Through the dark, lamp-absent federal route 1208, Muhyiddin Yassin's seven-seater Toyota Alphard was driven through to Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Sungai Buaya, where his first ceramah in Selangor as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president was held following the party’s official registration in September.

As Muhyiddin's car turned towards the hall and was greeted with the red hibiscus flags of Bersatu, he spotted four banners hung along this route.

Without any logo or indication of the producers, the banners read: “Muhyiddin, don't incite our villagers! Go back!”; “I am steadfast Umno member, Muhyiddin!!! Go back, you traitor!!”; “Our village is not the place for spreading libel, we hate traitors”; and “We the Sungai Buaya ex-settlers hate the race liar.”

However, Muhyiddin appeared unperturbed but appreciated the fact that he could still enter this Umno stronghold.

“My friend Rashid told me that this place is an Umno stronghold. It was, but is no longer now.

“I was told the ceramah will be held in the Felda hall. I asked: 'Is it true?' He replied: 'Yes, a local (former Umno branch) chief has joined Bersatu',” Muhyiddin told a 300-strong audience at the quiet Malay village last Saturday night.

A former Felda area

Situated between the towns of Bukit Beruntung and Rawang, Sungai Buaya initially was a Felda settlement. In the 1990s, then Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib changed the land title of the area from agricultural to urban planning.

However, the development plans have stalled since the 1997 financial crisis. The sleepy village's economy continues to rely on oil palm plantations and fruit farming, while the undeveloped kampung was linked to a new exit from the North-South Expressway two years ago.

A stronghold for Umno, the Sungai Buaya polling district has all along heavily favoured the BN, helping coalition candidates P Kamalanathan and Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan win the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat and Batang Kali state seat in the 2013 general election.

Kamalanathan received 1,075 votes against its PKR's 441 while Mat Nadzari polled 1,150 votes against PKR's 354.

Sungai Buaya polling district is under Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat and Batang Kali state seat.

In total P Kamalanathan polled 37,403 votes against PKR's 33,989 with majority 3,414 votes, while Mat Nadzari gained 21,189 votes against PKR's 15,791 with majority 5,398 votes.

With Bersatu now vying Umno's rural area, it is not difficult to guess why Muhyiddin set foot in this hollow Malay village and gave a one-hour-20-minutes speech.

Red is Bersatu, not Umno

While Muhyiddin was clad in red, it was not weaved with the Umno logo, but Bersatu’s.

After forming Bersatu, this former Umno deputy president told the gathering, he saw a series of Umno souvenirs when returning home. When he opened his wardrobe, it was full of Umno shirts.

“I decided to give out the shirts to the people… This is Umno's nostalgia, what we will have from now is Bersatu.”

Should the Umno supreme council decide to ask him to rejoin the party, Muhyiddin said, he would steadfastly reject the idea.

In contrast, he appreciated Umno’s termination of his party  membership, so that he could now build his own party.

“It's a blessing for them to sack me, I don't need to be with a bunch of vices.”

After a series of criticisms on the scandals around 1MDB - the brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak - Muhyiddin was sacked as deputy prime minister.

Soon after, the Umno supreme council suspended him from his post of deputy president, before terminating his party membership in June.

Two months later, Muhyiddin, with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, announced the formation of Bersatu and the registration of the party was approved by the Registrar of Societies in September.

Hijrah from Umno to Bersatu

A seven-term Pagoh MP, Muhyiddin recalled attending a local meeting after Friday prayers, when the people became confused over his appeal for them to support for Bersatu.

“Some asked: 'Tan Sri, before you asked me not to leave Umno. Yes. Tan Sri, leaving Umno will destroy Malay. Our future is at stake.'

“I replied, it was true then, but not now.”

Using the analogy of Prophet Muhammad's hijrah, Muhyiddin asked the audience to quit Umno and join Bersatu.

“We take from the history of Prophet Muhammad’s hijrah… Hijrah means moving from a bad to a good place.

“Joining Bersatu is not a sin but a blessing,” Muhyiddin told the audience, with the core of those present clapping their hands and cheering. But those in the back row did not follow the clapping, but kept smiling.

Inflation has touched audience

Besides the Umno issue, Muhyiddin trained his guns against his nemesis Najib, accusing the Umno president of stealing RM1 billion from 1MDB, as implied in the lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ).

However, when Muhyiddin asked how many people had read the 136-page lawsuit of the DOJ, only one man raised his hand.

Muhyiddin then spent the next half-an-hour speaking on the 1MDB scandal, DoJ lawsuit and “Malaysian Official 1”. His speech did not cheer up the audience, for most of them kept quiet and listened.

But his talk on inflation and Felda Global Ventures Bhd activities that did not benefit the settlers took the most interest from those present. Some Malay women nodded quietly on what he said.

Touching on Malay special privileges, Muhyiddin said Bersatu and other opposition parties have agreed to defend it as long as it is in the constitution.

He turned around and asked DAP Kuala Kubu Bahru assemblyperson Lee Kee Hiong, who was also present, whether he agreed with this statement. Lee nodded in agreement.

Muhyiddin's statement could be seen to deflect Umno's attack on Bersatu as a party out to split Malay political power.

Last Thursday, Najib said the new Malay-based Bersatu is out to divide Malay power into five segments.

This was echoed by Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who criticised Bersatu's full name acronym as “Parti Pecah Bersatu Melayu” (Party Splitting United Malays).

DAP helped to gain Chinese votes

While Muhyiddin gave his speech, there was no other heavyweight personalities from the party central leadership present, except for the local Bersatu grassroots leaders.

Muhyiddin reiterated his call for the opposition to be united as a front to fight one-on-one against BN in the coming general election.

This, he said, would ensure a higher chance for the opposition to capture Putrajaya.

In an obvious reference to PAS, Muhyiddin criticised the Islamic party for refusing to work with DAP, describing this as equal to reducing the opposition's winning chances.

“If we don't want to work with DAP, the Chinese won't support us. We may lose in an area where 20 to 30 percent of the voters are Chinese.

“I don't wish to name the coalition party… Without DAP as part and parcel of our coalition, it's going to be difficult for the opposition to form the next government.”

The new PAS muhsyidul am (spiritual leader), Hashim Jasin, has stressed that the party would never cooperate with DAP again and was willing to face three-cornered fights in the coming 14th general election.

The federal opposition's unity allowed it to capture Selangor and Penang, added Muhyiddin.

“We have won Selangor… Previously it wasn't ours but now it is with us. Azmin Ali is our menteri besar… Penang belongs to us too, as DAP rules the state.”

However, Muhyiddin did not mention the PAS Kelantan government in his entire speech. It is believed that the omission is Muhyiddin's dissatisfaction against the hawkish stance of PAS on rejecting a united opposition front.

As the session closed, Muhyiddin received 200 application forms to join Bersatu, before ending the party’s first ceramah in Selangor at 11.30pm.