GE14 | As the 14th general election campaign enters its eight day, fatigue and exhaustion from daily walkabouts and ceramahs have taken a toll on most candidates.

But for DAP's first-time candidate for Bagan Dalam Satees Muniandy, his campaign have become extra gruelling as it has also been marred by threats, theft, and a great loss of money.

Met in Kampong Benggali, Butterworth late last night, Satees was found putting up his own party flags with a few volunteers. It was just he after a series of ceramah he attended in the constituency.

"I have to do this myself, as the flags go missing every time," Satees told Malaysiakini.

If he felt beaten, he did not show it.

"The other day we put up about a 1,000 flags but 800 went missing, we do not know where they went.

"The flags cost at least RM5 when they come with sticks, so in the incident of missing flags, we have lost about RM4,000.

"I have ordered another 2,000 but what if it goes missing again? We would just have to keep going on," he said, determined not to be derailed from his campaign trail.

‘My opponents are afraid’

He cited another incident of threats when one of the contractors fixing canopies for his ceramahs was allegedly warned by unnamed persons not to do the job "or else we will burn them down."

He was grateful that the contractor did not bow down to the threats but continued with his job.

"I was very angry. I said, don't play the fool, I'm not afraid about all these. I may lodge a police report, as the police are asking me who did this.

"This person has taken money from some quarters, about RM2,000 or RM3,000 to do these things. If the police captures them, they can be detained under the Special Security Measures Act for causing trouble during the campaign," he claimed.

The attacks against Satees do not stop there. Recently, a poster accusing him of owning a luxury home worth RM5.27 million had gone viral on social media.

He denied ever owning such an expensive property, saying he earns merely RM4,000 when he was a former councillor with Seberang Perai Municipal Council.

"I sense that they (my opponents) are very afraid.”

‘Not from here’

The onslaught of ‘fake news’ against him continued with his fiercest contender, MIC's J Dhinagaran, pointing that he is not a local as he was born in Perak.

"If I am not a local boy, is the MIC candidate local? He hails from the island.

"I was born in Perak, but grew up in Perai. I studied my primary, secondary and high school here," Satees explained.

"At least I have been a local councillor for two terms, and will be a full time assemblyperson if I win, what about the MIC candidate?

"He runs a chain of restaurants and would be too busy to attend to his constituents' issues.

"But during this campaign, more people may flock to his side as he keeps feeding them, as many as four times a day," he added.

Despite these challenges, Satees finds comfort in the positive reception he has received thus far during his campaign.

People are very supportive, he said, while most pointed to his relative youth, joining politics and contesting for a state seat at only 33.

"They also advised me that if I win, I should come more often to the ground.

"As a MPSP councillor I have solved some of the residents problems here," he recalled.

‘Enough is enough’

Satees and another MPSP councillor David Mashel have also embarked on an anti-cheap liquor campaign, saying the problem has affected many Indians and their families.

"The residents in Kampung Jawa used to complain about drunkards as they used to find cheap liquor bottles thrown near their houses.

"What we did was put up a big signboard with information about laws against public nuisance in the areas. We had to do it as the police are always saying they cannot take action.

"So the billboard is to remind them that are laws which they can use to act against the drunkards,” he said.

"With this, people started to inform the police about such acts. The problem is 95 percent solved.

"The problem is a big one, according to statistics provided by MIC, about 100,000 women become single mothers as their husbands die due to effects of alcohol," he added.

One of Satees' plans for Bagan Dalam if he wins in GE14, as stated in his manifesto, is to help empower the youth by finding them jobs, upgrading their skills and supporting them to start their own businesses.

"In my manifesto, we will provide our young students with coding and robotic classes, as this would help them not to go astray, to occupy their time, so that even if they are not so smart in studies, they have the skills for their future endeavours," he said.

Asked about his chances of victory, Satees expressed his surprise that the Malay community was "very receptive."

"They say ‘enough is enough’.

"When I went to distribute food at the mosque after Friday prayers, no one rejected, everyone accepted it," he said.

Satees is locked in a four corner fight with Dhinagaran, Malaysian United People's Party’s Teoh Huat Lyeo, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Teoh Huck Ping, and Penang Front Party's Jasper Ooi.

Streteching from the mouth of the Perai River to the south of Tanjong Penaga and Penang harbour in the north, the former Malay settlement of Bagan Dalam is now a busy town due to port activities.

It is now a Chinese-majority seat, with the community making up 52 percent of the electorate. Indian and Malay voters make up 26 and 22 percent respectively.

‘Original son of Bagan’

Last night, Malaysiakini also met Dhinagaran during one of his stops at the Tan Si Eng Chuan Tong Association Hall in Jalan Kampung Paya, to attend an MCA-organised event.

Dhinagaran denied being an outsider, saying he is "an original son of Bagan," the parliament constituency which covers Bagan Dalam.

The 45-year old businessperson said his political work will not be hampered by his family business.

His Facebook page is filled with activities and community work he has done over the past two years in the constituency.

Dhinagaran does not deny Satees’ claim that he has been giving out food to constituents.

"But I do let people to eat as my family has a restaurant, people are happy when I feed them," said the former state MIC youth chief.

On his chances of capturing the seat, Dhinagaran said the people's response so far has been positive.

"Bagan Dalam has been my home for the past two years, I am committed to serve the people, I hope you will give me a chance to be your representatives at the state assembly.”