Raring to go@Galas

Both have also introduced themselves to the voters who will head to 13 polling centres tomorrow.

Kampung Baru polling district has the highest number of electorate with 2,150 and the lowest number of voters is in Belatim with 160.

The other polling centres are Lojing (606), Sungai Ber (411), Balar (232), Bihai (278), Hau (254), Kampung Pulai (471), Bandar Lama Gua Musang (1,562), Bandar Baru Gua Musang (1,185), Kampung Batu Papan (1,739), Lepan Tupai (593) and Sungai Terah (,1912).

Of the 11,553 (including 127 postal voters), Malay voters consist of 7,125, Chinese (2,317), Indian (185), Orang Asli (1,889) and others (37).

There are a combined 25 channels at the polling centres which used 11 schools and a hall and a community centre.

All polling centres would be open from 8am to 5pm except in Bihai, Belatim, Hau and Balar, which close at 1pm.

The Election Cmmission has hired the services of two helicopters and four four-wheel-drive vehicles to tranport ballot boxes from remote polling districts, mostly in Orang Asli settlements.

Helicopters will be used to transport ballot boxes from Bihai, Belatim, Hau and Balar.

According to the Election Commission, 127 police personnel had voted through postal voting on Monday.

The commissio n has issued 177 postal ballot papers as there were 50 commission workers who were engaged in the by-election.

The 50 voted at the Gua Musang Land and District Office operations room on Sunday here.

Election Commission secretary Datuk Noordin Che Ngah had reportedly said that the postal ballots would be counted together with other ballot papers from normal voting after the polling stations closed at 5pm today.

All the postal ballots would be kept in the strong room at the Gua Musang Land and District operations room under tight police security, he had said.

It is expected that the voters turn-out to drop slightly from the 81 per cent , which was recorded in the 2008 general election.

Political analysts have attributed the (anticipated) lower turn-out to the outstation voters who might not be able to get a leave from work to return and vote.

Political parties from BN and Pas have put the figure of the outstation voters between 1,500 and 2,000.

Tomorrow, the weather is forecast to have clear sky in the morning until 3pm and rain in the afternoon.   

In the last 48 hours here, distributions of political leaflets and newsletters by both parties were on the rise.

During the same period, new banners and buntings also popped up, mostly around the old town.

State police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi yesterday gave an assurance that it is safe for the people to go to vote.

He said an adequate number of policemen were stationed at various locations including polling stations to maintain security and public order.

"The people should have no fear to carry out their duties to cast their votes," he said.

However, he said it was anticipated that the traffic volume would increase today but police had taken suitable measures to address any congestion.

He said police had observed that the campaign period had been incident-free except for minor issues which had been put under control.

The Election Commission had designated the Civic Centre as the main venue for centralised tallying of the ballots.

It has also announced that the official by-election result would be known as early as 8pm.

The by-election was held when there was a vacancy of the Galas seat following the death of its assemblyman Che Hashim Sulaima on Sept 27.

In the last general election, Che Hashim, of Pas, defeated BN's candidate Mohd Saufi Deraman with a 646-vote majority.

Che Hashim polled 4,399 against Saufi's 3,753 in the election.

Aidi Amin: From the eyes of a young reporter

For a rookie reporter like me, covering my first by-election has been truly a mentally and physically exhausting process.

Certain things were also not as how I expected.

For one, I had anticipated much more smear campaigning and personal attacks from the contesting parties, especially in their daily ceramah and also in cyber-space.

Also, I expected much more tension and hostility in the air as I had read that the Galas N45 state seat was vital for both the Barisan Nasional and Pas as it was a kind of "warm up" in preparation for the next general election.

BN's Abdul Aziz Yusoff, 49 is in a straight fight for the seat against Dr. Zulkefli Mohamed, 44, from Pas.

I was told by my seniors earlier, that the two prominent figures to look out for would be BN's election director for Galas, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Pas spiritual leader, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat. Both were better known as Ku Li and Tok Guru respectively.

I was also briefed that both parties were going to adopt a different campaigning strategy this time - much to my dismay, there was not going to be many heated ceramah which I had heard about in past elections. Their approach was going to be more "civil" this time, with focus on house to house visits and meeting the voters on a more personal basis.

I had heard from my colleagues in Pre-Editorial Trainning Scheme (Pets) who had covered the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election that they were under intense pressure to keep tabs on all the leaders and happenings in the constituency.

This time round, I was also told that we would have to constantly contribute to NST Online and that our work was cut out for us, coupled with the fact that the team was much smaller than that sent to Hulu Selangor.

When we arrived in Gua Musang, it seemed like a beautiful place against a backdrop of limestone hills and caves. However, it was also a kind of culture shock for me, having gotten used to the likes of Starbucks, Kenny Rogers and other "hang out" joints in the capital.

I guess I was just being kind of "kiasu" and kept comparing this quiet, laid-back town to the likes of the Klang Valley. Being the proud city-boy that I am, even the insects here freaked me out, looking rather pre-historic compared to those from where I come from. I had the horror of getting stuck with one of these "killer bugs" in the back seat of a car with two of my colleagues several nights ago. However ... I survived to tell the tale!

The people, even the youths in Gua Musang seemed complacent with their pace of life, with many of them telling me that they have worked in bigger towns, but could not take the pace there and decided to return home. I wondered if this was due to the lack of development and progress in the state and also because there was not even a single internet cafe in town.

I recalled reading about the Pygmalion and Rosenthal effects, which is a kind of phenomenon where people only perform according to the expectations placed on them, whereby in this state, the expectations were much lower and thus the complacency and lack of challenges.

The only other excitement during my visit, apart from the election, was the Malaysia Cup hype with the whole town eagerly waiting for the clash between Kelantan and Negri Sembilan in the finals.

Football and sepak takraw seemed like the only games the youth here were interested in.

The Red Warriors, as the Kelantan team was known were kind of idols to the teens here and the excitement on match day, last Saturday was far greater than the by-election.

I was also impressed with the silent cease-fire reached by both the contesting parties that day, as they say football brings us together - there was hardly any talk of the by-election that day as the town was filled with football-related activities and big screens set up around town.

The excitement after Kelantan won the game was immense and it poured over to the next day with Tengku Razaleigh and Kelantan Football Association (KAFA) president, Tan Sri Annuar Musa equating the victory to the kind of change needed here in Galas.

I am a critic of prepared texts at functions, celebrations and political events but on that day I believe Ku Li spoke from his heart when he said he was saddened by the lack of infrastructural development in the constituency.

As time went by and after speaking to more locals over a game of sepak takraw, I realised that being 36-years-old and unemployed in this town was fine. It was hard to digest this and I figured that to understand the reasoning behind this complacency, I needed to meet more locals.

The chance came when I was assigned to focus on writing human interest stories because there were not many issues to be debated during the campaign. In my quest to find the right words, I decided to travel further and meet more locals, many of whom were fluent in Mandarin as they had studied in Chinese kindergartens.

4WDs, SUVs, practical for Gua Musang roads?

There has been a surge of luxury vehicles cruising the roads here lately.

Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and other expensive four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles appear to have outnumbered luxury cars.

Makes such as Porsche Cayennes, BMW X6's and X5's, Volkswagen Touaregs and Lexuses have been spotted around town.

It could not be established who the owners were but residents here believed the big vehicles were driven by those running political campaigns for the Galas by-election.

An aide to a politician said the use of the 4WD's was more practical in the Galas constituency as his "boss" would stay in comfort even when they had to travel through logging tracks to reach remote campaign venues.

"Besides, a normal Mercedes or BMW will get stuck in mud if you try to drive up a slope of a dirt track," he said.

At a recent election campaign in Lojing, a field next to an Orang Asli settlement was turned into a big display of SUV's and 4WD's.

An Orang Asli teenager Awi Alang said he had rarely seen so many SUV and 4WD models being parked at his village before.

"I can only dream to have one of those vehicles," he said.

Looking for halal "dim sum"?

Unlike in other parts of Kelantan where one would be able to find the famous "keropok lekor" in almost every restaurant, finding it in Galas is not that easy as most of the operators are not locals and mostly from Thailand.

One such operator is Aminah Zahari, 21, who is of Thai parentage and now operates a restaurant selling "pau" along Jalan Pulai here - probably the only outlet where one can get halal "dim-sum" in Galas.

"Most restaurant operators here are Thais. Our restaurant is 23 year old and about two years ago, we decided to sell pau and dim-sum after realising there was a strong demand from the Chinese community here.

"Since then, even the Malays here have developed a liking for it and it is now a hit here," she said.

The fact that Aminah speaks fluent Mandarin makes it easier for her to interact with her customers.

"Some of our customers come in for breakfast and lunch, while most drop in for tea," she said, adding that she learnt Mandarin while studying at a Chinese kindergarten at the New Village here.

There are two Chinese kindergartens in this town with a fair mix of children of all races.

A loyal customer, Ah Kang, who has been frequenting the restaurant said on Thursdays, they would serve "special" dim-sum and pau from Thailand and it was something the locals here looked forward to.

"Everyone here is friendly and the food is good. Besides, there is no other place in Galas where we can get dim-sum," he said.

Aminah's restaurant is among those enjoying extra brisk business during this campaign season, especially since it is located next to a hotel and opposite the Pas operations centre.

Due to the overwhelming business, her sister, Aishah Zahari, 16, who lives and studies in Langkawi decided to come back and help her family.

"I was told that there was just too much for my family to handle and so I decided to come home and help out," she said, adding that they did not increase their prices to cash in on the boom in business.

Unlike Aminah's restaurant, most others have taken advantage of the by-election crowd, with some increasing their prices by almost 100 per cent.

Time to make money, times two

One of the many inns/hotels in Gua Musang

As with any other by-elections, it is common understanding that with by-elections come businesses@more money. This is due to demand no matter how ridiculous the prices are. But it still makes me marvel at how high, really, that the prices can go. Very high, it seems, in Gua Musang.

I also noticed there are many motels/inns/hotels around the Gua Musang town which raises the question, if not for the by-election, are there still that many customers for these accommodations? One can only wonder. Some owners even give out the 'take it or leave it' attitude, what with the by-election coming on the day after tomorrow.

I stayed in an inn the first night I reached here. It was RM90 then. Today, a quick question to the same inn operator told me it's RM180, for the same type of room, just a different date. The date nearing to the by-election, of course.

Another inn I came across even had a print out with the heading that said:

'ROOM PRICES FOR BY-ELECTION'

Wow, some don't even try to cover the fact that they are hiking up prices during by-election period. Take it, or leave it. And by the way, if you want to make money, watch out for the next by-election and set up an inn, a hotel in the area of the by-election, and be prepared to make  heaps of money...! :-)

Where is DAP's stand on hudud?

Wanita Umno has challenged DAP leaders to openly support Pas' effort to set up an Islamic state and implement "hudud" laws.

Its information chief Datuk Hamidah Osman claimed that DAP was trying to portray itself as Islam-friendly party when campaigning for Pas candidate in Galas, here.

"This is the right time for DAP to make their stand on the matter," he told reporters at Bandar Lama MCA operations centre here. Also present was Bandar Lama MCA branch chief Raymond Ho Eng Cheong.

Hamidah said DAP had been distributing leaflets, "Roket Baru", which portrayed the party as Islam friendly and its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as a leader who emulates Muslim caliph Umar Abdul Aziz.

"If they really support Islam, they should say it openly. Unfortunately, DAP leaders are known for their ability to say different things to the Malays and non-Malays," she said.

Hamidah also said that former Perak Menteri Besar from Pas, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, should stop from making false accusations against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

"He's been telling the Chinese here that the Prime Minister and Umno does not appreciate them and are not interested to get their votes.

"It's not true and we will use our machinery to explain the real situation," she said.      

On the Chinese support to BN in Galas,  Ho claimed that the percentage had increased to 85 per cent, almost similar to what BN had enjoyed before 2008.

There are 2,317 Chinese voters in Galas, which is about 20 per cent of the total 11,553 eligible voters.

Econjaya: Pavillion of Gua Musang

Contrary to the services and food business, clothing, and basic personal stuff are however sold cheaper than the usual price in the city.  Customers are spoilt for choice and the prices are usually affordable and within the budget of many.

For example, you can fetch a decent t-shirt at only RM10, and pants at about RM20 plus. Children schoolbags are tagged at RM6.90 to RM10...depending on the design and size. I have seen the same bags sold in KL for RM20!

Econjaya usually opens at 10am and closes at 10pm. You can find almost everything in it from clothing, shoes, biscuits, drinks and many more. A typical Econsave supermarket. In Gua Musang, it's almost everything the locals need.

Sometimes, less is more. Of course, if you are the brand-concious type of a person, then you wouldn't agree. But if you are okay with an average quality, then it's not so bad. You'll live...:-)

Also, along the shophouses opposite the Econjaya, there are tents set up selling blankets, nasi lemak kukus, t-shirts and even a A&W trailer for the convenience of the visitors and locals especially during the peak time of the upcoming by-election.

Once you get used to it, Gua Musang can be your next Pavillion if you want...:-)