Over 1,000 attend raucous debate on Penang tunnel, highways

Penang debate of the year on undersea tunnel: Dap LimHockSengvsGerakanLiangTeckMeng @caringsociety @malaysiakini pic.twitter.com/iJf8YKwlvY

— susan loone (@susanloone) June 28, 2016

Just back from the debate at the Caring Society Complex in Penang, and I can’t say I was edified or any the wiser from what transpired.

Gerakan top guns at the Penang debate of the year on undersea tunnel @malaysiakini pic.twitter.com/y10d9vRG67

— susan loone (@susanloone) June 28, 2016

It seemed clear enough to me that the speakers were playing to the gallery while many of the supporters on both sides weren’t particularly interesting in listening to them.

The US presidential format for the debate in which the two speakers stood at either end of the stage and were allowed to speak alternately for a few minutes each time only added to the verbal jousting.

The speakers were generally almost shouting out their points, and that didn’t help to cool down their supporters.

Instead, not a few of these supporters were more intent on cheering their respective sides on than absorbing what was being said. The Gerakan supporters seemed more boisterous, several of them standing, shouting and waving their thumbs down, even while the debate was in progress.

Gerakan’s Liang Teck Meng and DAP’s Lim Hock Seng both failed to calm down their respective supporters, some of whom were more intent on creating a racket by cheering wildly or heckling rather than listening to what was being said.

At a couple of points, Hock Seng aimed barbs at a few unruly Gerakan supporters. He called them bodoh and samseng. That riled up the Gerakan side even more. A group of young DAP supporters at the back, who looked like they came to have a good time, responded by cheering their side on.

In the din, I could only catch snippets of what was said.

So, for me, the debate failed to live up to expectations. Instead of solid points, I heard partisanship and pointless cheering and heckling.

Security took the form of DAP stewards, Rela personnel and most likely, plainclothes police. But neither they nor the moderator could control some of the rowdy members of the audience. Nor were they able to enforce any code of conduct for a debate or to eject unruly members of the audience from the hall.

The audience outside the hall downstairs, following the proceedings on CCTV, was more sober. But the audio outside, which sounded muffled, was a letdown.

A couple of those present told me, “I don’t think people in Penang are ready for this kind of debate.” I would prefer to think otherwise. Unfortunately, not on this occasion.