With Sunday fixed as polling day for the start of elections for the heads of five Chinese new villages in Gopeng, Perak, the Gopeng PKR division has stocked on indelible ink that it says will stay on the finger for two days.

PKR bought 100 jars of the ink, each containing 50ml, online from China for less than US$500 (RM1,597), the party's Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang said today.

NONE Contacted by Malaysiakini , Chang ( left in photo ) said the ink contains five percent of silver nitrate and once painted on the finger, it would "definitely last longer than the ink used by the Election Commission on May 5", which contained only one percent silver nitrate.

According to Chang, the ink is purple in colour and will last for two days once it is brushed on a finger.

To prove what he claims is true, Chang, along with Simpang Pulai assemblyperson Tan Kar Hing, held a press conference in Gopeng this morning to display and prove that the ink could not be easily removed.

"We used hand sanitiser, toothpaste, thinner and soap (to try to wash it away), but we could not," he said.

He said research he carried out showed that five percent of silver nitrate in indelible ink will not be harmful to humans.

According to international standards, Chang said, the percentage of silver nitrate in indelible ink used by other countries was between 10 and 18 percent.

"It will be harmful if it's used for a long period. We are only using it after a lapse of many years, and the percentage of the silver nitrate is so low, it won't be of any danger," he added.

Second village head polls since 2009

PKR will conduct the first election for Chinese new village heads in Lawan Kuda new village, with nomination day fixed for June 23 and voting on June 30.

Voting details for the remaining four villages are to be revealed in stages.

The party hopes the BN Perak government will recognise the village chiefs elected by the villagers. Failing this, PKR would establish a ‘democracy foundation' to give out RM400 monthly to the village chiefs for them meet their expenses.

This is the second time Gopeng PKR is carrying out the election for village chiefs. It first carried this out for the Gunong Rapat new village in early 2009.

NONE The EC said it spent RM6 million to implement the indelible ink on voters in the 13th general election. The ink caused much stir and controversy after it was shown it could easily be removed within a day, despite the EC insisting that it would last seven days when applied.

EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof later said the EC was unable to add more silver nitrate to the ink because the Health Ministry told it that silver nitrate could cause kidney damage and cancer.

However, Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam denied that the ministry issued such a report on silver nitrate, or that the EC asked for such report.

Nevertheless, Abdul Aziz maintained his stand by saying that the EC did consult with the Health Ministry.

A voter, who is a chemist by training, is taking Abdul Aziz to task for this statement which the voter says is not true. He has also lodged a police report on this matter.