, Ahmad Nazib is featured directing traffic, seemingly to indicate that he would solve traffic congestion problem there if elected

12.30am - Johor Bahru: PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail finally arrives at a PKR ceramah in Felda Ulu Tebrau where some 50 party supporters and villagers were awaiting her since 9.30pm.

However, she only gave a short speech under the watchful eyes of several uniformed policemen as ceramah are not allowed to proceed after midnight.

The Felda settlement is a traditional bastion of BN, with PKR stating that "95 percent of voters here went to BN in last general election".

Asked about the recent acts of political violence, Wan Azizah denies they were done by PKR and condemned the acts.

"We condemn any sort of violence or destruction of public or personal properties.

"It is not us (PKR) and we actually told all members, do not get provoked with any provocation, do not retaliate, because we need to have peaceful and stable environment for our election."