A lawyer chronicles her adventures as a political campaigner for Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the Hulu-Selangor by-election – taking place right now as you are reading this.
(Day 1): Armour, Shield, & Sword
(Day 4): Restless & Ruminating
(Day 5): Cruising the Sleepy Hollow
Day (6): Of Hand Kissing and Drinking
Day 9: In the Hands of Hulu Selangorians
The campaign has ended. We have done all we can and now leave it to Hulu Selangorians. Let me tell you of my day.
The last day of campaigning was the most eventful day, for me. We helped set up a luncheon ceramah at Kampung Padang. The guests were DSAI, Nurul Izzah, Azmin Ali, and Amiruddin Shaari. It was scorching hot and humid. All of us were dripping in sweat. The narrow road that could hardly fit two vehicles at the same time was filled with residents. The trend with these residents, I found out, was that the husbands will be working in the Klang Valley. When probed for the reason, was that there were no job opportunities in Hulu Selangor. Something Zaid Ibrahim/P. Kamalanathan should think about?
They had to follow their father, whom I assume a supporter
DSAI speaking during the luncheon ceramah
We did not stay long. We headed to the plantation, particularly Felda Soeharto shortly after the luncheon started. It felt like going to the other end of the world. The drive took ages! Hulu Selangor is huge. The Ampang Keadilan branch was holding a family day function and later at night, a concert. Felda Soeharto is very secluded. The land is vast, but the houses small. The youngsters were riding around in motorcycles. We spoke to a Kak Ana (not her real name) and I quote her, “Bagi air free, belajar free, tapi jangan kahwin free,” when telling her of the free water given by the Selangor Government.
Three cars convoyed and the car who led us had a huge PKR flag fixed to the car and whenever another car with PKR flags pass by, they will either honk or flash their lights despite not knowing them.
The car with the flag and the family day function on the right
Remember the debate DSAI had invited our prime minister to? As expected, Mr. PM did not show up at the Kuala Kubu Bahru mini stadium. He was at Bukit Beruntung holding the finale ceramah, which I went to check out. Traffic heading towards the Barisan ceramah was very heavy. It was held at the parking lot of the low cost flats. The big guns came – Mr. and Mrs. PM, Mr. DPM, Tun Mahathir, Ong Tee Keat, and of course P. Kamalanathan was there. I did not stay long, because the end of my campaign is where I belong. So I had only managed to hear two youths, one from MIC and one from MCA speak. The crowd was a racially mixed crowd. There was another Pakatan ceramah nearby because DSAI had driven past right in front of the Barisan ceramah and waved. Maybe the traffic was also contributed by the people who wanted to attend the Pakatan ceramah or maybe I am just trying to console myself.
Crowd at BN ceramah (front view)
Crowd at BN ceramah (back view)
The big shots of Pakatan were also there. YB Lim Kit Siang, DSAI, Azmin Ali, Zaid Ibrahim, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, Khalid Ibrahim, and even Karpal Singh were there at the debate turned ceramah. YB Lim Kit Siang came in a kapchai because of the traffic and also the huge congregation there.
I know Lady Baba and her crew were around, wanting to shoot the finale episode of the Hulu Selangor elections. You know how she looks like, she and her big fluorescent pink wig. Very surprisingly disappointing, the people found her wig offensive and wanted her out. I thought they were very rude to them and really, if we can accept that Zaid Ibrahim has drank before, why can’t we accept a red haired chick? A PKR security guard was courteous and tried his best to explain how this is not the right place for something like that. Well, no one is perfect and definitely no political party is perfect, you just choose the one you feel is the lesser evil, or it just means more work need to be done.
Crowd at PR ceramah
Crowd at PR ceramah
Mak Nah and Surya (not their real names) who are locals I met at the Pakatan ceramah told me that they hoped we win. They told me that Pakatan ceramah has more attendees but they are not sure as to who will win tomorrow. Anyhow, the predicting stops now. We will know soon.
You’ve seen the crowd at both camps, what do you think?
The campaign stops now and the votes come in. Hulu Selangorians, do fulfil your duty and cast your vote and I will be fulfilling my duty as a citizen by filling up BE form.
LoyarBurok Note: Read more from Eunice at her blog.
Posted on 25 April 2010. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
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