Malaysians of every religion and faith should pray hard for many more by-elections. By-elections mean that the constituents would reap a harvest of goodies and services from the government.

Take a look at the Kuala Terengganu by-election which has proved my contention beyond any doubt. Goodies and services are pouring in like monsoon rain in the name of a caring government.

Some of the goodies include road resurfacing, improved drainage, new traffic and street lights, permanent resident and citizenship status granted to people living in that constituency for decades as non-citizens, oil royalty payments re-established after a decade of tussle, millions of ringgit given to the state government and even a promise that bank cheque clearance would be made faster, licenses and land titles approved on the spot and many more.

In addition it is also a luxury to see the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s caring and loving attitude when he pushed wheelchairs with sick people and carried babies during his many visits to Kuala Terengganu. Even more exiting and fascinating is that the BN candidate Wan Ahmad Farid was pictured carrying sick and old people. The print media is full of these fascinating and sometime mind boggling stories about how caring the BN government is, particularly during the run-up of this by-election.

Many more promises were made by visiting ministers and BN party politicians to convince the voters on why they should vote for the BN. Even with the impending economic and financial crisis, the government can generously afford to pour millions of ringgit to win the Kuala Terengganu by-election and this is done in the name of a caring government. How generous they are for they care for the rakyat.

The message that is routinely published in the media is that if BN wins, more goodies would pour into Kuala Terengganu and the constituents would enjoy a bounty. How generous and big-hearted the government leaders are and certainly it would be mischievous for anyone to accuse the government of bribing voters. BN and its leaders are piously clean and any accusation that they are corrupt is mischievous.

The one truth that is well-established for every by-election that I have seen is that the voters and constituents can expect bounty of goodies. You name what you want and you get it on the spot. One need not queue for hours at government departments during the run-up to the by-election because the voters can expect service to arrive at their door steps.

This is unlike the times before or after the by-election when you need to spend hours queuing for services. How fascinating and colourful are our by-elections. How sincere, honest and truthful are our politicians when they openly express their care and love especially during by-elections.

I have just some small reservations and concerns. Would the ‘Yang Berhormat’ ever do some of the things they did during their campaigning period after the by-election and would the constituents receive the goodies promised if a certain candidate lost?

Despite all the efforts on the part of BN, it is disheartening and scary to read that the BN candidate only has fifty-fifty chance of winning this by-election. What seems to have gone wrong with the BN campaign?

It may be that the Kuala Terengganu voters think that it is not only corruption but a sin to sell their votes. The BN needs to check with the religious authorities on whether it is sin to provide goodies only when there is an election.

Perhaps, in the remaining day before the Kuala Terengganu by-election, BN campaign should grant even more goodies and promise some super services so that the voters would definitely vote their candidate in.

I have just one small observation before concluding my letter. It is heartening to read the acknowledgment from the politicians from both sides of the divide that the minority Indian votes are the deciding factor in this by-election. The Indian voters are truly the king-makers.