Will Dyana Hit Home in Teluk Intan?

No plain sailing for both candidates

The polling booths are closed and counting has started.

Will it be a close fight now that the voter turnout is less than 60% ?

Selfie of a Beaming Voter

As far as the DAP is concerned, at this voter turn out it will be a hard battle uphill for first time candidate Dyana and may give Mah a close shave to winning this hot seat.

Commencement of Campaign

While the sentiments are with Dyana, it is not easy to fathom the voters of Teluk Intan this time around.

Making Her rounds

If they stand their ground, Mah may make it.

With fair Nurul Izzah

If they shift because of last minute BN fumbles, Dyana will take the accolade as the new MP.

Truly 1Malaysia!

The higher voter turn out in DAP majority wards will be good for Dyana while the two schools that almost saw body contact between supporters of both sides may be indicative of hot breath competition where any one can win.

With Admirers

We will know in the next 3 hours or so whether Teluk Intan crowns a new princess or got saddled with an old has been.

Helping An OKU

Exercising with the Senior Ladies

Another Great Selfie!

Is Mah Digging his Own 'Doom'

Battlefield Day

Lambasting outstation voters who are making a bee-line to Teluk Intan to vote today must really be foolhardy and an act of desperation.

The Deface Brigade at Work

Miscreat Handiwork

The Politics of  Perverse Development

Showing displeasure at this is a sure sign of Mah's dying strategy to get votes.

If the turn-out is about 85% as anticipated by the Election Commission, then Mah will fall by the wayside of politics come tonight.

A Calm Before Victory?

The home-run looks ominous for MAH as unnecessary fumbles are committed by his BN partners.

The escalation of the defacing activities on Dyana's posters also shows badly on the BN even though they have come from paid hirelings and other outsourced parties, here for a quick silver dollar.

Every Vote from the OKU counts!

Dyana will surely get the sympathisers' votes.

The massive 10,000 crowd at the DAP final ceramah speaks volume as were the empty blue chairs of the last BN's public rally where only 70 persons came in to listen is ample evidence on how the wind is blowing.

Mah's Waterloo?

"Aye!" says the Blue Chairs

We will only know how strong the wind is blowing tonight at about 9 pm.

Vote from the Common Folks

Stellar Optics of Dyana Do Sway Them

The Final Belt-out in Teluk Intan

A winning smile from Dyana

Yes, this is the Rumble in the Bronx for Malaysia!

It has started at the polling booths across the Parliamentary Constituency with expectedly heated contest in the Malays dominated wardsfor both candidates  and a presumably plain sailing in Chinese populated polling stations for Dyana .

A Comfortable Fit with PKR Leadership icons

While on the surface, it is more a party (Dyana) versus personality fight(Mighty Mah), the odds are in all mathematical probability against Mah as the Chinese voting lobby remains undeterred, opting strongly ever for the Opposition DAP and its more promising and colourful candidate, Dyana Sofya.

The verdict will likely be delivered at about 10 pm tonight.

Stellar Qualities? Note the Younger Generation.

For all the gung-ho talk by the Cabinet Ministers who went to campaign for Mah and promises of earthly heaven for the folks of Teluk Intan, the Gerakan candidate remains colourless and all talk and expected not to do much for the voters as usual as can be seenfrom his performance when he was the former representative before 2008.

I wish all the best for both candidates and they romp home on the home run.

A Barrister Turned Politician

History will surely be created when Teluk Intan  gets Dyana, a Malay lady representing a predominantly Chinese voting populace and a Malay community getting neutralised especially Generation Y voters.

Its due reward  for the winner and due desserts for the loser.

Teluk Intan will go back to its old same old, same old life after these two weeks of political salesmanship and mud-slinging .

Killer Campaign to Woo Outstation Voters

What a Strategic Move to Beckon Home the Voters

I think the DAP is playing it real smart this time around after they have seen the negative impact of the no-show outstation voters at Bukit Gelugor.

As a high turn-out will favour them, the DAP have embarked on a most unusual campaign to bring home the potential DAP voters.

So they have this interesting voter with Dyana lugging a back-pack to suggest to outstation voters to return home this Saturday to help vote her in.

Book Launch at 27

Hmmm..., may just do the trick, you know.

Evil Outsourcers Get Down to Dirty Business

Mah gets an ominous Black O over his face!

It started with a firm handshake between Mighty Mah and dainty Dyana;both promising a clean and fair fight.

But possibly, unbeknownst to these two candidates, dastardly plans were afoot where out-sourcers, financed by the party or sympathisers, started to put into motion their wheels of  dirty  politics.

Mid-stream, thuggery surfaced to roar and emit carbon monoxide onto the lady candidate on her campaign trail.

More bikini-clad Dyana look-alike photos flooded traditional kampungs and even appeared in a mosque.

Then the Ministers get into the action and the opposition leaders also pitched in.

So what do you get from all these?

More silliness of the season!

Words like 'ingrates' and condemnation along racial lines started to take over the day.

Zahid said that the Teluk Intan Chinese were ungrateful and were rich because Malays and Indians buy from them. If they don't, then these Chinese would not be rich. I wonder what  has this to do with the Dyana-Mah contest.

His play on racial lines were roundly condemned by the Deputy MIC President and questioned by his BN comrades from both MCA and Gerakan.

Then Anwar jumped in and said that the Chinese were stupid for wanting to vote for the BN Chinese candidate for Teluk Intan. Maybe he is saying that BN Chinese candidates should not be voted in as they cannot do anything to help the Chinese.

So, a fair Malay lady can do better. That is his message;loud and clear!

A Label for Mah before Polling Day?

So after thuggery, threats, and ' bikini attacks' on Dyana and her mother, we have now defaced posters of Mah calling him a fool.

I think that there is more than meets the eye here.

The evil hand of a potential bad loser and uncertain winner is sowing his or her brand of discontent in Teluk Intan and may just mean that he or she may have to bite the bullet in Teluk Intan and suffer defeat.

To Buy or To Rent?

The Better Option

Buying a house has been the talk of would-be-buyers since the imposition of 30% RPGT  coupled with the clampdown loan criteria imposed by BNM way back in 2013.

Expectations are such that there is a strong belief that the price of houses will slowly decline to be within the reach of the common wage earner once more.

Is that so? Any early indications? Can you but an affordable unit anytime soon as we reach the mid-year mark of 2014?

Then there is the other school of thought.

Why buy when you can comfortably rent so that it will not create a dent on your savings and life-style.

Let us look at the pros and cons of renting a house.

On the surface, renting a house or an apartment seems to be the more economical of the two choices. With only having to pay the monthly cost of rent and basic utility bills, people need not concern themselves with the details that come with housing loans and avoid a lot of the risks that comes with the possibility of not having the capability of paying off those mortgages. It is certainly a far less complicated scenario.

Another advantage of renting a home is the mobility it provides. Considering how it is very likely that one will encounter a situation wherein packing up and leaving on relatively short notice (like a job opportunity in a far away land), merely renting a home makes it simpler to change addresses without having to sell the house or find someone who would take care of the house.

Renting, particularly an apartment, makes sure that certain small problems are taken care of. When the need for repairs and maintenance occurs, the responsibility usually falls on the landlord, instead of the tenant, to take care of such matters.

There are also a few disadvantages to renting. The lack of security is one of the most glaring of those disadvantages. At the end of the day, the house you live in is not yours. There is also the regular increase in the price of rent that regularly occurs. This would throw you off budget or prompt you to look for other lower rental  neighbourhoods to live that commensurate with your financial capabilities .

Let us now look at the pros and cons of owning a house.

Having your own home is a benefit in itself. While there are going to be financial obligations that come with purchasing your own home, the one thing to take away here is that you will end up owning the house you live in, giving you peace of mind, and a paid up property at the end of the day.

One thing you can do with an owned house, which you generally cannot do with a rented one, is to  to have a go at home improvements that suits you. Since you own the house, barring local building by-laws, you can basically do with it whatever you please.

Having your own home also guarantees that you can leave behind a legacy for your kids, which is a big deal these days. If you have a family, then living in your own house ensures that your kids will have somewhere to go to whenever they need it. Essentially, you guarantee that you and your family have a roof over your head for the foreseeable future.

The disadvantages of owning a house are also several. As alluded to earlier, having your own home makes moving out complicated and difficult. Sometimes, it can be immobilising, having to choose between an owned home and a career opportunity.

Funding your own home may also take a long time, thus the enjoyment of owning a home may come after years and years of paying it off.

So what is your verdict?

With both housing options brandishing their own set of pros and cons, it is really up to which one fits your lifestyle more. If you are a mover, rent. If not, plant your roots in your own home.

Quite a simplistic evaluation, don't you think?

Rooting for Dyana Sofya?

A Malay  Candidate on a DAP Ticket

Now that Ramkarpal, the new mountain tiger has clinched the Bukit Gelugor Parliamentary seat for DAP with ease-making all 3 independent desperado candidates to lose their RM 10 K deposits and be compelled to sneak away with utter embarrassment and shame; the attention now turns south to the Parliamentary seat of Teluk Intan.

At Ease with  Tok Guru Hadi-PAS Supremo

Granted, the demographics are absolutely daunting here,as compared to Bukit Gelugor.

The last GE in 2013 saw the DAP candidate only grabbing 7,000 odd votes against doyen Mah of Gerakan. I believe that many voters returned from outstation and overseas to give the PKR an even or better chance to take over Putrajaya. We have now to deduct this group of voters as they will unlikely return for this by-election.

Now the contest is invariably uncertain; for both sides are claiming underdog status.

Let us see who  is likely to call the bluff?

Maybe one, maybe both, maybe none.

Gerakan President Mah, the silver-haired doyen of politics is being pitted by BN to fight a young novice of unknown quantity,Dyana.

What has Dyana got that can possibly tip the scales for her against Mighty Mah?

Her demeanor and persona or the changing circumstances and vagaries of Malaysian politics?

Rapport with the Public

Can we understand the psyche of the voters of Teluk Intan this time around?

A majority of the voters are not to be taken for granted. They are unknown quantities as daily occurrences can quickly change their mind. Until they hold pencil in hand at the polling booth, their minds are in flux and their votes can be anyone's guess.

Firstly, the few incidents lately like the storming of the Penang State Legislature in session by persons claiming to be from UMNO Youth; the arson threat to burn the DAP HQ in KL by 50  rowdy miscreants and the riotous mood by some divisive elements  to damage the DAP office in Kuantan will in all likelihood solidify and cement Chinese votes against the BN. Dyana will have the votes here from the staunch DAP- aligned Chinese voters. Little doubt of it.

Secondly, underhand subterfuge with Dyana's look-alike photographs of a Filipino lass clad in a bikini has been widely distributed by outsourced groups in kampungs and a mosque to influence potential voters from the Malay heartland  from voting Dyana. How much of the 25% votes that went to the DAP in 2013 will be chiseled off and lost to Diana this time around because of this unscrupulous hatchet job? Will this anti-Dyana ploy really work against the DAP candidate?

Possibly with little effect as most of the Malay voters are still UMNO-biased. It's like trying to convert the already converted!

The confusion this time around for the rural Malay voters is how to vote or how should they vote? It's a quandary!

Should it be party-based (for BN) which is the old, boring conceptual playbook or for a first-time credible Malay candidate (which is an optical play) whom they can vote in truly as their very own anak Melayu generasi muda?

As mentioned before, UMNO still holds sway in many traditional Malay villages and so the majority of the 'old school' adult population will have the mind-set to vote for Mah robot-like IF they are not race-biased.

This is at best unclear these days.

Mah may not get many votes if the Malay voters just decide to stay away on election day in favour of neutrality.

If the younger set of the Malay population is voting, Dyana may have an even better chance.

A fair scenario will be one that is neutral giving Dyana  the 25% votes from  hard-core supporters of Parti Keadilan and PAS as well as potential disgruntled drop-outs from UMNO and possibly MCA.

Thirdly, what about the Indian votes of some 11% of the electorate?

The picture is vastly different from May 5 last year.

Hindraf has left the BN in a huff.

Palineval is at the helm at MIC.

To most observers, this can be advantageous to Dyana if the Hindraf voters, feeling cheated, may vote Dyana in revenge or in protest. Also, Palineval does not come across as an MIC leader of stature;  influential enough to sway a majority of the Indian voters, much less his own MIC members.

As the Indians continue to be the poorest of Malaysians; particularly in the plantations and in the urban areas eking out a living as jaga kereta boys, lorry drivers, corporate drivers, car washers, factory hands and other menial jobs that foreign labour  have slowly crept in to compete, it is likely, on balance, that the Indians will be averse to support Mah or the BN in favour of  Dyana.

The bet here is more Indians will vote opposition or even stay away from the voting booths. This will favour Dyana as traditionally, Indian voters support BN.

Firebrand Anwar for Dyana

Let's us look at Mah as the first votes will be cast come tomorrow.

Tested and of known quantity, the Chinese voters know fully well what he cannot do. At best, it is to give them lip service as a BN component party leader. As for representing the interests of the populace of Teluk Intan, he is limited in his verbal freedom and its parameters. He has to faithfully  tow the BN line or else face the harsh whiplashes of the unforgiving Barisan Whip!

Nothing significant will come from him if he gets voted in. Also, in consolation and to his detriment, he can always be made a senator if he loses as that is the safety net given for all BN party supremos! To an extent, this expectation and fact can grievously do him in.

As mentioned above, for the Malay voters,  Mah will be supported IF they vote on party lines. If UMNO continues to appear weak, the Malays will ignore him for obvious reasons and not come near the polling stations right until they closed.

Moreover, the Indians will see no great advantage voting in a has-been Gerakan Party which is dominated by Chinese, almost lock-stock and barrel after the fatal aftermath of 13th GE. As such, it is quite clear how the ordinary Indian voters will vote as there is no love lost between Mighty Mah and the Indian community.

Verdict:

Given my gut-feeling and simplistic arguments, it will be a fair fight given that both candidates have  credence and potential to profit Teluk Intan voters in some small way or another.

With token support from BN parties, Mah can bring in federal and state finance and some development projects. I doubt, it will be significant or long term. Possibly, marginal.

As with all Opposition candidates that won seats at both state and federal levels, traditional Opposition areas will support DAP candidates irrespective of their race or origin like in Bukit Gelugor! They also do not expect them to do much but to vehemently voice out their grievances and to fight gross BN injustices!

So, I give my 5 sen worth to Dyana that she will have one good fighting chance to fell the Gerakan Goliath in Teluk Intan come this Saturday, 31 May 2014.

But results can be perverse!