news feature

An election campaign is not solely about fiery speeches and ceramah (political talks). In Indera Kayangan it proves to be an entertaining, and sometimes sordid, show of political wits as well as a contest of financial strength.

In this town which is made up of mainly two narrow main roads and several rows of double-storey shop houses, the demure and quiet folk have had their simple lifestyle disrupted virtually overnight and are bombarded with posters, flags, handbills, and banners wherever they go.

Even if they stay at home, the by-election's campaign heat can still be felt cars equipped with loud-hailers, decorated with either dark blue or turquoise blue party logos go around playing both Chinese New Year songs and political party anthems.

Every avenue is exploited, every way tried. The goal, only one - to capture the townsfolk' imagination and hope this would be translated into votes on polling day tomorrow.

Cow and demon

For MCA, or rather the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, the focus of the campaign is on a political party which is not contesting the election.

The attempt to tar PAS with the Taliban bogey is to spook Chinese Malaysian voters, although it is Keadilan, and not the Muslim opposition party, that is running for the state seat.

Harping on the sentiment of the post-Sept 11 attacks, bilingual banners are put up with dual messages.

In Bahasa Melayu, it says, 'Develop the country with BN'. But in Mandarin, it reads, 'Oppose terrorism and reject Malaysian 'Taliban''.

This, of course, mirrors the 90-second clip broadcast during prime-time news on state-run television station RTM and privately-owned station TV3. The footage shows images of PAS leaders interspersed with a footage of the former Taliban militia executing a veiled Afghan woman.

In a caricature poster, a turbaned Muslim man who resembles Terengganu Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang rides and whips a cow with the face of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim - implying that PAS is controlling Keadilan.

In another caricature, Keadilan election chief Azmin Ali is seen sending a demon with the name Fitnah (slander) to Indera Kayangan.

In yet a another caricature, a Malay mother with the word 'PAS' on her shirt twists the ear of a boy who has 'Keadilan' written on his tummy. In the dialogue bubble, the mother warns the son not to go near MCA candidate Oui Ah Lan.

Rotten fish head

Meanwhile, Keadilan campaign targeted embattled MCA president Ling Liong Sik more than anyone else.

The rotten fish head replica which Keadilan supporters hoisted on nomination day last week is now left outside their operations centre and still attracts the attention of many passing motorists.

Rotten fish head was a term popularised by Ling years ago but now used against him. Ling had made famous the term by using the analogy of a fish head in describing party leadership - it is always the head that rots first before the other parts do.

In a handbill published by Keadilan called 50 Reasons Why Ling Should Step Down , Ling is blamed for, among others, the takeover of two Chinese newspapers last May, selling out Chinese schools and launching a witch-hunt for those who oppose him such as party vice-president Chua Jui Meng and Youth chief Ong Tee Keat.

Slogans in Mandarin which read 'Throw away the rotten fish head' and other variations along the same line are the main theme of Keadilan posters.

In one poster, Umno Youth deputy chief Abdul Aziz Sheik Fadzil is featured as a man 'wanted' by police for threatening to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) two years ago.

Abdul Aziz had then led an Umno delegation to force Suqiu - an elections appeal committee endorsed by thousands of Chinese organisations - to retract its appeal to the government which allegedly called for the abolishment of bumiputra privileges.

Apart from all these printed materials, both parties are religiously carrying out their evening routine - mass ceramah for Keadilan and gala dinners for MCA.

Among the people who have spoken at Keadilan ceramah are party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Chinese educationist Loot Ting Yee, members of the SJK(C) Damansara's Save Our School Committee, and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence which opposed the takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings by MCA last year.

MCA has been holding banquet dinners at temples and clan associations for at least 2,500 people every night since nomination day. Non-party members are more than welcome to enjoy the food at the cost of listening to speeches by party leaders.

Colourful fanfare

It is obvious that campaigning is a tiring process for both the candidates, MCA's Oui Ah Lan, 58 and Keadilan's Khoo Yang Chong, 60. They are on walkabouts from house to house, from shop to shop, from stall to stall, and any other place they can think of. In between, they attend dinners or ceramah .

All these make the Indera Kayangan by-election a colourful fanfare.

One local resident who has been staying here for half a century said, "We have not seen so much action for years, not even during the last general elections in 1999. Things are getting too noisy."

But who can blame him for not having fun?

After all, this is a town which is made up of mainly two narrow main roads and several rows of double-storey shop houses where demure and quiet folk enjoy their simple lifestyle - without obtrusive huge flags, mega-banners, satirical posters and rotten fish head replicas.