Is Pakatan going to Putrajaya or Balik Kampung?

In the aftermath of the two by-elections which BN won handsomely, suddenly everybody seemed to know what had gone wrong with Pakatan. Literally everybody; from the dishwasher, the Ah Long, the fruits seller, the mamak selling roti canai, the office staff and his manager, the old Ah Pek gossiping in the coffee shop, the housewife…you ask them and without hesitation; they’ll tell you one thousand reasons why Pakatan lost.

Everyone had somehow become a person of wisdom. Some have basis and some don’t. So, with humility, allow me to share my “wisdom”. This is not a post mortem; just my “coffee shop” talk…

Batu Sapi has been a two-term BN stronghold and it still is. The two challengers who came to evict the lion from its den obviously thought they were dealing with a pussycat. Well, shy and gentle housewife Linda Tsen turned out to be anything but a pussycat. The person who should have been there; but was not; was Jeffery Kittingan, the numero uno of PKR Sabah. Strange that the contest was held right there on his turf and he wasn’t there to give moral support. If your own boss is not even here to support you, that’s saying a lot. Whatever his reasons, that was the first mistake; - underestimating the enemy.

From the beginning, Ansari, a lawyer from Tuaran, was not the locals’ choice. They had wanted PKR to field the Sabah PKR liaison chief, Ahmad Thamrin. Nope; that’s not going to happen, said Anwar. What can be worst than to reject the “people’s choice”? That’s the second mistake - not listening to the rakyat.

Saying the wrong things seems to be the forte of PKR nowadays. Ansari, in his own words, “I’ve never work THIS hard in my entire life!” What?!! So, it looks like he was NOT looking forward to work hard for the Batu Sapi folks if he had won! What a thing to say! It would have probably made more sense if he had said, “I’m working very hard to educate the local folks on the need for a strong opposition and I’ll work even harder to address the various needs of our Batu Sapi folks. The day I’m elected, I will stay here, and live here, and work here – and THAT is a promise I will fulfill!”

Admittedly, the late Edmund Chong, my sincere condolences, must have done a good job to hand such a resounding victory to BN and to a lady who has literally nothing to show except being a housewife. As for T L Yong, his meager harvest should tell him where his political future lies.

Galas is another turf waiting to be taken. BN played their cards well by NOT having Najib led the assault. KuLi, although with BN, is a person the Kelantanese somehow view as a “friendly foe”. The on-going fight with the federal government on the “oil royalties for Kelantan” issue has won him much respect even among PAS members. HE was the reason why PAS lost Galas.

Let’s go back a little bit…back to 08 March 2008…

07/11/10