Never before has the Works Ministry paid so much attention to the need for good roads in the cowboy town of Lunas and it surrounding plantation estates which make up the state constituency of Lunas.

An almost unheard of town by many Malaysians before the by-election, Lunas seems to have the whole Works Ministry down there. Roads are being paved, Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) jeeps are all over the place and lorries laden with sand are busy plying the Lunas roads.

Works Minister S Samy Vellu has also made his presence very much known and has declared that he would not leave Lunas until Barisan Nasional wins.

Indeed, he is orchestrating the campaign to the extent that, as Keadilan's Youth head Gobala Krishnan observes, it was no longer just a fight between MIC's candidate S Anthonysamy and Keadilan's Saifuddin Nasution.

"It is a fight between Samy Vellu and Saifuddin," said Gobala, who has been busy going around the two main rubber and palm oil estates, Henrietta and Victoria, to talk to the Indians there about how they have been sidelined by MIC all this while.

While BN seems to be pouring in millions of ringgit paving roads that should have been repaired months ago (as well as digging and paving roads that need not be repaired at all), Barisan Alternatif (BA) party workers are out in full force putting up flags and going from house to house explaining to the people why they should vote for BA come polling day next week.

More than enough volunteers

The BA operation centres are mostly in shophouses or residences of supporters. Volunteers from all over the country linger around, hoping to help out in the campaign.

When one operations room volunteer commented that they have too many hands and are at a loss on what other jobs there are to delegate, BA came up with the solution: Each extra volunteer is given the task of convincing five voters to vote for BA.

Constituents in Lunas seem to at least know who BA's candidate is, as Saifuddin's posters are up and flying high.

However, when asked who the BN candidate is, many are not so sure and one cannot blame them as posters of BN candidate S Anthonysamy of MIC are not seen anywhere around town. Instead, posters of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad looking 20 years younger seem to have flooded the town.

Only when one drives out of town does one see MIC posters showing a bespectacled Anthonysamy.

Saifuddin said, "They (BN) will touch their pockets while we (BA) will touch their hearts."

This explains the posters of a black-eyed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim beside the BN posters. There are also posters of Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her family.

One BA party worker, who was busy putting up a banner, says the Anwar pictures did not mean that they were only talking about Anwar.

"Anwar is the symbol of injustice in the country and when people see this, we hope they will remember all the injustices that are going on in this country due to BN's follies," said the worker.

DAP part of the family

All four parties of BA seem to be fully involved in campaigning as evident by the presence of their flags. Despite the mainstream media playing up the DAP issue, constituents there say that it is not their main concern.

Saifuddin says the mainstream media reporters hound him with standard questions. "For such standard questions, I have standard answers," he said while clarifying that DAP is still very much a part of BA.

Gobala says DAP is like a family member in BA and despite the differences in opinion, it will not be easy to let go of one another.

Padang Serai DAP chief Sarjit Singh said that he did not understand why the mainstream media played up the issue as Lunas never had a DAP branch in the first place.

"Lunas comes under Padang Serai and there are only a small number of DAP members in Lunas. Even if DAP members decide not to vote for Saifuddin - just because the DAP candidate was not nominated - then I think the votes will be more for the Independent candidate and not for BN," said Sarjit.

Ringgit for ringgit

The main issues here, according to the constituents interviewed, were the Vision School issue and whether Saifuddin would be a better representative to voice their concerns in the Kedah state assembly.

"We definitely cannot fight the BN ringgit for ringgit. The Chinese here want an explanation as to the term 'communist' used by PM on the Suqiu demands and also whether Chinese schools would be forcefully turned into Vision Schools," said Saifuddin, who was met after speaking to Chinese constituents at Ah Meng's coffee shop in Taman Selasih.

The typically Chinese koptiam has been turned into an operations centre for BA for the campaign period.

In Lunas town itself, a big Chinese temple proudly stands with BA banners all over its fences.

The Chinese people inside seemed oblivious to the happenings in the Hwa Min school right next door, where BN leaders from Kuala Lumpur, along with a few top ministers, were wooing the crowd with explanations on the Vision Schools.

Many Chinese constituents have expressed concern on the future of vernacular schools and a number of them turned up at the school to hear what Education Minister Musa Mohammed had to say.

After the speech, there seemed to be confusion. Many were not willing to talk but their faces clearly showed that they were not very happy with what Musa was saying.

"We are still not clear on what is happening. All we know is now they are telling us that they will not touch the schools should the board of directors refuse to agree but before this we were told that we have no say. I have to clarify all this," said a concerned Tan Kok Hoi, chairman of the board of directors of the Hwa Min Chinese school.

By-election funds syndrome

Tamil school headmasters also expressed concern over the fact that they are only getting funds during a by-election.

"We have asked them long ago but we are only getting the funds approved now. We hope that next time, we do not have to wait for a by-election," said one Tamil school headmaster.

Saifuddin claims that vote-buying such as through government handouts is definitely evident on the BN campaign trail.

"A number of the Malays here are rubber tappers and are very poor. BN will hand out money or benefits in kind and what we can do is try to make them see that this is just during the election and not a long-term plan.

"We can only tell them that there are many wrong things and all the corruption going on in the BN government is a big sin in the eyes of God," said Saifuddin.

Singapore story

Saifuddin adds that BN was going on an 'attack' campaign but BA, rather than going on the defensive, will strive to explain to the people the issues affecting them and the need for change.

"They say that I was born in Singapore. That is a good tactic for them to attack my Singaporean background.

"True, my mother was Singaporean and my father was at that time stationed there because he was in the British Army. This does not make me any less Malaysian," said Saifuddin.

Reformasi activist Abd Malek Hussin points out that when BN questions Saifuddin on his validity to stand as a candidate because of his Singaporean background, they don't realise that they are also questioning the Election Commission for qualifying him in the first place.