DAY 3 TELUK INTAN What’s happening in the by-election campaign in the parliamentry constituency of Teluk Intan? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.
10pm: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin says BN will investigate the identity of two motorcyclists who heckled DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud at Kampung Padang Tembak earlier today.
"We will check the authenticity of their BN identity," he tells a press conference before accompanying BN candidate for by-election Mah Siew Keong for a walkabout at Teluk Intan town.
Khairy adds that those who wear BN caps and BN T-shirts are not necessarily BN members.
8pm: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang says that the two men did not bear any identification, and had asked Dyana and her colleagues to “get out” of the village.
He however said that his team, Dyana and the general public had ignored both of them until the police came.
“They made some menacing gestures during the time. It was definitely an ugly incident that should not have happened,” he told Malaysiakini.
7.40pm: A small group of youths on motorcyle heckle Dyana while she was greeting voters at a market in Padang Tembak.
According to Dyana, the youths try to reach her and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang who was with her at the walkabout.
DAP security personnel, however, manage to block the youths.
Police also told the protesters to leave the scene.
6.30pm: At Jalan Sultan Abdullah, DAP campaigns this Wednesday evening to four-digit lottery bettors in front of two such outlets.
Klang MP Charles Santiago hands out several A4-sized leaflets with Dyana Sofya’s photo to those leaving the outlets.
4pm: Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir is accompanying Mah Siew Keong into the Malay heartland in Changkat Jong, regarded as an Umno stronghold.
Zambry ( centre in photo ) seems to have taken a line similar to Mah, refraining from speaking about Dyana or DAP, and instead stresses about harmony in the country.
In a press conference later, Zambry says that he does not think Dyana being Malay would attract Malay votes in DAP's direction.
"Mah has his own magnetic effect. I don't think so (Malays would vote for Dyana)," he states.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was also supposed to attend the excursion but cancelled his appearance.
2.30pm: The DAP ticks off the Education Ministry for allowing BN to use a school in the Teluk Intan by-election campaign, saying it should also be given equal and fair chances to hold its campaign events in schools.
The party's publicity chief Tony Pua ( left in photo ) says they are willing to pay more than BN to utilise schools within the constituency.
"We are willing to pay the same amount, or even more (than BN), say like RM1,000? We have no place to campaign in Kampung Selabak too, " he says during a press conference in Teluk Intan today.
Yesterday, Teluk Intan Umno division chief Saiful Bahar Mohd Arshad said the party was allowed to pay RM500 and rent Sekolah Kebangsaan Selabak as the site for a BN ceramah last night in conjunction with the Teluk Intan Parlimentary by-election.
Saiful claimed this was in accordance with the regulations set by the Election Commission (EC) and that the matter had been referred to the EC as there were no other vacant or suitable area for ceramah.
2pm: Dyana says crime is the second greatest concern among Teluk Intan residents, based on a survey commissioned by DAP recently.
"Despite having a police force of more than 120,000 personnel, less than 10,000 policemen and women are dedicated to fighting crime,” she says in a statement.
She claims that ironically, there are nearly the same number of officers in the Criminal Investigation Department as there are Special Branch officers dedicated to "protect" politicians like her.
"Here, I would like to re-emphasise the DAP's position that the police should improve their professionalism and efficiency and dedicate more resources to fighting crime in the country to curb the excessive amount of criminal activities.”
Her statement comes following the death of Sister Julianna Lim ( left ), who, along with another nun, was brutally beaten up in what is believed to be a robbery attempt outside the Church of Visitation in Seremban last week.
Dyana further expresses her condolences to the Lim’s family.
1.48pm: A fake Facebook account has been set up under Dyana's name, but her middle name is spelled as 'Sofea'.
The updates are mostly in Bahasa Malaysia and features published pictures of Dyana on the campaign trail.
The account, which has close to 2000 'likes' also includes snide and lecherous captions about her looks.
One caption reads "Love me. Kiss me. Hug me" while another talks about the 27-year-old's menstrual cycle.
The latter was in reference to an invitation to a DAP event which starts at 7.30pm, the time for Maghrib prayers. Muslim women are exempt from performing the prayers during menses.
1pm: Perak DAP chief Nga Kor Ming launches a campaign to get the public in Teluk Intan to donate any items or monetary aid to the party's by-election machinery.
Nga ( left ), during a press conference at the DAP operations centre for the by-election, says DAP is shorthanded financially compared to BN and needs donations from the public in order to continue the campaign.
The campaign is called "RM1 per person".
Nga himself kickstarts the campaign by donating RM10,000.
Separately, he dismisses reports that Dyana was chosen due to Perak DAP factionalims as a "non-issue".
He also says that he was absent from the campaign trail the first few days due to prior commitments, and stresses that Dyana is the best candidate for the by-election.
11am: DAP streneously denies claims of factionalism leading to poor DAP grassroots support for Dyana.
DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke also blames the BN for spouting this to "break up" the DAP.
"DAP is very discipined and any decision taken by the leadership will be supported at all levels, be it at state or grassroots level," he says.
