Dyana Loses in Maiden Attempt in Teruk Intan

For a Better Tomorrow

Despite the adverse circumstances of having to fight the humongous BN election machinery, Dyana lost by a whisker of only 238 votes.

Not  Leaving DAP

The DAP may yet contest the close call after a post mortem.

 A Whisker Loss Won't Daunt Her!

The end result-the last nail in the Gerakan coffin has been averted and Mah will ascend into a glorious Cabinet position. It will be a boon to him and much less for the people of Teluk Intan.

As they say, you deserve the leaders you choose and so this the case with Teluk Intan for the next 4 years or so.

A 238 Whisker win for this political Fat Cat

Interestingly, can he fulfill all his lofty election promises particularly the setting up of a university in northern Perak?

Grooming My Baby Politically

As for Dyana, her victory in defeat will certainly be a stepping stone for her  to the next political challenge whether in the party or in the polls.

The experience garnered in this maiden fight will stand in good stead for her  in the coming years.

Aftermath 2020

After all, she is just a tender 27 years old!

For Mah, he should be magnanimous in victory for winning by baited breath!

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?