Congratulations to Datuk Mah for his win! It was a narrow win, a hard-fought win nonetheless. He will have to work hard if he wants to keep it come next elections. Dyana actually didn't fare too badly for a greenhorn. Depending on DAP's internal politics and Lim Kit Siang's grand plan, this could either be her first or last foray as a candidate.
If I were a voter, I would have chosen Datuk Mah over Dyana. Well, call me old fashioned or "stupid" (like Anwar Ibrahim likes to call those Chinese who vote for BN), but a fresh-grad, 20+ year old girl just doesn't inspire much confidence. I feel that she is too inexperienced, even requiring the DAP elders to babysit her during PCs. But then again, she's not the first youngster to be groomed by Lim Kit Siang to protect his son's throne.
This by-election result showed us a few things:
1. It was DAP's experiment to gauge how much of the Malay votes can be swayed by fielding a Malay girl. Right now, DAP has only 2 Malay MPs from DAP, Bukit Bendera – Zairil Khir Johari and Raub - Mohd Ariff Sabri bin Abdul Aziz. Both won in Chinese majority seats.
( According to Lim Guan Eng: "Race is still relevant in elections, but we are trying to make it irrelevant," Guan Eng, the DAP secretary-general, told The Malaysian Insider in reference to the Chinese-based party's push for more Malay candidates. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/race-age-stand-in-the-way-of-daps-new-politics#sthash.TCEu7ZVE.dpuf )
Ironically, the results show that many Chinese (about 65% of Chinese voters) voted for a Malay girl. And presumably many Malays voted for a Chinese man. The only issue I can see is the general disdain the Malays have towards DAP, which has also affected the Malay support for PAS & PKR. If DAP is really serious about making race irrelevant, it's easier to swap seats with PAS.
2. If Dyana had won, DAP will be able to attract many more young Malays to join the party because they will stand a better chance to further their political careers. Since DAP is trying to appear more multi-racial, these young Malays will be groomed and fast-tracked to contest in seats where Malay-Chinese majority are marginal. The result from this by-election will probably require them to rethink their plans.
3. The fact that DAP could field anyone they fancy and still manages to get about 50% of the total votes shows us that Pakatan Rakyat supporters, specifically DAP ones, will still vote anything DAP dishes out to them. I'm actually curious to see what their next serving would look like.
4. A lot of opinions have been given by all and sundry as to the reason for DAP's lost. But I suspect the major reason is the sabotage by the unhappy Teluk Intan/Perak DAP grassroots for fielding an unknown newcomer as a candidate, thus depriving other more senior leaders their chance. Someone like this guy, perhaps?
They say DAP would definitely win if this guy was chosen to contest. Probably. He is a bit of a celebrity with the Chinese youths and should be able to win them over easily. The Chinese are reportedly very much impressed with his eloquent use of adjectives during his colourful speeches. If elected, he will most certainly be in good company...
Anyway, judging by the responses from the BN camp, it's obvious that this win was a real morale booster for them. On the other hand, this has broken DAPs momentum of clean sweeps... Overall, DAP still has the Chinese in their back pocket, but lately, the percentage has reduced. Could be the water and hudud issue. But it can be easily fixed come next election... I wonder if it's Lim Guan Eng's turn to go bald? I doubt his wife would be keen to have her mane shorn in a Chinese temple every 5 years.
For variety, maybe this?
Hopefully, common sense and logic would prevail among the people from now on... but I have my doubts.
Teluk Intan by-election: Barisan wins by 238 votes
Saturday May 31, 2014 MYT 10:11:14 PM
PETALING JAYA: It was a cliff-hanger ending for the Teluk Intan by-election with Barisan Nasional's Datuk Mah Siew Keong winning by 238 votes.
The Gerakan chief garnered 20,157 votes against his opponent DAP's Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, who had 19,919 votes. There were 543 spoilt votes.
It was a close fight with both sides leading at various stage of the count, but Mah emerged victorious in the end.
DAP appears to have conceded defeat in a tweet via @dapmalaysia acknowledging that Barisan had won by more than 500 votes.
Mah's win is a major upset because the incumbent was DAP, which had won Teluk Intan with a majority of more than 7,000 votes in the 13th general election.
Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said there were 40,236 voters or 66.67% turnout in the by-election, including early voters.
- http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/05/31/Teluk-Intan-Mah-wins/
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