Penang, re-inventing

SIX more day to D-Day for Penang. General Election. The time when the unthinkables & the impossibles happen.

Suddenly, you see newly surfaced roads cropping up everywhere; potholes being filled, even pin holes; a phone call to the BN service centres & presto, the garbages were cleared & clogged drains were clean inside out ; Ministers opening functions at short notices, even some of TAR College's Diplomas were recognised now by the Govt when in the past no one cares two hoots for this issue,etc etc.

This time around though, the Police seems to be very accomodating if you look at the numbers of ceramahs conducted throughout Penang. Talks by Anwar & Kit Siang are always attended by curious rakyat overflowing the brims of the venues. Of course, the size of the crowds reflect one's popularity but will never be the yardstick to gauge one's election result.

Interestingly, Penang, Terengganu & Kelantan will again be the states to watch out for. Kedah may spring a surprise.

Penang:
There is no such thing as a clear winner. swings had occured a few times before. Look at the DAP in the last Election...total wipe- out at the state levels. It would be a pity if hardworking people , like Tan Cheng Liang, Lau Chiek Tuan are not re-elected, but the voters sentiments, fanned by the oil price hikes, higher costs of living, unequal job & educational opportunities, HINDRAF issues, etc may see shocking exits for many incumbents as voters go for a change, a daring change to re-invent, as mouthpieced ( & may backlash) by one of the BN component parties.

Certainly, whether the BN announces the name of potential CM of Penang or not is a moot issue: if the name is not announced, Penangites may not be focused to vote on any particular candidate & votes will split; if either Teng CY's or Teng HN's name is announced & preferred over the other, one of them may be toppled as voters make up their mind to assure only the chosen one is elected to be the CM.

Batu Kawan may be a safe haven but with more than 60% non-Malays in this Parliamentary seat, the swing may just yet prove to be fatal & the swan song for Koh.

The PRAI seat is forgone. DAP will wrest the seat back after 3 terms from the MIC due the non appearance of the incumbent in Prai for the last 2 terms, a certain Raja....

Bagan will swing to Lim GE, ( potential CM?) and at least 1 of the seats under Bagan may fall to the opposition too, with the incumbent retaining Sg Puyu.

The UMNO held areas may be predictables as they have not been tested in all the past elections. But as the saying goes, the ball is round & anything can happen, especially when PKR seems to be picking up steam speared headed by the presence of their fiery orator Anwar.

I will not be sleeping, come this 8th of March (sounds like Ides of March, et tu Brutus?) but busy filling in the blanks before the official announcements. Funny, but have you realised as in past election results' announcements: if the oppositions win, their names are always announced late? This time around...........