It was more of a "do or die" confrontation between Saifuddin and the main opponent's party president, the formidable S Samy Vellu.

Samy's presence was noted everywhere. Particularly, in one Kg Padang, a settlement outside Victoria Estate, the minister had visited the place four times. The Works Minister could very well say that he was simply doing his rounds. "My work goes on all year round not only during election campaigns," he told reporters at a press conference.

However, other than making his mark, he had promised the 900 people some goodies by Nov 29, which happens to be a significant date in Lunas - polling day.

A group of Indian youths were present at the BN booth that day in Kg Padang and initial curiosity as to why they preferred BN was soon revealed. The answer came from a man who was too eager to let the cat out of the bag.

"We were promised money..." he said, but was quickly interrupted by his comrade nearby who spoke in Tamil, "You do not tell people these things."

The man then cowered, adding with an orchestrated reply: "We are going to get a kindergarten, temple, roads and schools."

The men are lorry drivers and have foregone their daily paid jobs to help Samy campaign. They also admitted that there were hardly many people left in the estates, about 60 families only and most of them had nothing to do, "kerja mereka tangkap ular" (their only work is to catch snakes).

"If we get paid, we'll take the money or else we'll use our own money," they added when asked if they were campaigning for free.

According to these men also, the candidate Antonysamy has not visited them yet and neither have their menteri besar Syed Razak Syed Zain.

Following the Lunas campaign trail in the media, one would probably wonder how Lunas has come to be painted by politicians as a constituency which is heavily populated by Indians. Statistics indicate that out of the 26,000 voters there, only 5,000 are Indians.

Meanwhile, the sleepy town of Pekan Lunas and its surrounding areas are now adorned with colourful buntings of various political parties. On every road you will spot supporters busy putting up flags and posters.

It would be wrong to say that the spirit of reformasi is dying or that the DAP-Keadilan squabble had weathered down the opposition's spirit. Unlike BA centres which have been busy with activities, only the BN's operation room at Jalan Lunas seemed occupied.

Antonysamy, where are you?

There were also hardly any posters of the BN candidate in the area, which BN claimed they would conquer or else "I am not going back to Kuala Lumpur. I am going to retire and open a coffee shop in Lunas," vowed Samy.

The lack of Antonysamy's presence, in person or poster, begs the question: Who really is the candidate from BN in this Lunas by-election? Is it Samy, the big talker?

The rationale for highlighting Mahathir's posters instead of the candidate, Antonysamy, is to win the hearts of the Malays who supported BN. "But most Malays no longer like Mahathir," said a BA supporter.

Tracking down Antonysamy and his campaign trail was a bit of a problem. The staff at the operations center was at a loss as to where Antonysamy was, they couldn't (or perhaps they didn't want to, considering recent death threats received by the man) tell us his destination accurately.

A campaign was finally spotted going on in a Chinese secondary school called Hwa Min in Lunas town. Education Minister Musa Mohamad was busy explaining the Vision School concept to a crowd of 200 people, mostly headmasters and school teachers (who were wearing their official tags) and several Chinese community leaders.

A few Chinese men in the audience told reporters: "We are not from Lunas, we are 'pendatang haram' (illegal immigrants) ... just want to hear them talk only. " (said in jest).

Musa was trying to speak in a colloquial manner, perhaps to impress the non-Malay audience. He promised among other things that the Vision School project would not be forced down their throats. With him were Health Minister Chua Jui Meng, Informaton Minister Khalil Yaakob, Samy and Syed Razak.

As expected, Samy was invited to present cheques to several Tamil and Chinese schools. The headmasters went up the stage sheepishly and took what Sammy considered "had been actually asked by them (headmasters) before, so it has been finally approved and we are giving them the money now".

Later Samy and his companions at the press conference (minus Antonysamy) did not realise that their act of generosity a moment ago would be misconstrued as a ploy to buy voters' hearts or more appropriately their votes, considering it is election time in Lunas.

Generous handouts to schools

Samy wasn't interested in justifying his generosity or campaign strategy. Instead he was assisted by Khalil who patted his back at least twice and said, "That's the best answer, Sammy" when the latter told journalists: "I am the Works Minister and I can order any road to be repaired in this country" and "Ask the Minister and he will definitely repair the road in front of your house, too."

Flanked by a smiling Chua and bemused Musa, Samy also said that he was a nationalist, not racialist and that he did not only concentrate his campaign in Indian areas.

"You do not know what you are asking about. I have been to various Malay areas today and have seen their housing and flooding problems," he said, but was bombarded by more questions such as "What were the Malay issues and what have you promised them? Did you also promise to build them roads and repair their drains because we don't see it happening in those areas?"

Khalil's role was obvious. He was there to help the panel evade questions posed by journalists which touched on the suspicious manner of the Lunas campaign and how Lunas was accorded "special treatment" in terms of school aid and development projects at this point of time.

Any right-thinking Malaysian can see thorough the government's tactic by now, especially the people of Lunas. A banner attempting to smear Saifuddin's name was spotted in Taman Selasih, a large residential area under the Lunas constituency.

The banner said that Saifuddin was born in Singapore, insinuating that he could not be patriotic, he cannot guarantee the best interest of the Malays and that he was probably pro-Singapore or pro-Chinese. After a few hours, the banner was no longer found, probably torn down by BA supporters.

"We have no choice because they started the campaign first," said Samy.

"Keadilan said that Antonysamy wasn't born in Lunas. Keadilan had also tried to incite racial and religious sentiments by telling Malay voters to vote for a Malay, asking voters 'What do you want ... a mosque or a church (Antonysamy is a Catholic)?" said a fiery Samy, relating the Teluk Kemang experience.

At the Teluk Kemang by-election in June, BN leaders had alleged that several PAS leaders went around asking the electrorate:"What do you want ... a mosque or a kuil (Indian temple)?".

He also said he had proof of who said it, when and where it was said.

While politicians wrestle with one another, the rakyat in Lunas are having a field day. An Opposition leader claimed that some estate workers were offered RM50 each if they voted for BN. He was asked how much he could offer.

Millions of ringgit have been spent to repair roads and drains. It is not everyday that a minister pledges to retire in Lunas and never before has Lunas gained so much coverage and publicity since the death of a hundred or so illegal samsu drinkers more than a decade ago.

Another Special Report on the Lunas by-election titled BA spirits flying high will appear tomorrow.