(© Leofoo / Free Images Collection; source: mir.com.my) THE Kuala Terengganu by-election was a relief for many Pakatan Rakyat well-wishers. Not only did PAS win, it went all out to praise the DAP’s contribution to the campaign despite the latter’s failure to capture more Chinese Malaysian votes. PAS’s generosity is also notable given DAP national […]
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The KT boomerang
By Wong Chin HuatPERHAPS the most puzzling question in the recent Kuala Terengganu by-election is this: why did enthusiastic Chinese attendance at Pakatan Rakyat rallies not translate into votes? I personally saw Chinese Malaysians cheering, laughing, and clapping for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim every four minutes throughout his 40-minute “da ren, xiao ren” (great mind, little mind) speech […]
Promises, promises, promises
By The Nut Graph team“Don’t poison the well that you drink from…We must be grateful. If people are good to us, we should return the gesture. This is part of Chinese culture, too.” Datuk Seri Najib Razak, speaking to the Chinese Malaysian electorate of Kuala Terengganu in the Bandar state constituency on 13 Jan 2009. Chinese Malaysian voters were […]
Signal from KT
Translation by Leong Lai MingFROM 12 to 18 Jan 2009, the Chinese press highlighted the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Guang Ming Daily‘s editorial on 18 Jan, titled Pay attention to the signal from the Kuala Terengganu by-election, examined what Chinese Malaysian voters want from political parties. The 17 Jan by-election saw PAS candidate Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut wresting the parliamentary […]
Oil royalty will be highlighted
By BFM 89.9TWO days after PAS wrested the Kuala Terengganu seat away from the Barisan Nasional, people are getting back to their daily lives while both the ruling and opposition coalitions assess their performance. In this 9.10am interview on 19 Jan 2009, The Nut Graph‘s senior journalist Deborah Loh tells BFM 89.9’s Norina Yahya that the new […]
Bring back “wow” factor in Umno: Muhyiddin
MANAMA (Bahrain), 19 Jan 2009: Umno has lost the “wow” factor that would attract people to the party, and needs to institute radical change to win back support. In a frank analysis of what ails Umno in the wake of the Kuala Terengganu by-election, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the there was a need to […]
Lessons from Kuala Terengganu
By Deborah LohULTIMATELY, the heart of the battle for Kuala Terengganu was always the Malay Malaysian vote, which was, by extension, a referendum on the relevance of Umno. But the fact that Chinese Malaysians largely stayed with the Barisan Nasional (BN) is perhaps indicative of the DAP’s and Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s inability to penetrate non-Malay enclaves on […]
PAS celebrates BN setback
By Danny Lim and Deborah Loh
EVERYONE knew it was a tight race between two Malay Muslim parties. On the night of 17 Jan 2009, as the votes were counted for the Kuala Terengganu by-election, the ebb and flow of emotions outside the tallying centre was both audible and palpable. Tens of thousands had gathered outside the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin […]
“KT loss challenges BN formula”
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(Source: Wikipedia) PETALING JAYA: The Barisan Nasional (BN) lost the Kuala Terengganu by-election because the rakyat rejected Umno in its present form, style and leadership, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said. The veteran Umno politician said the17 Jan 2009 by-election was a test of Umno’s relevance, and that the poll results would have serious implications on the […]
BN has lost the plot
By Deborah Loh(From left) PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Abdul Wahid PAS has wrested the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) by a 2,631-vote margin, with a greater swing in Malay Malaysian votes to the Islamist party. PAS also swept the parliamentary votes in all four […]
