PAHANG "People here (Bentong) love him. If Tan Sri is standing, he doesn't need to campaign."

These words of caretaker Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob received rapturous approval from the 1,000 guests at the Mancis Chinese New Village.

They were there to throw their support behind incumbent Bentong MP Liow Tiong Lai and Ketari state candidate Woong Choo Yak.

But the man of the hour was Lim Ah Lek - Liow's predecessor and mentor, and favoured son of Bentong.

The former human resources minister and MCA deputy president has thrown his weight behind MCA's campaign here to help it defend this Barisan Nasional stronghold. Liow faces DAP's Wong Tack, an environmental activist, who campaigned against the Lynas rare earth plant.

mca agm 2005 opening 200805 lim ah lek At 71, Lim (right) puts others half his age to shame. Canvassing house-to-house at the Karak New Village earlier, he was given a hero's welcome, many retelling stories of his kindness and philanthropy.

Liew Kim Yin remembers Lim coming to her aid when her husband passed away. "He said 'not to worry about my boys as he would take care of them."

Her two sons - Koo Li Cheng, 18, and Jia Cheng, 16 - greeted him as an uncle, who had been there at their darkest hour and continued to look out for them as they grew up.

Koo Ah Tai remembers Lim fondly as the man who threw a lifeline when her daughter's hospital bills were piling up. "She went for brain surgery, but we were short of money, so the hospital would not release her.

"Tan Sri came at that moment and settled the balance," she said after giving Lim a concoction of honey.

It took a while for Lim to remember her. "I had forgotten this incident."

Koo said: "The people he helped will never forget."

Retired headmaster, PPP member S Suppannan, was also glad Lim had come out of retirement to assist Liow.

"Bentong is lucky as we have had very good MPs. Both of them had done so much for us.

"When Lim Ah Lek comes to your house to ask for your support, how can you say no?"

MB promised to resolve land issues

Village head Kenny Leong is confident that most, if not all, the 1,977 votes would go to of BN. "I think with Lim campaigning, Liow can get two out of every three votes."

Earlier at the Ah Soi restaurant along the Karak Highway, Lim gave an impromptu speech - his first in 13 years.

Apart from calling on diners to support Liow and Sabai's MIC candidate R Goonasekaran, he also drew attention to efforts at national level to serve the rakyat.

Lim had by then done two full days of door-to-door campaign in Kampung Baru Perting. Despite it being a DAP stronghold, Liow managed to get 51 per cent of the votes here in the last election.

From the 1960s to the 80s, it was 100 percent DAP, so much so that the then MP, Chan Siang Sun, would skip it during campaigning. Lim managed to break the monopoly when he started engaging voters from the 1989 by-election to 1999.

In his speech at Mancis later, Lim reminded voters that Pahang was privileged to have a local boy as prime minister and they should throw their support behind Najib Razak.

He also reminded them of the various assistance Najib had given when he was menteri besar between 1982 and 1986.

NONE "Also when he was education minister, he would immediately respond to my request for help on educational matters, including those concerning Chinese schools."

Following a promise from Adnan (left) to resolve land issues if BN is returned with a bigger majority, Lim said he would hold the former to his word.

At times it seemed that Lim was the candidate. In a way he was. "Voting for Liow is like voting for me," said Lim.

It is learnt due to the dearth of winnable candidates, Lim was asked to consider returning to stand in Bentong, while Liow would go to Raub to fill the void left by Dr Ng Yen Yen, who was dropped.

But Lim declined, saying he'd rather play the role of elder statesman - one he seems to be relishing in now.

- The Malay Mail