Sg Siput: A trying time for PSM

MIC supremo and the BN's incumbent candidate for the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, S Samy Vellu belts out his campaign policy in the form of vernacular pop music, blasted through loudspeakers, which shatters the stillness of this otherwise languid plantation town.

His team also stages brightly-lit concerts every night, often simultaneously in various locations throughout the constituency, drawing in large crowds comprising local youth who hardly look old enough to ride their motorcycles, let alone vote.

The BN veteran's main rival is social activist Dr D Jeyakumar, from the yet-to-be-registered Parti Sosialis Malaysia, who is running on a Keadilan ticket. The latter's ceramahs highlight land issues, farmers' and workers' rights, and the poverty of the underclass.

Also in the fray for the seat is DAP's Ponmugam Ponnan, a lawyer and former MIC member from Kuala Lumpur.

Jeyakumar's ceramahs also address the deep-seated problems facing the Indian community how they are under-represented in education and jobs, but over-represented in crime and poverty - and the failures of MIC's Samy Vellu, a politician who has claimed leadership of the community for over two decades.

Ceramahs by both candidates draw in the crowds. But the contrast between them could not be more apparent than at Kampung Baru Jalong, where both the BN and PSM operations rooms sit along the same row of shop houses.

On Wednesday night, both took to holding events on their respective makeshift stages, taking advantage of the weekly pasar malam held on the street fronting their offices.

Despite distractions from the neighbouring BN stage, about 1,000 individuals gathered in attentive silence as PSM speakers stepped up onto their stage to make their case.

Occasionally, the crowd would laugh and cheer like for instance when local Keadilan leader Amiruddin Mohd Sukri said: "This is a time to vote our leaders, not a time for entertainment and amusement. If we want to be entertained, we will head to the cinema!"

But gone is the hearty response that the opposition could easily tap during the reformasi years. Now, when urged on by speakers, the crowd would no doubt chant 'reformasi' but the tempo is slow, the spirit weak. It is as though many here have not made up their minds.

Occasionally though, the temperature rises. Like when a local Chinese farmer took to the stage to remind the crowd of the kind of red tape and unfulfilled promises that face Sungai Siput's landless community.

"It is all lies. Every year, the menteri besar tells us he will grant us our land lease, but it never happens. Then they tell us we need an SPM certificate to make this and that application. What rot are they talking about? What, you come and tell us that we need to show that we sat for the SPM? We don't know these things!

"We are farmers, all we know is how to work the land. What good are you if you cannot even fulfill the most basic promises you dish out every year?" thundered the man in a mix of Cantonese and Malay.

Less than five metres away and using a more fiery means of attraction fireworks BN was equally successful in claiming the attention of young families and retirees. And in another part of town that night, celebrity DJ Dave entertained the crowd on behalf of Samy Vellu.

The power and the backing the BN had was on obvious display that night right from VIPs present including Ipoh mayor Sirajuddin Salleh to the various private companies which sponsored BN's campaign paraphernalia.

The BN is backed by business and money, and they have no qualms showing it, noted an observer.

Uncertainties over the constituency's electoral roll have also surfaced. PSM has claimed to have found evidence of non-residents brought in all the way from Ipoh, to vote in the last elections.

In fact, the Election Commission in late 2000 agreed with complaints raised by the party and ended up purging 320 individuals from Sungai Siput voters' lists.

Jeyakumar's problems are further compounded with the presence of opposition DAP, which serves to confuse voters since Jeyakumar had run under DAP's banner in the last elections.

"Older folk still think he is running for the Rocket," said a PSM campaigner who has been helping out with house-to house visits in the Chinese new villages.

In addition to the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, DAP is also contesting the two state seats in the constituency, Lintang and Jalong.

A local observer pointed out that Chinese voters in Sungai Siput, making up the majority at 41.4 percent, are used to voting for 'The Rocket' and would be comfortable with the party if they ever wanted to vote in the opposition.

The next largest electorate comprise the Malays, accounting for 31.4 percent. But even with a Keadilan ticket, there are as yet no indications that PSM will draw in the Malay support.

But PAS, which is fielding a candidate in Lintang, feels that they may benefit from protest votes arising from acrimonious bickering within Umno ranks during the run-up to nomination day.

Apparently four Umno individuals were lined up for the seat but the man selected was Ahmad Pakeh Adam, an elderly candidate who does not appeal to the party's more youthful members.

To date, PSM has mainly concentrated its work among the plantation workers, who are predominantly Indians - comprising 22.5 percent of the total voters in Sungai Siput - and the residents of Chinese new villages. With two more days to go before polling, PSM is unlikely to cover any more ground beyond these two groups.

Last night, the party brought in a political personality Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Keadilan president and wife of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Garbed not in her usual turquoise scarf but in a red one over a black baju kurung in respectful reflection of PSM colours, she spoke on taxes, economic leakages, equitable distribution of wealth and the high profit margins of public companies.

"Anwar, if you remember was once finance minister and used to say when you lower the tax, many more will pay because fewer will choose run away from it. There will be fewer leakages," she told a large crowd

And in an obvious jibe at Works Minister Samy Vellu, she added: "Why build all these highways and flyovers when the people cannot afford cars?"

"We want to feel our country cares for us. A strong opposition is a strong voice for the people. Vote for Dr Jeyakumar," she said in ending the night's session amidst loud cheers.

While the odds seem stacked against PSM, their attentive ceramah crowds do suggest a fighting chance.

However, if Samy Vellu brings in more local pop stars like DJ Dave, will PSM also need to shore up its political personalities quotient too? A ridiculous 'apples or oranges' comparison but that's just how the electoral competition is shaping up.

Traditional farming towns such as Sungai Siput are in desperate need of an injection of jobs as field work has dwindled following the conversion of rubber plantations into machinery-run palm oil estates.

The BN's development lure, promised by newly-minted prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is therefore tempting for the folk here.