The polling stations in Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Batang Ai will open in a few hours. Not many by-elections can claim the same importance and significance as the ones that will be held today. In normal time, by-elections are usually a formality and are barely contested, if at all. But this is not a normal time for Malaysia. Since the March 2008 general elections the country has experienced a strong ripple through its socio-political landscape. Note that I mention " a strong ripple" and not a more powerful metaphor like "tidal wave" or "earthquake." It's because the rippling waves have yet to turn into an earth-shattering tsunami, but it will be very soon. These by-elections will be the beginning of the end for the ruling establishment i.e. Barisan Nasional (BN).
The good citizens of Bukit Gantang in Perak will vote convincingly for Pakatan Rakyat's candidate, Nizar Jamaluddin, thus squashing any illegitimate claims BN currently has on the Perak's state government. Bukit Selambau in Kedah will be hotly contested but I predict that Pakatan can eke out a win here especially now that Hindraf is back in the Pakatan camp and has pledged to unite behind one Indian candidate. The Opposition candidate is also helped by the defection of some senior leaders from the Indian-dominated People's Progressive Party (PPP) to Pakatan, which I'm sure will bring more Indian votes to the Opposition camp.
The shocker will be in Batang Ai, Sarawak. Many people, including yours truly, have predicted that Batang Ai will remain in BN's hands despite strong challenges from the Opposition. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Pakatan can manage a squeaker here. It will ultimately boil down to either the people of Batang Ai will throw their votes behind a personality or the party. Jawah Gerang, the Opposition candidate in Batang Ai, used to be a very popular BN candidate before he saw the light and switched party. The key is whether voters will choose him as a trustworthy and caring person regardless of his party affiliation or as someone who can be trusted to deliver the development goods, in which case he's not because he's now with the Opposition. I hope the people will make the right choice.
On the lighter (and crass) note, a friend of mine called these by-elections "the titty-fuck elections" because they involve two "bukits" and one "batang." Okay, it's a tad bit graphic but it's still a creative use of metaphor in a political context. I only wish I can use the term "titty-fuck elections" in my academic writings...
2 comments:
hahaha i was wondering how you got the term titty fuck to apply to something so boring and pencil necked like an election.
do you know that i wasnt even aware that we have a new PM until a friend in London wrote on facebook? God bless facebook... who needs the news!
rocket
Sometimes it's the boring and mundane that brings out the creativity in people. To spice things up a bit, you know. Or some people just are just perverts who cannot see the world beyond tits and dicks hahaha...
Gosh, how can you miss all the media frenzy that surrounded the recent UMNO annual general meeting? I cannot even sneeze without hitting on something or somebody that talks about the UMNO AGM and the change of leadership. It gets to point where I was so sick of it and started telling people that "What's the big fuckin' deal? Wake me up when UMNO is finally disbanded and disappeared from the face of the Earth!"
Anyway, I do get a lot of my news from FB also. Like the latest post about the 15th anniversary of Cobain's death, which somehow slipped by my mind.
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