excusez-moi?

Why I find it difficult to believe that most Chinese voted for BN in the KT by-election...

I am a novice in politics. I don’t know much about politics; neither do I have a degree in political science nor any knowledge in analysing the voting pattern.

Soon after the outcome of the Kuala Terengganu by-election, many post-election analyses emerged.

Some reports tried to ‘tai-chi’ the blame to the PM,

while many maintained that this is a clear rejection of Najib as the upcoming PM.

MCA tried to console itself by saying that the Chinese stayed loyal to BN.

Ong Kian Ming and RPK analysed that BN loses out on the younger voters.

and,

RPK said that the Chinese were threatened to stick to BN.
A threat too far:

"What the Chinese were telling us was not comforting but something we could not quarrel with. The Chinese were being threatened. They were being told that they vote for PAS at their own peril. If they know what is good for them then they must vote BN.

The Chinese got the message loud and clear. And they also knew that PAS was going to win just on Malay votes, even if the Chinese voted BN. Okay, if the Chinese vote BN then PAS is going to win by a 2,000-vote majority. And if the Chinese vote PAS then the majority is going to be 5,000. But is it worth the risk just to increase PAS’s majority from 2,000 to 5,000?

I had to concede that the Chinese are going to ‘play safe’. “But just promise me one thing,” I told my Chinese friend. “If PAS can’t get the Malay swing will the Chinese then vote PAS?”..."

As for me….

...having to be on the ground, I find it difficult to believe that majority Chinese voted for the Barisan National! The atmosphere and the sentiments were so pro-rakyat.

The Barisan Rakyat team’s campaign received such overwhelming responses from the people of Terengganu, especially the Chinese community. We were treated to so many lunches and dinners..

I’ve walked passed the MCA Bilik Gerakan in Kampung Cina many times, and most of the time, it was empty....

How did this translate to votes? And an increased of votes???

And this was how DAP’s Bilik Gerakan in Kampung Cina looked like before it was closed down…

Everyone was busy working, and you can see a mixture of races
working together towards one cause.

Throughout my 8 day stay in KT, I had a chance to talk to many KT voters. When asked who are they going to vote for, majority answered "PAS", because they wanted change...

However, I’ve also met:

...die hard MCA supporters who told me that their forefathers have been voting for MCA for generations, therefore they were told to continue the traditions,

...UMNO’s supporters, who told me that they’re businessman, and that’s why they’re backing UMNO. With PAS in power, business will not be the same again…

But these encounters are only far and few…

I have met more of these:

An ex-MCA supporter told the BR team that he has sold 30 tables for the Pakatan's dinners, and he has been attending all the ceramahs at the Ocean Restaurants.

As for the Pakatan Rakyat's dinners that we attended, the crowd were always overspilling to both the beachfront and the roadside, with encouraging responses from the crowd, especially when RPK asked them to kick BN into the South China Sea. Everyone would cheer and clap in agreement.

While walking with delCapo and Mila to our car parked in front of this house in Kampung Cina after campaigning and lunch, the owner waved at us, chatted with us and asked us about the venue for the ceramah that night. She even invited us to her house for a drink!

Before this, one lady in Kampung Cina told me that, BN is currently distributing ‘ang pao’ in somewhere nearby. I asked her to go and get it, after all it's her money anyway. She shook her head and said,

“They think that they can buy my vote with RM300. I rather stay here and do my work; I would get more than that. It’s just a complete waste of my time to queue up for that few hundreds ringgit.”

On the day of election, I had personally assisted two Chinese ladies to the polling station in Ladang with Gus. When asked who they're voting for, they told me PAS, so I brought them to PAS pondok panas to check for their saluran.

***

Yes, the reports and the numbers may have shown that more Chinese voted for the BN at the 17 Jan 2009 by-election than in the 8 March polls last year, especially in KT's main Chinese area of Bandar.....,

but what my eyes saw and what my heart felt had shown me otherwise.....

While we must also use our mind and not only our heart to think objectively, my mind asks if this election is truly fair and clean. And my answer is I don’t think so. I think the wave of change is too magnimous, that even money (it is known to be the most expensive by-election in Malaysia), roadblocks, the 8000 police personals, phantoms voters and whatnot could not stop it.

If it is indeed fair and clean, RPK would have won his “bet” with many more votes, and the reported figures of the Chinese votes would have shown otherwise.

More response from the ground:
MCA : PLEASE READ THIS! I STILL SUPPORT DAP!!!!

Labels: KT by-election