Dear Anil, Your biased live coverage of the PP buy-election was disgusting to say the least. It seemed like the Barisan Nasional was non-existent in PP. The fact that more than 15,000 people voted for Arif Shah is testimony to BN’s popularity. If it were not for the rough house tactics of the PKR goons, more legitimate voters would have made it to the polling stations. You and your ilk ought to be detained under the ISA and the keys thrown away. You are partisan, unfair, biased, and a false witness to the events in PP. Like the 31,000 odd who voted for Anwar, you are ungrateful for the development and progress wrought by the BN. Honestly ask yourself: Would you even own a laptop or even know how to use the Internet if not for the education that the BN gave you? Just like the other bloggers and commentators on the blogsites, you bite the hand that feeds you. You are despicable and so is Raja Petra and the likes of him. When the BN government finally wipes out the Opposition from the face of this Earth, we’ll be coming after you and all of your ilk for the lies and ridiculous untrue propaganda that you spread to the innocent rakyat. Unfortunately it seems now that a large minority of the rakyat are stupid enough to pay attention to the lies of the Opposition. The BN will educate them very soon and I assure you it will be a painful lesson indeed. BN Sakthi!!!
My “disgusting” coverage: Blogger crackdown looms?
Oh dear, I guess you can’t please everyone.
“BN Partyman” sent in this comment, which contains a none-too-subtle threat.
It’s 81 per cent turnout, not 65 per cent
A group of kampong boys in Penanti near the tallying centre caught up in election fever after the results were announced
As some of you have pointed out, there is a discrepancy between the Election Commission’s figure for the voter turnout of 65 per cent turnout and the actual turnout, which was 81 per cent. This discrepancy created a lot of confusion. Anwar secured 31,195 votes; Ariff 15,524 votes and Akim’s Hanafi Mamat 92 votes (deposit lost). That is over 46,800 votes cast compared to the total voters of around 58,000. My math whizz friend comments, “It looks like the Election Commission can only count correctly when the BN wins.” He further analysed the results and came up with the following conclusions:- Anwar won two thirds of the votes cast.
- The support for PKR comes from all ethnic groups.
- Support for Anwar/PKR among the Malays comes in at around 60-65 per cent. Incidentally this tallies with what Din, the elderly gentleman in Kampong Petani, told me: “Out of a hundred residents here, you could say 60 to 70 support PKR.”
Polling Day: LIVE reports from Ground Zero
Hope for the future: The next generation celebrates an Anwar and Reformasi victory in a kampong in Penanti earlier this evening Send in your “citizen journalist” eye-witness reports from Permatang Pauh as it goes to the polls. Others share with us your thoughts on polling day. All eyes in Malaysia and beyond are trained on this constituency of 58,000 voters in mainland Penang, the scene of a pivotal by-election on Tuesday that could determine if an opposition alliance can press ahead with its plan to take over the federal government in the coming weeks. Check out my pre-election IPS news analysis here. The official final majority is 15,671 votes. Anwar secured 31,195 votes; Ariff 15,524 votes and Akim’s Hanafi Mamat 92 votes (deposit lost). 2154: The unofficial final tally is a majority of around 16,500. On a more sobering note, the simple and friendly Malay kampong shopkeeper here says,”We don’t get anything whoever wins, you know.” Ariff, he says, is a nice guy. “He just happened to be in the wrong ‘car’ (party).” Two little Malay boys were peering into my laptop earlier, a 12-year-old and a younger boy around six. I asked the older boy what he wants to be when he grows up. “Dreber (driver),” he replied proudly. “Dreber lori.” 2016: Anwar has bagged around 32,000 votes so far to Ariff’s 14,000; that’s a 17,000-18,000 majority. “He has taken on the whole BN machinery and all the resources at their disposal and come out tops,” says a lawyer. 2010: TV3 confirms that Anwar has won. But counting is still in progress. 1936: Out of 9,000 votes tallied, the BN has secured just over 2,000. Anwar is leading by about a 4-to-1 margin. The BN has even lost Seberang Jaya, according to my source. 1905: Another police convoy, sirens blaring, passes by heading to the central counting area, this time followed by scores of motorcyclists carrying PKR flags and waving in triumph. They are already celebrating! 1858: It’s a landslide for Anwar! Out of 5,000 votes counted, about 4,100 go to PKR, according to my source. 1854: Police outriders, their sirens wailing, a police van and police on motorbikes beat the long queue to the counting centre. Behind them a motorcyclist follows, the pillion rider, a woman, pumps her fist in the air. More motorcylists carrying PKR flags pass by. The police chopper circles above. 1852: Turnout is reportedly 65 per cent, lower than expected. (This was based on a Bernama report carried on the NST website.) 1848: In the distance, I can hear kampong children, probably sensing something in the air, continually crying out “Reformasi!” 1825: A convoy of bikers waving PKR flags passes by as a police chopper hovers ahead. Motorists continue to honk on the roads. Traffic on the roads here has come to a standstill. A siren wails in the distance. 1800: It all points to an Anwar victory by a large majority. An elderly Malay gentleman, Din, from the kampong here ambles up to me and we exchange pleasantries. I ask him what the level of support for Anwar is in this area. “Out of a hundred residents here, you could say 60 to 70 support PKR.” 1755: I have also received a report that Pakatan supporters have apprehended five buses of hantus in Seberang Jaya. But Gobalakrishnan has been arrested in the process. Motorists are honking and I can hear more cries of “Reformasi!” 1750: Abdullah Badawi is said to have returned to KL. I was heading to the counting area but there’s a massive crawl from Permatang Pauh heading to the central counting area. So I have parked in a little kampong area, Kampong Petani in Penanti. It’s an amazing sight on the roads here. Children are on the roadsides, shouting Reformasi!, come of them are carrying PKR flags while others are wearing Anwar masks. The childen at least are already celebrating! 1647: RPK and Mkini are both predicting a winning margin of 10,000 – but could it be more – or less, if the hantus get to work? 1636: “We are witnessing a turning point in our country’s history,” a friend of mine says in a text message. 1617: Hisham Rais reports that alleged hantus (phantoms) have been caught in Mengkuang Titi. What next? Check his blog for more about these mysterious hantus.
Calon PKR Anwar Ibrahim bersama dengan penyokongnya telah menangkap “hantu”. Kejadian berlaku di Mengkuang Titi. Keadaan agak tegang di sana. PEKIDA a.k.a geng adik beradik juga berada di sana untuk memanaskan keadaan. Penduduk kampung nampaknya lebih “matang” daripada PEKIDA untuk mengawal suasana.1610: Ah Singh has this update for us. Could this be true? Interesting “mental estimates”! Polling’s not yet over though… We shall see.
Anwar won already-lah. My kaki just rang me at 3.15 pm to say landslide victory for Anwar after he and some guys did some ‘mental’ estimates at the polling stations. No fight-lah. Anwar won hands down. All hail the new Prime Minister of Malaysia.1600: Bright sunshine bathes the town centre, keeping the rain away. I am now preparing to head to the central counting centre, for what should be an eventful evening. Stay tuned! 1530: While having some fruit juice at a coffee-shop nearby, I notice a couple of the waiters wearing shirts/T shirts in PKR blue. I look at the Chinese waiter’s cap when she serves me my drink. It’s the same blue. I look more closely at the emblem stitched onto her cap. It is a small portrait of Anwar. A PKR man, a Chinese Malaysian, joins me at the table in the crowded shop. A party member for the last eight years, he says he has come from Ipoh because “I want to see democracy in Malaysia”. Someone has suggested there may have been cloud-seeding operations to get it to rain! But it’s not raining now, though the sky looks grey and overcast. About an hour earlier, I ran into a couple of Mafrel election observers. They told me the turnout at a Chinese school was high at lunch time – around 60 per cent. They also said they spotted three plainclothes police personnel in the compound of one polling centre and reported the matter to get them out of there. Meanwhile, the Election Commission is reported as saying that the turnout could exceed 80 per cent. A friend of mine estimates turnout of at least 75 per cent and a winning majority of 15,000. So we know turnout won’t be low, although there are unconfirmed reports that the turnout was low in a few Malay areas. But there’s still time yet. 1452: Selvarajah Somiah reports on the unofficial turnout:
I have unofficial reports that the turnout at 2.00pm is at 65-70 per cent. At this rate, the voter turnout before 5.00pm should be more than 80 per cent. More people are coming out to vote now. Anwar should be winning with more than 10,000 votes if this is the trend.
Eve of polling: LIVE reports from Ground Zero
The Last Ceramah: Close to 60,000 people turned up for the big one. This was the scene at around 9.45pm on a wet night. Now you know why I turned back!
0020: Huge traffic jams after the ceramah ends. The revised estimate for the size of the crowd is between 50,000 and 60,000, according to my source at the scene. Ceramah speakers have warned people to be on the lookout for any Umno/BN/other people dressed in PKR attire who could be out to create havoc in the morning.
0010: TV3 news is highlighting the case of the two Perak PKR exco members who were charged for corruption today. There will be a re-mention of the case on 15 Sept – hey, that’s one day before 16 Sept! Nothing mentioned about the two exco members today filing a RM100 million suit against the ACA and three others over their arrest.
Meanwhile, in an attempt at damage control, the FT Mufti, Wan Zahidi, appears on the news to declare that Saiful’s oath was fine and that imam, Ustaz Ramlang Porigi, is just a junior official who basically doesn’t know what he is talking about! Ramlang, says the Mufti, didn’t provide any theological references for his statements.
2351: Thanks to all the “citizen journalists” who contributed reports of the situation on the ground today. I received many calls from friends and relatives asking me what the real situation is because the word going around is that the BN has been gaining the upper hand. But as you can see below, the reality offers a totally different picture. Thanks for helping to counter the rumours and the mainstream media’s spin.
2347: A speaker at the big ceramah in Seberang Jaya is urging folks to keep a sharp lookout for any irregularities during polling tomorrow and to report any wrongdoings.
2337: Despite the state holiday for Penang tomorrow, it is believed that some factories in the FTZ will be operating as usual. But they are likely to give workers time off to vote. The margin of victory will depend on the voter turnout.
2314: Blog reader Karma says PKR’s chances look bright while the same can’t be said for BN:
It’s almost 11.00pm now. Things are beginning to settle. Supporters of Anwar are very pleased as they feel that they have done their best this time around to campaign for Anwar. Supporters of BN, on the other hand, seem quite frustrated. Things don’t seem to favour them. A lot of issues brought up by their masters have backfired, according to them. The issue of Saiful was actually a non-issue for many people in Permatang Pauh. They felt that the explicit way of showing and telling the people what happened to him did not go down well with the community here. Most disbelieved Saiful’s version of the story. Ustaz Ramlang had the final say on this issue and this spoiled BN’s image on the eve of election day. Nik Aziz, Haron Din and Hadi hammered in the last message to the people of this constituency. They managed to convince most Malays into disbelieving the media and Saiful’s confession and swearing. Many BN workers resigned much earlier, thinking that there is no hope for their candidate, Ariff. Their general perception is that Ariff is no match for Anwar. Anwar to them is more charismatic. All campaigns will come to a stop in an hour’s time. Things have slowed down. Through my random survey of opinions here, the verdict is going to be Anwar to win with a big majority, surpassing that of his wife in the 8 March by-election. Even most BN supporters feel the same. Those favouring the Opposition want a strong personality like Anwar to be in the parliament. Some Umno supporters do not want to see a victory for Ariff; they even do not want a reduction of the majority votes for Anwar if he wins. They feel that this will be an endorsement for Pak Lah. These supporters are not in favour of Pak Lah leading Umno. Neither are some convinced with Najib. With this situation, Anwar will gain most when the votes are cast tomorrow. Good luck to Anwar and Ariff.2245: Seven Hindraf supporters who were detained at a protest outside a temple here on Friday were released on police bail today. 2230: Traffic has slowed to a crawl on the main roads inside Seberang Jaya. A lot of people are out and about. Restaurants and eateries are crowded. I spot a couple of motorcyclists with PKR flags, and a car bearing a Pas flag. But no one seems to be flying the BN colours. It’s still drizzling here. 2145: I try to get to the Pakatan ceramah near Seberang Jaya along the old road to BM but the highway is jammed. It’s a wet night here on mainland Penang, but obviously thousands are still trying to get to the ceramah. Because it’s hopeless trying to get there, I turn back. But Aliran members-cum-bloggers Mustafa K Anuar and Susan Loone are already inside the ceramah site now with P Ramakrishnan and no doubt they will be providing you eye-witness coverage later tonight or tomorrow morning in their blogs. More than 10,000 people are at the ceramah now. Speakers include Guan Eng, Azmin, Gobalakrishnan and of course Anwar. The countdown to midnight begins!
Eve of polling: Hopes of a nation… your thoughts
Here’s where you get to share your comments – your thoughts, hopes and prayers, your reflections, poems and aspirations – with other Malaysians and with the world on the eve of polling.
Share with us what you think – who you think is likely to win, what it means for the people, the government and the country…
Just add your thoughts in the comments section.
LIVE from Penanti: Imam’s revelation about Saiful’s oath
Ustaz Ramlang Porigi getting a load off his chest: “I was ordered to witness Saiful’s oath… This sort of oath should have been undertaken in the presence of both parties.”
0010: Anwar makes a reference to Nalla’s former driver’s sworn statement re: Najib. Even the Hindus are now getting into the sumpah act, he observes. How come none of the Chinese are swearing, he jokes… He highlights a house in Permatang Pauh which has 100 voters. 2350: Anwar arrives to chants of “Reformasi! Takbir! Allahu Akhbar!” He says journalists from around the world are here to cover the by-election. He condemns the racial tactics used in the campaign. He says he is accused of being an agent of everyone – Jews, Americans, Chinese… He asks the Malays to reject corrupt BN leaders and not blame other races such as the Chinese or others. The helicopter is back! Anwar mocks the 15-sen oil price reduction. He recalls his ordeal in the past while the crowd listens in rapt attention. Now he mocks the BN leaders’ sumpah antics. 2330: I meet a Penanti-based blogger and he predicts a majority of 10,000-15,000. A ceramah speaker goes one better, predicting a 20,000-majority. He says they are better prepared to detect phantom voters if they turn up. “We will make sure the election is clean.” The same speaker says they are warning Khairy to retract his statement that the PKR campaign is funded by America or else they will sue him. He adds that they caught people – allegedly Kepala Batas Umno supporters – putting up misleading banners. “Campaign properly and talk about the real issues, don’t resort to such underhand tactics,” he urges. 2315: Ustaz Ramlang Porigi is now speaking. He is an imam at the Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan, one of those who witnessed Saiful’s oath. He wants to get something off his chest and goes on to explain what really happened on the day when Saiful swore he was sodomised. Ramlang says he was ordered (diarahkan) to become a witness to Saiful’s swearing but he does not say who ordered him. Anyway, he didn’t arrange Saiful’s oath-taking. The text of Saiful’s oath was probably advised by his lawyers or others. Ramlang considers Saiful’s oath as undertaken for his own benefit. The imam says that, from what he has studied, this particular form of oath – sumpah mubahalah – has to be undertaken in the presence of both parties involved. It is only meant as a last resort where there is no evidence available for adjudication in court. But in this case, the matter was still in court, so the oath cannot not be considered to be sumpah mubahalah. It was just an oath for Saiful’s own benefit. He adds that on that day, Saiful did not appear to be perturbed or afraid as a Muslim would normally be when undertaking such a solemn oath with all its possible serious consequences. Perhaps because Saiful was reading from a prepared text, he may not have been perturbed. But he made errors in reciting the oath. Ramlang hopes that after this revelation he won’t be blamed (for this whole swearing business). This imam is just a small-time imam not an Imam Besar, adds Pas commissioner Ibrahim.BN propaganda onslaught over television
Just caught the 8.00pm news over TV1 and TV3.
For the first 20 minutes it was almost all BN propaganda. The propaganda centred on four main areas:
- challenge to Anwar to swear on the Qur’an
- 200 “PKR members” crossing over to BN(!) – ho hum, the usual thing.
- greater compensation or financial assistance to the poor/squatters within Permatang Pauh
- rifts within the Pakatan, conflicting ideologies etc; therefore the coalition will be unable to govern the country.
The moment of truth draws near
They came from far and near to Permatang Pauh last night
This was the scene at the Pakatan ceramah in Seberang Jaya last night, attended by close to 3,000 people.
They shouted “Reformasi!” and “Makkal Sakthi” enthusiastically. For some, it was their first experience at a political rally. “I never knew it could be so interesting,” said a politically awakened middle-class resident of Butterworth.
Much of the discussion among the crowd centred on whether Anwar could improve on his wife Azizah’s winning majority of over 13,000.
One Permatang Pauh voter told me that he had heard from a reliable source that support for Anwar was currently running at 70:30 and that the Pakatan leader could improve on Azizah’s winning majority by a few thousand. “Even if it’s a dirty election, he could win by a 10,000-vote majority,” he insisted.
Anwar himself has called for caution, warning that more dirty tricks could surface between now and polling day. “Don’t be surprised at what else they could bring up.” He highlighted cases of certain people going around photostating the ICs of voters.
Anwar slams govt for overcrowded general hospitals
Anwar speaking in Seberang Jaya last night
Anwar has sharply criticised the federal government for overcrowded general hospitals such as the one in Seberang Jaya.
He said he was responsible for the construction of the hospital more than a decade ago. “But look at the state of the hospital today,” he said during a ceramah in the midst of low-cost flats in Seberang Jaya last night. “It is so overcrowded and I feel sorry for the poor folks there.”
The rich and the better off have the option of seeking immediate treatment in private hospitals but the poor have no choice but to wait at government hospitals. “If they need heart surgery, for instance, they might have to wait for eight months,” said Anwar. “But by the seventh month, they could have dropped dead.”
Abolish ISA campaigners make their presence felt
Giant-killer Kumar joins the fray
Kumar received a rousing reception in Seberang Jaya last night
Giant-killer Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj joined in the by-election campaign last night in Seberang Jaya. He was introduced as the wira (hero) who defeated the long-time MIC president Samy Vellu in the general election. The crowd cheered loudly. In his address, Kumar spoke about the impact of economic recessions of the past. “Each time there is an economic slowdown, Umno would be split as they fight over which cronies to rescue,” he pointed out. “This happened in 1987 and 1997-98. The same thing is happening now.” In the process, racial issues would be raised to deflect attention from the divisions in the party leadership.Pas backs Anwar for PM: Hatta
Pas treasurer Hatta Ramli has stressed that his party is firmly behind Anwar’s bid for the premiership.
Speaking in front of a multi-racial crowd of about 3,000 last night near low-rise low-cost flats in Seberang Jaya, he declared that the party has never wavered from its stand all these years that it would support Anwar as prime minister. (Photo credit: hattaramli.blogspot.com)
Aliran Monthly has a digital version!
Here’s a treat for you! Check out the all-new digital version of Aliran Monthly. Aliran is providing the inaugural edition free to all readers in conjunction with the Permatang Pauh by-election. You can experiment and play around with the feature-rich icons inside.
Okay, I am off to Permatang Pauh now!
Meanwhile, Muhammad Firdaus Christopher shares this view from Ground Zero:
Dear Anil & readers, I have been in P44 areas every night since 16th Aug and I can tell you that these BN … are spending … money on food, food, food. The only activity to be seen in the camps are makciks, pakciks, brothers and sisters all having some good bite (apart from talking trash). They are simply wasting … funds; no wonder they still have an outstanding mammoth bill of RM218M from 2004. Bottomline, Datuk Seri is gaining more and more votes from the folks here… Salam Reformasi!
BN election workers missing in action: A tell-tale sign
No one home…
Last night, while I was in Seberang Jaya, I couldn’t help noticing a number of BN road-side ‘operations centres’ that were deserted. No one home. Mind you this was in BN candidate Ariff Shah’s stronghold, his Penang state assembly seat area. Of course, there were a few BN booths that did have volunteers staffing them. But the number of BN stalls that lay empty suggests that the ruling coalition clearly over-estimated the response it would receive from volunteers. The first three of these photos were taken near the site of an Anwar ceramah in a residential area (near Jalan Siakap 12), which saw a crowd of around a thousand turning up to listen. It was between 10.30pm and 11.00pm, when many people were on the streets checking out what was going on.Chinese throw their weight behind Pakatan
Any lingering doubts over who the Chinese Malaysians voters of Seberang Jaya were opting for were dispelled last night when about 3,000 people turned up to listen to Anwar and other PKR speakers such as Nurul Izzah and Azmin Ali. It was not so not so much the actual numbers but their enthusiastic reaction and body language and the way they warmed to Anwar’s speech.
Anwar was of course in his element and tugged at what was close to the hearts of the crowd – education, language and the economy. He stressed the importance of Chinese as a language of economic significance. He said that many people even in the United States were learning the language. “It is not because they love China, but they realise that it is a language of economic importance.”
Petrol price cut a sign of desperation
Graph from oilnergy.com
Having identified one of the main sources of public disenchantment, the BN-led government, with one eye firmly on the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign, has cut the price of petrol from RM2.70 to RM2.55 – a reduction of 5.6 per cent. This price change is clearly politically motivated. When they raised the petrol price in Malaysia by 41 per cent on 5 June, the price of Nymex Light Sweet Crude was around US$125 per barrel (on 4-5 June). The closing price yesterday was US$121 – not much different from then – and now they announce a cut of 5.6 per cent? Tell me it has nothing to do with Permatang Pauh. Why didn’t they wait until 1 Sept, the date they had fixed earlier for “streamlining” oil prices?Tide turns against BN; landslide win for Pakatan?
BN supporters feeling the heat (Photo credit: Abang Benet)
I was on the mainland yesterday and ran into a few people. From my conversations with them, it sounded like quite a few people were determined to teach the BN a lesson in the by-election. The Christians are utterly disgusted with the “show cause” letter to The Herald. They are definitely not impressed. Many of them are urging their friends and family members to vote for the opposition. Najib and Khairy’s presence – and Saiful’s via video – in Permatang Pauh could prove to be counterproductive, to put it politely. I ran into a DAP grassroots worker and he said that they are going all out to ensure the BN candidate loses his deposit – and he seemed confident it was within reach! (That remains to be seen.) Rural Penanti and Permatang Pasir are in the Pakatan bag, he claimed. The only concern he had was with the low-rise low- and medium-cost flats in the ethnically mixed urban area of Seberang Jaya, which he said the BN could easily pinpoint for targeted campaigning.The official BN drink of the Permatang Pauh campaign
Fancy a drink, anyone? Expiry date: 12 Aug 2011 (I am not sure if that refers to the shelf-life of the water or the BN’s expiry date. Anyway, I hope the drinking water suppliers get paid!) You meet the most unexpected people when you go ceramah hunting. The media people are the most avid ceramah followers, trailing the elusive candidates wherever they go. You also bump into fellow bloggers and internet journalists like I did on Tuesday night, when I ran into bloggers Mustafa K Anuar and Susan Loone, a journalist from Merdeka Review and the new kids on the block from The Nutgraph. It was my privilege to buy them a round of teh tarik, milo kosong, and air bandung. If not for them, your only news from the by-election campaign would be from the mainstream media. I also have to thank a particular mainstream news editor – who shall not be named! – for providing me info on how to get to the latest ceramah and for updating me on developments that I may have missed. There are a few good people in the mainstream media, with their hearts in the right place. It’s just that they are often not given the freedom to write what they believe in – thanks to their top editors. That must change – the sooner the better. Anyway, you can see us having drinks here.
What’s at stake in Permatang Pauh
The folks at Aliran have been busy putting together the latest issue of Aliran Monthly in time for the by-election. And it has just been mailed out to subscribers. If you are not a subscriber, what are you waiting for? 🙂 To subscribe, just click here. Or you can get a copy from leading book-shops and selected news vendors.
This month, because of the forthcoming Permatang Pauh by-election, the cover story is immediately available online! Khoo Boo Teik discusses the significance of three recent elections involving small towns and goes on to the suggest that Permatang Pauh will be a major political battleground whose outcome will have national significance. For many Malaysians, Permatang Pauh’s mission, come 26 August, is more than about returning Anwar to Parliament. This town has a national choice to make.
Anwar addressing a large crowd in Permatang Pauh
Barring massive electoral fraud, Anwar is one by-election and two weeks short of returning to Parliament. When he does, he’d be the Opposition Leader of a second coalition. After that people would want to know if he’d really form a new Federal government in mid-September as he has declared, promised, or threatened. Full story in Aliran Monthly
Lim vs Koh: Did they really address PGCC/Batu Kawan?
Live at 9.00pm over ntv7
Share your impressions of the debate on questionable land deals in Penang in the comments below and vote in the poll:
This debate also allowed Koh Tsu Koon an opportunity to provide a public rebuttal to Guan Eng’s accusations.