 By Leslie Lau For The Malaysian Insider Kuala Lumpur, March 4 – It is a scene being repeated nightly at Opposition rallies, as torrential rains begin to sweep through Malaysia’s General Election campaign.
As the first drops fall, the umbrellas go up. As light drizzle turns into a heavy downpour, the crowds, numbering in the hundreds in some places and thousands in others, huddle together, refusing to move, as candidates on makeshift platforms rail against the government. The massive show of support, especially from the non-Malay electorate, has, frankly left leaders from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) a little stunned. “We did not expect the movement for change to ignite so quickly,” the DAP’s secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told The Malaysian Insider. But it is not just the willingness of supporters to stay on at rallies despite the rains that has surprised DAP leaders. The record amounts in donations being collected at these rallies are just as stunning. Last Saturday, the 10,000 odd people at Penang’s Han Chiang High School gave more than RM30,000 to the DAP’s campaign. In Subang Jaya, also on Saturday, the more than 5,000 people gathered at a school field for Hannah Yeoh, the young candidate from the DAP, donated a staggering RM31,000. Last week, the hundreds gathered in front of the campaign headquarters of DAP candidate for PJ Utara Tony Pua, donated more than RM12,000. Mr Lim says the momentum for change seems to be gathering a life of its own, especially for DAP’s young candidates like Mr Pua and Miss Yeoh. “They are not your traditional DAP candidates. They are young, energetic and idealistic,” he said. Miss Yeoh’s campaign for the suburban Subang Jaya state seat, for so long a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold, is a strong example of a grassroots movement. Her campaign volunteers are mostly young, some of them not even DAP members, and nearly all of them grew up in Subang Jaya. The kind of crowds Miss Yeoh’s campaign is attracting has even forced many party leaders to rearrange their schedules to make appearances at her rallies. On Monday night, they braved the rains and stayed until nearly midnight, cheering wildly when Lim Kit Siang made an appearance. The DAP’s real target for these elections had always been a strong showing in Penang. But the enthusiastic response from the Chinese community, in particular, in other parts of the country is forcing party leaders to make trips around the country. Last Monday, Lim Kit Siang’s appearance was his eleventh of the day. He had started his day in Johor Baru and made a whistle stop tour of towns like Segamat, Muar, Malacca and Seremban before ending up in Subang Jaya. In Penang, Mr Lim, the party secretary-general and Kit Siang’s son, says the party is planning another mammoth rally on Thursday night. “We hope to draw even more people,” he said. But despite the big crowds, he remains grounded in his estimation of whether the party can turn support into votes this Saturday. “Never underestimate the power of incumbency. But we remain hopeful and we are heartened by the support so far,” he said. - THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
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