Here are some snippets from the sidelines of the various candidates’ campaigns.

Web 2.0 politician lost his mobile

All the rhetorical gifts in the world couldn’t bring back blogger Jeff Ooi’s hand phone today.

The day started well. He grabbed a quick breakfast at a coffee shop near his Jelutong Road operation centre and, with his campaign manager, reviewed the programme for the day.

But just before heading out for a quick walk-about in Jelutong Market, he reached for his handphone to find that it had gone missing.

After borrowing another phone to call his own, he found himself in negotiation with the phone’s ‘abductor’. At first it looked like things were going well, as the ‘captor’ stayed on the line and seemed willing to entertain offers from the eloquent candidate.

But silence soon indicated that no deal had been struck. Luckily, when it comes to handphones, the Web 2.0 politician shoots from both hips. It wasn’t long before a new SIM card had been inserted into his second phone and he was back online.

Kong Choy: Time for change

MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy visited Penang today to give the party's election campaign a boost although he himself is not contesting in the March 8 general election.

chan kong choy campaign mca in penang 250208Chan, who is also the Penang MCA state chief, made brief stops at the party's election operation centres in Bayan Baru, Bukit Gelugor, Komtar and Bagan Jermal.

When met at Bukit Gelugor by reporters, Chan sounded like an opposition leader when he said it was "time for a change" for voters to back MCA candidate Koay Kar Huah who is challenging veteran DAP leader, the wheel-chair bound Karpal Singh.

Chan however conceded it was not an easy task for the party to win the Bagan parliamentary seat. MCA has fielded rookie Song Choy Leng to face off DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is leading the charge in the battle for the frontline state.

How much should the hike in price of roti canai?

0.01 sen. That’s according to Economic Planning Unit.

In a booklet ‘Malaysia economy: Facts and info’ which was distributed today at the launch of the BN manifesto, the government agency argued that the rise in flour price should only result in minimal increase in the cost of roti canai.

Here’s the math:

Flour price went up from RM1.20 per kilo to RM1.35 per kilo

1kg flour = 16 piece of roti canai
10kg flour = 160 pieces of roti canai

The cost of one piece of roti canai

After the hike in flour price:

RM19.68/160 + RM0.024 = RM0.15

Before the hike in flour price:

RM18.18/160 + RM0.024 = RM0.14

It noted that the cost does not include labour and dhal.