'Spy vs Spy' in Permatang Pauh

Together with ‘Playboy’ and ‘TV Guide’, ‘Mad’ magazine was commonly described as one of the greatest publishing successes in the 1950s.

Lasting more than half a century and almost devoid of advertisements, the satire comic book lampooned movies, sitcoms and other pop American culture.

Growing up in the 1970s, ‘Mad’ was as much of the Malaysian staple as ‘Beano’ or ‘Dandy’.

But chief among its monthly features were two voiceless bug-like characters which were almost identical. Save that one was white and the other, black.

In a world obsessed with separating and characterising white as good and black as evil, ‘Spy vs Spy’ was unique.

In each strip, the two (aptly named White Spy and Black Spy) would go to elaborate measures to kill each other.

There was also no moral or ethics involved when one or the other was murdered. Nor was any method of assassination deemed too gruesome for the reader.

Ironically, the only time when both suffered the same fate is when a female Grey Spy enters the scene to lure our heroes to their deaths.

Antonio Prohias’ characters, which appeared in the 1960s, paints a world without clear rights and wrongs but one dominated by grey.

The parallels are almost identical to politics here in Permatang Pauh.

White PKR vs Black PKR

On the one hand, PKR appears as the ‘white’ option with their attractive menu of meritocracy and class-based initiatives.

Yet, for the average grey voter, there is also the ‘black’ of ex-PKR office holders standing across the single-lane road, reading out the excesses of their old party.

That is the predicament Anwar Ibrahim finds himself in. The almost daily routines of handouts at the mosques, suraus and Chinese schools will sure to help Barisan Nasional.

The rounds of hugs and vigourous back-patting of home-grown hero Lee Chong Wei will also go a long way towards attracting goodwill.

But it is the parade of former PKR men and women who will hurt Anwar the most.

Some of PKR's former leaders such as Ezam Mohd Nor, Lokman Adam, Hamidzun Khairudin, Zahid Mat Arif, Saidatul Badru Tun Said Keruak and KS Nallakaruppan have hit the campaign trail.

Addressing small crowds from taman to taman and kampung to kampung , they are proving to be more effective compared to some of BN's crossovers to PKR.

With their touching tales of having been jailed and detained for their former leader, they speak from a position of credibility.

Although, some of the "Saiful buat kopi sedap" (Saiful makes delicious coffee) puns sound well rehearsed, they never fail to bring the house down.

'Abandon the Malays'

An Anwar prodigy plucked from the International Islamic University (UIA), Ezam is as adept at captivating the audience as his former mentor.

"I left PKR because the party now is not what it used to be. When I set it up, while Anwar was in jail, the party was meant to be founded upon Malays as its base," said Ezam yesterday.

"But when Anwar came out and found that PKR would continue to struggle to attract Malay votes, he told me that a change in strategy was needed.

"Anwar told me that we need to abandon the Malays and focus on fishing for other votes," he bellowed.

And that, he claimed, was what made him leave PKR.

Although, Ezam steered clear of playing up his former leader's sodomy charge, the almost carbon-copy version of Anwar came across as the most credible of the lot.

Equally eloquent though less charming, Hamidzun at another ceramah sang from the same track accusing his former leader of being a traitor to the nation and the Malay race.

The lawyer told the crowd of how as a result of Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat, non-Malays are now boldly challenging Malay special privileges.

With one hand holding the Federal Constitution, Hamidzun ( right ) said current issues like religious forums and the opening up of UiTM quotas were a result of Anwar's plot to attract other races.

'Dodgy finances'

Meanwhile, former PKR supreme council member Lokman claimed that his ex-party received funds from dodgy sources.

"In the 2004 elections, I know that PKR leaders like Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah Anwar took money from Israel and other pro-American lobbies.

"They even got money from a Filipino leader. But the money was never credited into PKR. It went to the top leaders," he alleged.

When election time came, said the former Youth leader, candidates did not even have enough money to pay the RM5,000 deposit needed to campaign.

"All we were given were 100 T-shirts and party banners," claimed Lokman.

In Permatang Rawa last night, Lokman ( right ) lumped Malaysiakini and its editor-in-chief Steven Gan in the same cauldron as Anwar.

"I know that Steven Gan also got money from the same Dutch foundation as Anwar," he boldly declared while singling out the lone Malaysiakini reporter. [See clarification below]

For many non-Malays, some of these accusations will slide down like water on a duck's tail but for the rural Malay folk, seeds of distrust are being sowed each night.

Passer-by Rosli, who stopped to watch the going-on, said: "It is all very confusing now. Which PKR do we believe?

"The one across the road (pointing to the party’s operations centre 10 metres away) or this one?" he asked.

At the March 8 elections, Anwar’s wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail captured 60 percent of the Malay votes to win the Permatang Pauh seat.

It was in the predominantly Malay areas such as Penanti and Permatang Pasir where PKR and PAS emerged winners of the state seats respectively. Anwar's challenger, Arif Shah Omar Shah from BN took the Seberang Jaya mixed-race state seat.

With Malays (69.4 percent) continuing to dominate the landscape, confusing them with accusations from Anwar’s former comrades will go a long way towards BN's quest to recapture Permatang Pauh.

Just like the characters in ‘Mad’, Ezam, Lokman and Hamidzun appear to be successful in blurring the voters’ vision, rendering them unable to differentiate one PKR from the other.

However, Anwar has taken a leaf from the magazine’s most recognisable icon – Alfred E Neuman – and is taking the barbs thrown his way in his stride.

Like the iconic boy with the gap-toothed smile, Anwar is spotting a similar grin with the ‘What, me worried?’ look at his ceramahs .

Watch 9-min video of Ezam's ceramah

Permatang Pauh: Mother of all by-elections

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Clarification: Malaysiakini does not receive funding from any Dutch foundation. However, the Southeast Asian Centre for E-media (Seacem), a non-profit outfit based in Malaysiakini , does receive grants from Dutch media foundation Free Voice. Seacem provides online news and technology training to civil society organisations and independent media in the region, including those in Aceh, Mindanao, southern Thailand, East Timor, Burma and Indonesia.