A Kuching-based political observer sent me this letter which I am sharing with you. See what you make of it.
What PR and PKR in particular failed to understand is how the BN has worked in rural areas (Malay, Melanau, Iban, Bidayuh and some Orang Ulu). These communities rely heavily on the BN for paltry sums of donations and grants. Come elections the penghulus (appointed by BN) may be told to ensure all the longhouses under their care vote for BN and prevent any opposition politicians from entering their longhouses.
Just before I left Sarawak, a Melanau resident of Kuching gave me some sound advice to pass on. Baru Bian last night after clinching the Ba' Kelalan seat. On the far right, partly hidden, is See Chee How - Photo by Anil
“Please tell the opposition parties not to focus on urban areas in Sarawak. We know what the issues are. They need to work in the interior areas. That’s where the work must be done.”
Wong Chin Huat of the Bersih civil society coalition pushing for electoral reforms may have been denied entry into Sarawak, but today, another Bersih leader entered the state.Enter Bersih: Kin Woon upon stepping out of Kuching Airport just after noon today
Bersih steering committee member Toh Kin Woon arrived in Kuching this morning. I bumped into him before and after the flight to Kuching.
Sometimes it is the little tell-tale signs that say a lot. Like when the pau man in Penang innocently asked me just a few days before GE2008, “Why-ah everyone voting for opposition this time?”
Komtar phase 5 may be scrapped and instead the area my be conserved for its cultural and heritage character.
Well done, PDC, for thinking twice about this! Also be careful how the canal is rehabilitated bearing in mind the area is swampy ground.
The BN vows to make Sarawak the richest state. But you know something? Sarawak is already the richest state in the country. But – and there is a big but – the problem lies in income distribution.
This commentary from the Aliran website:
The BN pledges to make Sarawak the richest state in Malaysia.
This site crashed at around midnight due to a heavy load on the servers. Apologies for the disruption which lasted around six to nine hours.
Traffic over the last week has been more than double, at times triple, the usual volume.
Another night, another large crowd in Sibu. Photo credit: Sarawak4change via plixi
This was the scene at 11.15pm today. Tomorrow’s a working day but the folks over there are staying put to listen to political speeches.
The battle for Marudi is in full flow. This is the scene at a PKR ceramah at 8.00pm.Marudi tonight - Photo by Tian Chua via plixi
“Marudi is heating up! Never before such an enthusiastic gathering in this small sleepy township,” reports Tian Chua.
As the Sarawak election campaign gathers momentum, two websites that have played a pivotal role in exposing abuse of power in the state have gone down.
One of the arguments used to justify the move to deny Chin Huat entry to Sarawak is that the state has a degree of autonomy to make such decisions – but autonomy for whom?
This is a comment left by a blog reader in response to another commenter who had said the state has autonomy to make such decisions:
The reason for change is very, very simple. Sarawakâs current autonomy is the autonomy of one man and his band of cronies, not the autonomy of its people.
The large turnouts at ceramahs in Sarawak continue. This was the scene outside Pakatan’s operations room in Senadin in Miri at 11.00pm today.
Observers said such a large turnout had not been seen in recent years. This is actually Supp territory: in 2006, Supp’s Lee Kim Sin trounced PKR’s Chai Chook Hui by 4799 votes. This time, Lee is up against PKR’s Michael Teo Yu Keng. Supp also holds the other two state seats in the Miri parliamentary constituency – Piasau (held by George Chan) and Pujut.
Thousands listen to Anwar in Miri - Photo credit: Tian Chua via twitter
Political scientist and activist Wong Chin Huat has been blocked from entering Sarawak – but, while still at Kuching Airport, he is challenging the move from a legal standpoint.
Chin Huat arrived in Kuching at around 9.00pm on an Asia Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur – and was promptly denied entry.
Moaz Yusuf Ahmad explains why Perbadanan Putrajaya should stop calling for a monorail system in the city.
PPj needs to stop calling for the Putrajaya monorail project to be revived
It has come again – the call from Perbadanan Putrajaya to revive the Putrajaya Monorail has become an annual event for those who follow public transport in Malaysia.