A lawyer chronicles her adventures as a political campaigner for Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the upcoming Hulu-Selangor by-election.

Read about (Day 1): Armour, Shield, & Sword here.

Day 2: Nomination Day Adventure

11.04p.m. Apr 17, 2010

HS PKR crowd
The crowd in full force

I intended to catch at least 3 hours of sleep before leaving to Hulu Selangor (HS). My Ketua AMK was to pick me from my home at 2.30a.m. but I woke up late and we left at 3.30a.m. My bad, totally.

It’s a big day. We headed down to Batang Kali, where our station is. We reached at approximately 5.00a.m. The other members were already there. It was apparent that the Barisan flags definitely outnumbered our flags.

My grogginess was replaced quickly with enthusiasm when we were approaching our station. I could see our flags from each corner of my eyes. There is a tent/marquee at the petrol station nearby that was covered with Keadilan flags. I could see feet from the little view I had from the car. My ketua told me that some of the members were spending the night there – in the open!

As the rays of dawn peeked out, everywhere I looked, there was someone in either a Keadilan uniform, a “Selamatkan Malaysia” t-shirt or some shirt that indicates the person is at least supporting keadilan/Pakatan Rakyat. We were ready to leave.

We convoyed with two cars to Taman Gamelon, where another one of our stations was. We walked about 2 kilometres to the marching point. Traffic started to build up and since it is my first time being part of a by-election campaign, I thought this was quite a sight. Cars were at a standstill, there were people walking and they were all my friends! I may not know them personally, but we have the same objective and the same hope at this point in time. And amongst the many times that I felt like I belong, this was definitely one of them. I could almost literally feel the “Semangat Perjuangan” that they all talk about. Those two Malay words have been so overused that people do not absorb the meaning of it anymore.

HS AMK walk
The walk from our vehicles to the meeting point. Note the dawn sky.

It was a hot day. My uniform was not exactly suited for hot and humid weather. The crowd increased by the minute. The AMK was given the task to lead the march towards the nomination centre. The leaders came one by one. YB Azmin Ali, YB Salehuddin Ayub, YB Hassan Ali, YB William Leong, YB Teng Chang Khim, YB Elizabeth Wong, YB Xavier Jayakumar, our Chief Minister [LB: Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim], Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and last but definitely not least, Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim. There were rounds of applause and cheers as each one of them turned up. There were repeated chants of “Reformasi.” The mood was overflowing with the fighting spirit.

Helicopters were flying about when I heard one of the supporters exclaim, “Malaysia boleh, takde engin pun boleh terbang!”

We marched, we chanted repeatedly “Reformasi” and “Hidup Rakyat.” We did not have much space, we had marched on a path of about 100 metres wide with stalls by the side. If you have seen me, you’ll know I’m not exactly known for my height so I could only see heads and the tips of the flag poles they were holding.

After marching for 10 minutes, we had to stop because the policemen formed a human barricade to stop us and also a barb-wired fence. The leaders had gone in, the election commission had only allowed for 200 people in total to enter the centre.

and I
Ketua Angkatan Muda Keadilan Gombak, Jafrien Mohamed and I

As leaders were doing their thing – registering with the election commission – there were ceramahs going on. I saw YB Tian Chua speaking through a loud hailer, another dude probably from PAS was talking on what looked like truck, and there was one who spoke under a tent/marquee with chairs around. The people were fully-spirited, despite the sweat and heat. We had waited for more than an hour and yet tsupporters shouted at random: “Reformasi!”, “Hidup Rakyat” and “Takbir, Allahuakbar.” I definitely could not have caught up with them.

When the time came for the announcement of candidates, the crowd booed at all the names except when it came to Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim, naturally.

By this time I am tired, sleepy, hot, and hungry. Small price to pay for the experience of “Semangat Perjuangan.”

LB: Read more from Eunice at her blog.

15 replies on “[UPDATED] Eunice’s Hulu Selangor Diary (Day 2): Nomination Day”

  1. Eunice, well done! My whole family is proud of u. We believe that your family is equally proud of u if not more. Keep up the great job. This country needs more young, pretty, intelligent n patriotic people like u to uphold democracy.

  2. Yeh! Show us about the other side 'the local contender', how they fare this time arround.

  3. Thanks See Saw. I have seen the light. It was a quick glance… typical of old age jumping to conclusion… not the first time, nor the last. Someone has just asked me to proof read her draft for a new book… got to be extra careful now. What used to be isn't anymore. Sorry Eunice, for the unsolicited comment.

  4. A mistake caught my eye: …’our Chief Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim’? Understandable, after all, there are 3 notable sons of Abraham (to quote Antares) for you to get confused with.

    She meant our Chief Minister, Dato Seri Anwar Ibahim.

    There's a comma there, so she was referring to Khalid Ibrahim and Anwar.

  5. A mistake caught my eye: …'our Chief Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim'? Understandable, after all, there are 3 notable sons of Abraham (to quote Antares) for you to get confused with.

    According to NTV 7 survey, 92% of those who responded said Zaid will win in this by-election. Expect a landslide victory.

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