Police escort for Waytha after Johor ceramah

DAY 13
What's happening during the election campaigns around the country today? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.

[PHOTO GALLERY]

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10.31pm - Gelang Patah: A standoff has been going on for some 30 minutes after Waythamoorthy finishes his speech as the protesters refuse to let him leave the venue unless he agrees to talk to them.

Johor Bahru Utara district police chief ACP Ruslan Hassan arrives with more men in blue and they form two human walls to keep the two groups about 20m apart.

Waythamoorthy stays in his Toyota Camry at one end while the protesters shout "Waythamoorthy traitor! Waythamoorthy traitor!" at the other end.

Rather than dispersing the protesters, Ruslan is trying to broker a solution between the two camps.
Soon afterwards, Waythamoorthy leaves the premises with a police escort as  the FRU arrives.

10.00pm - Bentong, Pahang: Despite a heavy downpour, some 5000 people stand on a muddy football field listening to a DAP ceramah.

DAP Bentong parliamentary candidate Wong Tack says the downpour is auspicious, because it "bersih" (cleanses) the skies of Bentong - alluding a win for the opposition.

"This is the first time I see umbrellas flourishing on the field. Very beautiful.

"We will unite and work hard to form a new country on May 5!" he tells the crowd who shout "Wong Tack" several times.

One of the attendees, Yeok Jah, says she stayed to show support for Wong.

"I want to show the people's voice. This is for the next generation, we don't want Lynas, or a cyanide gold mine," the Himpunan Hijau clad housewife says from under her umbrella.

She admits that incumbent Bentong MP Liow Tiong Lai is a nice guy but opines Wong will win the sleepy hollow of Bentong.

Among the speakers are PAS deputy president Mohammad Sabu, DAP Wanita chief Chong Eng, DAP Bilut state candidate Chow Yu Hui, Ketari state candidate Lee Chin Chen and PAS Pelangai state candidate Abdul Hamid Bahatim.
9.15pm - Gelang Patah: A scuffle breaks out when some 10 individuals attempt to stop Hindraf chief P Waythamoorthy when he is about to take the stage to address some 300 Indian residents at Taman Nesa, Skudai.

However some 30 policemen immediately move in to stop supporters of both sides from clashing and drag the group away from the tent where the ceramah is held.

The ceramah is on the Hindraf blueprint which caretaker Premier Najib Abdul Razak has signed recently, a move which prompts Waythamoorthy and his followers to support BN in this general election.

The group which tries to disrupt the event is led by K Selvakumaran, who is a PKR member.

"I just want to ask him a question, who is he to represent Indians? Who give him permission to lead Hindraf?

"We came in nicely but the Hindraf people stopped us," he says.

Some feel that Waythamoorthy, who was in the UK when the government cracked down on the movement in 2007, and only came back to Malaysia before this general polls, has betrayed the Indian community by supporting BN.

"He can join BN but don't influence our people!" another man shouts.

"Ubah (change)! Ubah! Ubah! Bodoh (stupid)! Bodoh! Bodoh!" they continue to shout, some 100m away from the tent while Waythamoorthy is giving his speech to the attendees.

Waythamoorthy calls on the audience to support Johor BN chief Abdul Ghani Othman who is contesting Gelang Patah against DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

"Reject Lim Kit Siang!" he says.

8.30pm - Segamat: Some 5,000 people crowd a field in Segamat to see DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang speak.

Lim notes the recent death of an elderly man in Segamat due to injuries sustained during a robbery and pledge to improve the police force if Pakatan takes over the federal government.

"It is not that our police is not capable of carrying out their duties but political interference from the government (is hindering them)," he said.
8.10pm - Segamat: The granddaughter of a man who was assaulted in his own home during a robbery and who died two days later in a hospital yesterday - an incident which has been widely reported in the Chinese press - takes the stage in a DAP ceramah at the Segamat town.

"I do not side with any particular political party, but after the incident, my family contacted (BN's incumbent and Jementah candidate) Lee Hong Tee (right in photo).

"His reply was: You are within the parliamentary constituency of Sekijang, it has nothing to do with me," says the teary teenage girl as the crowd gasps collectively.

The Segamat town is divided in its middle between the parliamentary constituency of Segamat and Sekijang. Jementah is a state seat under Segamat.

7.00pm - Penang: State BN chief Teng Chang Yeow has lodged a police report in Bukit Tengah after his operation centre in Juru received a mystery box containing a dead chicken and a "threatening" note.

Teng, who is BN's Bukit Tengah candidate, says he lodged the report to protect his safety and that of his family.

He adds that the note contains a message directed to him reading, "If you refuse to withdraw from the election, this is what you and your family will face".

According to People’s Progressive Party Batu Kawan division chief T Muniandy, someone knocked the door of the operation centre which is located on the second level of the building, but at the time, he had been talking to another staff.

"We told the person who knocked the door that we are coming. When we opened the door, a Chinese man wearing a helmet put the box on the floor and left the scene quicky," says Muniandy.

"I did not see the face of the man, but I remember that he was wearing jeans," he adds.

Muniandy then contacted the police, and they came to the scene after the incident occured at about 4pm.

5.30pm - Pasir Gudang: Incumbent Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin has skirted a question on whether BN will be taking responsibility and apologise over the alleged molestation incident that occured at the Southern University College on Monday.

"If it indeed happened, let the law take it to case," he says when asked by reporters after attending a function in Pasir Gudang this afternoon.

Khaled (centre of photo) - who is contesting the Permas state seat and is touted as the potential Johor menteri besar should BN recapture the southern state - urges the two female students to lodge a police report over the incident.

He says this can allow the police and enforcement authorities to initiate the investigation into the matter.

4.15pm - Klang: Incumbent Klang MP Charles Santiago is complaining of incidents of vote-buying in the Pandamaran area.

He claims that between 9am and 10am yesterday, a trailer stopped at the constituency and distributed bags of rice in blue 1Malaysia bags that prominently displayed an ‘x’ mark beside BN’s logo.

Santiago in a statement says this makes a mockery of incumbent Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's integrity pledge, which he signed with Transparency International-Malaysia, where among others, includes a pledge that neither money nor items will be used to fish for votes during the election period.

"I want the Election Commission to do something about it as these are instances of buying votes by giving (away) rice," he says, showing several pictures purportedly taken at the scene.

4.00pm - Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur: MCA president Chua Soi Lek today rebuts the allegation by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim that the Prime Minister's Office is involved in purported operations to fly in dubious voters from Sabah and Sarawak to the peninsula.

"He (Anwar) is best in lying. If he thought that BN is playing foul, he should just boycott the election."

Chua was asked to comment on the allegation after he attended the ceremony of Tunku Abdul Rahman College, which is being upgraded as a university college.

The ceremony was also attended by BN Wangsa Maju candidate Shafei Abdullah, who faces protests from local MCA grassroots for his candidacy in the seat, which has been traditionally contested by the Chinese based party in the elections.

3.30pm - Lenggeng, Negri Sembilan: Posters of Independent candidate for the Lenggeng state seat Zulkifli Abdullah are seen featuring the ‘1Malaysia’ logo.

According to one of his supporters met at his campaign centre, Zulkifli is an Independent who supports BN.

He himself supports Zulkifli because the latter is a local candidate.

“If he wins, we Indians will get to ‘eat porridge’ a bit,” he says, asserting that the life of Indians in the area would be better if the pro-BN Independent candidate wins.

3.15pm - Lenggeng, Negri Sembilan: BN polls workers have been spotted putting up flags around the town of Ulu Beranang, Lenggeng.

However, it is noted that posters for the party candidate are not put up together with the flags.

“We just received the flags at 7pm last night,” a polls worker says.

It was previously reported that the BN candidate, Seremban Umno chief Ishak Ismail, had been rejected by the grassroots in Lenggeng.

When asked on BN's chances of victory, the worker replies, “I don't know what to say. We'll see how our struggle goes afterwards”.

3.00pm - Tamparuli, Sabah: Tuaran PKR deputy division chief Gaibin Ransoi has urged the party leadership to sack division chief Ansari Abdullah for endorsing Independent candidates, including the latter's daughter Erveanna.

Flanked by division committee members, he notes that the division declares support for Pakatan Rakyat ally APS president Wilfred Bumburing, who is contesting Tuaran on the PKR ticket.

"We also want the PKR leadership to withdraw letters of termination issued by Ansari to several PKR division leaders who did not support him in fielding his daughter against Bumburing.

"There are no legal grounds for these leaders to be sacked... (instead,) Ansari should be sacked immediately," he says at a press conference.

The 'Tuaran mutiny' is weighing down on Bumburing's quest to retain the seat, which he won in 2008 on the Upko ticket.

1.40pm - Perak: Kuala Kangsar Independent candidate Kamilia Ibrahim says an Independent MP is truly the voice of the people as he or she is not tied to any party line.

“They can act as an agent of the people who are truly transparent, because they are not tied to any party policy,” says the former Umno Wanita deputy chief on her Facebook.

Kamilia (left) laments that as a party member a rep is not free to support another party’s suggestions, even though it is a good one.

“The political foundations of a party is based on the majority voice of its members. This leads to a culture of cronyism and internal sabotage,” she writes.

1.36pm - Kota Kinabalu: A mid-day DAP ceramah at the Hakka Hall on this working day attracts a surprising 1,000 people, including those in office attire.

As the seats fill up, about 100 are seen standing throughout star speaker Hew Kuan Yew's (in black T-shirt) speech - which lasted for over 30 minutes.

The DAP collected RM21,050 this afternoon, more than double the amount that was collected at Grand Port View where they had hosted a dinner on Tuesday night.

The campaign momentum in Kota Kinabalu is quickly picking up, but so are smear campaigns.

One victim is DAP's Likas candidate Junz Wong (right), who is going against SAPP president Yong Teck Lee and two others.

Photos are circulating in the social media alleging that Wong is a womaniser, apparently having even impregnated and abandoned a woman from Inanam.

"I am grateful that some people think I'm a rising star in politics, but I am not Andy Lau or Edison Chen to have been able to have slept with so many women," the twenty-something quipped when asked to comment on the matter today.

12.25pm - Segamat: The National Union of Bank Employees (Nube) continues its second day of picketing in Segamat - beginning at 11am today - but was then asked by the police to disperse some 90 minutes later.

The 200 red-clad picketers, like yesterday, were met with a counter-protest by BN even though their numbers are significantly smaller today, at around 10.

About 10 Light Strike Force officers are also deployed at the scene as a precaution.

Nube plans to hold another two-hour picket later today, but is unsure whether the police would allow the go-ahead after today's early dispersal.

11.45am - Ipoh: Caretaker Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir arrives at Terminal Aman Jaya to visit the newly-built bus terminal.

At a press conference after the visit, Zambry (right) comments on the progress of BN's campaign in Perak, which has been running smoothly.

What is important, he says, is to maintain the peace and stability in a government.

"Everything that is done must have an objective. What is most important is to form a government which is stable and peaceful," he stresses.

When asked whether he was confident that BN would get a two-thirds majority, Zambry replies: "Insha Allah, we will work towards this objective."

11.25am - Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party chief Yong Teck Lee had reportedly stormed a Pakatan Rakyat ceramah with a group of supporters last night.

He confronted Sabah PKR security, immigration, and electoral reform bureau chief Dr Chong Eng Leong who was speaking at the time and challenged him to a debate.

Yong was supposedly unhappy that Chong had linked him to ‘Project IC’, an alleged citizenship-for-votes scheme that took place in Sabah around the early 1990s.

The police intervened to diffuse the situation, and the two spent the rest of the ceramah sitting side-by-side, amid sporadic boos and shouts of “Debate!”.

11.20am - Labis: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang begins his blitz across the Labis parliamentary constituency.

At Bekok, a small and ageing town in Labis, Lim is seen telling the locals that for the first time, Johor - including Bekok - wields the power to decide the federal government.

"Even the Japanese media is here, this is how important Bekok is, it is not only Malaysia who is watching you, but also the world.

"If you have relatives in Japan, they will be surprised when they see news about Bekok there," he adds.

Several excited local villagers later decide to pose for photographs with the Japanese media.

10.00am - Sibu: DAP Lanang candidate Alice Lau has lodged a police report over a posting in Facebook alleging she has bought a total of 999 votes.

She describes that the details posted as fakes.

Meanwhile, a protestor at yesterday’s Lanang bridge demonstration found his car scratched today.

He believes it to be the act of someone unhappy with his presence at the protest, where he related how he had been forced to move out of the area after being forced to pay RM32 daily to use the tolled bridge.

He had lodged a  report at Sibu central police station and says he will not be deterred from fighting for justice.
8.00am - Sibu: BN Lanang candidate Tiong Thai King had filed a report yesterday over online news and Facebook postings alleging attempts of vote buying.

One Facebook posting on April 24 alleged he had bought 5,000 votes for RM5 million.

According to Sin Chew Daily, another posting on April 29 alleged he bought 596 postal votes, while whistleblower website Sarawak Report has reported him purchasing votes for RM1,000 each.

He had urged the police to investigate the source of the reports.
7.30am - Temerloh: A plastic bag filled with a chicken head and what appears to be its blood, is discovered on the front porch of the homestay accommodation of PAS' Temerloh candidate Nasruddin Hassan in Taman Sri Semantan.
His officer Yusuf Siddiq says the bag was spotted at about 7 this morning and is believed to have been thrown onto the porch anytime between 3am and 7am.

"A threatening note reading 'Take this pig's blood' was also found in the bag," he tells reporters in a SMS.

A police report is currently being lodged.

Nasruddin, who is also PAS Youth chief, is facing incumbent deputy higher education minister Saifuddin Abdullah.