Appealing directly to his former constituents in small groups rather than to hold a mammoth ceramah, is the strategy adopted by incumbent Segamat MP Dr S Subramaniam.

NONESubramaniam (left, in photo), who is taking on PKR's Chua Jui Meng, said meeting small communities was a tried and proven BN approach, which has been used for the last 56 years.

"We are not like Pakatan Rakyat who gather several hundreds for ceramah. Our approach is more effective," said the 60-year-old MIC deputy president.

"If we want to mobilise people like them (Pakatan), we could do it easily, but that is not our approach."

While Subramaniam acknowledged that BN was not perfect, he maintained it was their best bet for continuous development.

He also pointed out that BN was a more multiracial coalition than Pakatan.

At a ceramah in Jementah last week, Chua attracted more than 300 Chinese villagers.

He acknowledged that Segamat was considered a BN fortress, but he was working hard to win as it would affect other BN stronghold seats nationwide.

In 2008, Subramaniam defeated DAP's Pang Hok Liong with a 2,991-vote majority.

There are 41,115 voters in Segamat comprising 45.64 percent Chinese, 44.4 percent Malays and 9.96 percent others.

Meanwhile, Segamat residents offered mixed reactions when asked who they preferred.

- The Malay Mail