(Samy Vellu’s right-hand man – G. Palanivel, the MIC man who is likely to stand for BN in Hulu Selangor. Image source: Malay Mail)
I attended a “Valaikappu” function for a distant cousin who is an expectant mother last week
I was not involved in the actual function at the relative’s house (after all it is an all-ladies event) but being the unofficial driver at home, I agreed to drive my mom and wife for shopping of the items to be presented to the young Mom for the function.
Then in the evening, drove them and one of my Aunties to the house. When reached the house compound, I saw the guys were all sitting under a tent on the outside (signs of things getting boring for the guys inside the house) whilst all the ladies were inside the house with the young mom taking the centre stage.
Thankfully some of the guys who were “waiting’ on the outside were known to me – uncles and cousins. So, things were not as boring as I had expected them to be.
The upcoming Hulu Selangor by-election was one of the topics that we talked about as we waited for the ceremony inside the house to end and dinner can start. Having one of my uncles, who is also an active MIC member, made the topic on the Hulu Selangor by-election even more interesting (considering the rest of us are Pakatan supporters).
Dinner started rather late but we were not hungry as the conversations outside the house got more interesting (probably due to the fact that one of my cousins brought in crates of beer on the side).
My pro-MIC uncle was confident that a MIC politician will be standing for the Hulu Selangor elections and was even more confident that MIC (and BN) will win the seat.
He said that the support to Pakatan has been reducing ever since Najib took over from Mr Slumber and given the recent “changes” that Najib had brought in, things are looking up for BN.
Whilst the rest of us (who are anti-MIC) detest the thought of MIC winning the by-election (for obvious reasons), we could not ignore that the steps that Najib have taken to consolidate his position.
He has been promoting his 1Malaysia concept rather heavily and found many new believers (although the pro-Pakatan supporters still waiting on the fence to see where this concept will lead to) and recently came out with NEM which may turn out to be a killer policy for Najib.
Things have not been looking too rosy for Pakatan either – not when there have been major attacks within Pakatan from the ex-PKR men like Zulkifli Noordin and Zahrain Hashim who maximise the muddling of Pakatan image before leaving the party to be independent MPs.
After a long delay and inaction, PKR finally took action against these two but by then, the damage has been done. The good thing is these two characters left the party and provided the party to do a real opportunity to do spring cleaning and ensure only qualified people are around to represent the people.
Hulu Selangor may turn out to be the litmus test on the people’s confidence in Najib and in his policies. If that happens, Pakatan needs to relook into how they can sustain the people’s confidence in them and is able to retain if not win more seats to bring in real change.
Hulu Selangor by-election is scheduled on 25 April 2010 – there is not much time left for Pakatan to get their act up.
Despite what has happened and the high rating enjoyed by Najib, I still think that BN, should it contest, will lose in the coming parliamentary by-elections of Hulu Selangor more so if G. Palanivel is the BN candidate. It is best for BN to channel the preparation, campaign and the deposit money that’s at least a couple of million of Malaysian Ringgit to developments in Hulu Selangor, repairs and maintenance of existing infrastructure, cleaning the area, help the hardcore poor there, orphans, single mothers, hawkers and other petty traders, schools, etc. This way, people there will remember BN better and their chance to win the voters here at the next General Election would be good.
I believe that there is fear among BN members that due to MIC lack of popularity among Indians, they may lose the Hulu Selangor seat. For sure before the election, promises of development and other incentives will be poured upon the voters.
BN need Perkasa ppl there in Hulu Selangor to win.
BN thinks it is easier to get the Malay votes rather than the Indian votes. I think this is the reason they’re putting an Indian candidate. Hulu Selangor is predominantly a Malay area, thus more chance to win if they get the majority of the Malay votes. The minority Indian voters would definately vote against the BN candidate, so therefore the outcome of the election would be decided on who the Malay voters vote for.
Hulu Selangor will be best served by someone who cares about the voters regardless it is from BN or PR. Both parties should put their best man to take the stand
Yea, they should put candidates with good KPI.
Candidates with good KPI are now a dying lot. Many candidates, in the past, look very promising especially before the contest, but after they win, they always changed and the dreadful things like greed, personal interests, all the things that we don’t want a representative to be, get into them and there goes all the promises.
When can we get to see a really honest and principled representative?
Anyone has the answer?
Ha ha, if we know the answer, we can get saints and angels to take up seats in the Parliament and make Malaysia looking like heaven on earth