Still Beauty vs Veteran after nine days?
Lawrence YongPublished: May 28, 2014 8:10 AM | Updated: May 28, 2014 1:53 PM
TELUK INTAN Even after nine days of campaigning, the main differences between Teluk Intan by-election candidates Mah Siew Keong and Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud do not seem to move beyond cosmetics for many - a contest between a young beauty and a veteran with some power.
TELUK INTAN Even after nine days of campaigning, the main differences between Teluk Intan by-election candidates Mah Siew Keong and Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud do not seem to move beyond cosmetics for many - a contest between a young beauty and a veteran with some power.
Gerakan president Mah sells himself to voters as a potential cabinet minister, while Dyana charms many as a fresh, young 27-year-old Malay candidate. In between, BN and even DAP leaders go all out to tear down and throw dirt on each other’s candidates.
“Where are the issues?” asks Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) lecturer Mohammad Agus Yusoff.
“A campaign is not supposed to be like this... personal attacks, hatred, unprofessional competition, arrogant display of power and playing up race and religion issues.”
With polling day being three days away, the intense BN campaigning in Teluk Intan will largely be remembered for its focus on Dyana’s past association with Malay rights group Perkasa - and whether her beauty is up to the mark.
Umno ministers from Khairy Jamaluddin to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have all taken a poke at Dyana’s features, ranging from “it’s not a beauty contest” to “she is really not so attractive in person”.
Even ageing former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik chimed in yesterday with a comment that Dyana was “not as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor”.
Meanwhile, others like Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and even fromer prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil have branded Dyana a “traitor” and commented on her “Malayness” or lack thereof.
“This level of politics is very low. If we are talking about democracy here, I don’t know when we can move to another level of politics because the attitude is just not right,” Agus told Malaysiakini.
However, Monash University Malaysia’s political scientist James Chin disagreed with Agus, saying that Dyana was actually the issue and the BN had responded accordingly.
DAP had put Dyana, a young upstart who has only been a political secretary to Lim Kit Siang for less than a year, as a parliamentary candidate because the party hoped it can break away from being seen as an opposition party of only Chinese members, Chin said.
“It is a special election because it is DAP’s attempt to get a foot into the door to the Malay community,” he told Malaysiakini.
“The local people know that the vote has national repercussions... it is about DAP turning into a truly Malaysian party.”
‘Dyana alarmed Umno’
Chin noted that Dyana had alarmed Umno when she started drawing young Malays during her early ceramah sessions.
If the young Malay voters, the true kingmakers of GE14, could be drawn to DAP, then BN’s race-centred politics will crumble, he added.
That is why he is not surprised with the mainstream media’s obsession with Dyana’s involvement with Malay rights NGO Perkasa, rather than her stand on any national or local issue.
“This contest has nothing to do with national issues. The goods and services tax, hudud or cost-of-living issues do not matter because voters know their votes won’t change the federal government this time around,” Chin added.
Besides tearing down her looks and ethnicity, the BN also went for Dyana’s personality. Gerakan leaders called her a “liar” for not fully disclosing her family’s ties to Perkasa.
Dyana at first denied that her mother had anything to do with Perkasa but her mother, Yammy Samat, who is an Umno member, later admitted her past support for the right-wing NGO.
Yammy said that she was among its founding committee members back in 2008. However, under pressure yesterday, Yammy said she would quit Perkasa.
“BN must attack Dyana and question if she is really a ‘1Malaysia candidate’ as DAP says she is or something else... because if she can pull Malay votes, this will be a game changer,” Chin said.
He added that he still expected DAP to win back the Teluk Intan parliament seat but observers will look at the winning margin Dyana can command over Mah as a benchmark for this new DAP strategy.
In GE13, DAP’s Seah Leong Peng defeated Gerakan’s Mah with a majority of more than 7,300 votes. There are 47,000 voters in Teluk Intan.
“If Dyana wins big, you can expect DAP to start fielding more Malay candidates in the next election,” Chin said.
However, UKM’s Agus said he was still worried where this would all lead to.
“You go walk around and a group of supporters from the other party disturbs you. This is not a good example of how political parties are meant to behave,” he said.
‘Neither manifesto has made much impact’
Agus noted that the manifestos of neither Gerakan nor DAP, unveiled this week, have made much impact.
“When Gerakan released its manifesto, the opposition should have tried try to come up with its points of rebuttal. But no, that has not happened,” he said.
A debate on issues, he said, was the way political campaigns typically go on in the West, and this was something worth emulating.
Agus said he would like to see candidates propose more solutions to national problems such as education, wastage, the economy and even the independence of the judiciary.
But while BN ministers threw around promises of better broadband connection, highway projects, new universities and more money for Teluk Intan, DAP and election watchdogs have charged that these were vote-buying attempts.
Gerakan president Mah then distanced himself from these promises. And all Dyana could say in response was that she would make sure BN kept to its promises.
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Gerakan president Mah sells himself to voters as a potential cabinet minister, while Dyana charms many as a fresh, young 27-year-old Malay candidate. In between, BN and even DAP leaders go all out to tear down and throw dirt on each other’s candidates.
“Where are the issues?” asks Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) lecturer Mohammad Agus Yusoff.
“A campaign is not supposed to be like this... personal attacks, hatred, unprofessional competition, arrogant display of power and playing up race and religion issues.”
With polling day being three days away, the intense BN campaigning in Teluk Intan will largely be remembered for its focus on Dyana’s past association with Malay rights group Perkasa - and whether her beauty is up to the mark.
Umno ministers from Khairy Jamaluddin to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have all taken a poke at Dyana’s features, ranging from “it’s not a beauty contest” to “she is really not so attractive in person”.Even ageing former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik chimed in yesterday with a comment that Dyana was “not as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor”.
Meanwhile, others like Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and even fromer prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil have branded Dyana a “traitor” and commented on her “Malayness” or lack thereof.
“This level of politics is very low. If we are talking about democracy here, I don’t know when we can move to another level of politics because the attitude is just not right,” Agus told Malaysiakini.
However, Monash University Malaysia’s political scientist James Chin disagreed with Agus, saying that Dyana was actually the issue and the BN had responded accordingly.
DAP had put Dyana, a young upstart who has only been a political secretary to Lim Kit Siang for less than a year, as a parliamentary candidate because the party hoped it can break away from being seen as an opposition party of only Chinese members, Chin said.
“It is a special election because it is DAP’s attempt to get a foot into the door to the Malay community,” he told Malaysiakini.
“The local people know that the vote has national repercussions... it is about DAP turning into a truly Malaysian party.”
‘Dyana alarmed Umno’
Chin noted that Dyana had alarmed Umno when she started drawing young Malays during her early ceramah sessions.
If the young Malay voters, the true kingmakers of GE14, could be drawn to DAP, then BN’s race-centred politics will crumble, he added.
That is why he is not surprised with the mainstream media’s obsession with Dyana’s involvement with Malay rights NGO Perkasa, rather than her stand on any national or local issue.
“This contest has nothing to do with national issues. The goods and services tax, hudud or cost-of-living issues do not matter because voters know their votes won’t change the federal government this time around,” Chin added.
Besides tearing down her looks and ethnicity, the BN also went for Dyana’s personality. Gerakan leaders called her a “liar” for not fully disclosing her family’s ties to Perkasa.
Dyana at first denied that her mother had anything to do with Perkasa but her mother, Yammy Samat, who is an Umno member, later admitted her past support for the right-wing NGO.Yammy said that she was among its founding committee members back in 2008. However, under pressure yesterday, Yammy said she would quit Perkasa.
“BN must attack Dyana and question if she is really a ‘1Malaysia candidate’ as DAP says she is or something else... because if she can pull Malay votes, this will be a game changer,” Chin said.
He added that he still expected DAP to win back the Teluk Intan parliament seat but observers will look at the winning margin Dyana can command over Mah as a benchmark for this new DAP strategy.
In GE13, DAP’s Seah Leong Peng defeated Gerakan’s Mah with a majority of more than 7,300 votes. There are 47,000 voters in Teluk Intan.
“If Dyana wins big, you can expect DAP to start fielding more Malay candidates in the next election,” Chin said.
However, UKM’s Agus said he was still worried where this would all lead to.
“You go walk around and a group of supporters from the other party disturbs you. This is not a good example of how political parties are meant to behave,” he said.
‘Neither manifesto has made much impact’
Agus noted that the manifestos of neither Gerakan nor DAP, unveiled this week, have made much impact.
“When Gerakan released its manifesto, the opposition should have tried try to come up with its points of rebuttal. But no, that has not happened,” he said.
A debate on issues, he said, was the way political campaigns typically go on in the West, and this was something worth emulating.
Agus said he would like to see candidates propose more solutions to national problems such as education, wastage, the economy and even the independence of the judiciary.
But while BN ministers threw around promises of better broadband connection, highway projects, new universities and more money for Teluk Intan, DAP and election watchdogs have charged that these were vote-buying attempts.Gerakan president Mah then distanced himself from these promises. And all Dyana could say in response was that she would make sure BN kept to its promises.
Related stories
Penang BN chief: Dyana '3N' not '3B' candidate
Mukhriz puzzled by Dyana's many looks
Still Beauty vs Veteran after nine days?
'Tango with Perkasa will not affect votes'
Bizarre twists at DAP members joining BN bash
Indians could be kingmakers in by-election
Gerakan offers 'baby' Dyana pacifier
Outstation voters to decide Teluk Intan's fate
DAP: Zahid diagnosed with 'Dr M's disease'
Steer clear of polls, Zahid warns underworld
Bersih: EC can't cover for Zahid
Mah's manifesto has more substance than Dyana's
Empty promises can't sway elderly voters
BN woman assaulted while campaigning
Political newbie Dyana faces onslaught
Yes, we are all ingrates and proud of it
Surely Zahid's not joking this time
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