NO matter how hard they tried, politicians from both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat could not supplant the relaxed vibe of Kuala Terengganu. And so the calm mood persisted into the morning of polling day, 17 Jan, even as the cloudy weather of late gave way to a rare sunny day. All across the […]
What about women?
By Women's Candidacy InitiativeTHE Women’s Candidacy Initiative (WCI) notes with concern the manner in which the Kuala Terengganu by-elections were run by both the Barisan National (BN) and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) candidates. There was so much focus on race, hudud laws, and distributive justice vis-a-vis the state of Terengganu and the Federation of Malaysia. Voter on polling […]
RM300 “gift” for reporters (Updated)
By Danny Lim(Updated 9:45pm, 16 Jan 2009) L-r: Ong Boon Keong, from Mafrel, Chan Wei See, Chen Shaua Fui and Haris Ibrahim at the poilice station KUALA TERENGGANU, 16 Jan 2009: The Information Ministry today denied making any payment to journalists covering the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election, polling for which is tomorrow. The press secretary to the […]
Swing time in Kuala Terengganu
By Deborah LohA man peers over his shoulder outside Pasar Payang (All pics by Lainie Yeoh, unless otherwise noted) SATURDAY, 17 Jan 2009, is D-Day for Kuala Terengganu, but things are no clearer as to which way the votes will go. Trying to understand how voters here decide has been an intriguing exercise. Despite enthusiastic responses to […]
Why just hudud?
By Jacqueline Ann SurinIT is understandably very easy to demonise PAS for its Islamic state agenda. After all, the party leadership seems quite adept at declaring its intentions to implement some features of an Islamic state, such as hudud, at the most inopportune moments. In a global climate of Islamophobia and because of Muslims acting out of a […]
R for Run
By Amir MuhammadRun if you want toRun across the worldRun if you want toWithout wings, without wheels. Amir Muhammad is a writer, publisher and moviemaker who lives in Damansara, which is more of a state of mind than geography. Amir’s Alphabet will have 26 parts but will not be presented in order, as he was never a […]
Balas budi promises in KT
By Danny Lim and Deborah LohBALAS budi. That is how Barisan Nasional (BN) has been aggressively wooing Chinese Malaysian voters in the final leg of campaigning for the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Nearly every night, dinners are held together with karaoke sessions, lucky draws and cultural shows. In between the merry-making, BN leaders drop in to exhort the crowd to vote […]
Positive and negative campaigning
By Danny Lim and Deborah LohBOTH Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional (BN) have taken different approaches with their ceramahs in Kuala Terengganu’s by-election. Those on PAS candidate Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut’s campaign team repeatedly raise topics like the perceived abuses of power by BN and the issue of oil royalty. Among these supporters are blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin and Lembah […]
Getting the message across in KT
By Deborah Loh
ELECTION ceramahs are always interesting to attend not just to listen to the speakers, but to see who else shows up. Chinese Malaysians attending a PAS event always raise eyebrows, because they are traditionally seen as Barisan Nasional supporters. Their presence is even more interesting in the Kuala Terengganu by-election where they are said to […]
Politicising Islam in KT
By Deborah LohBN poster on religious classes THE use of religion is a given in any election campaign that involves the ruling Umno and the Islamist opposition, PAS. It’s no different in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election, where Islam is used as a selling point on the Malay-Muslim majority in the constituency, who comprise 88.13% of the […]
