Change in the air as Harapan ceramah draw more Malays, says Guan Eng
Change in the air as Harapan ceramah draw more Malays, says Guan Eng
GE14 | Although DAP
secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has been hit by an avalanche of
criticisms from his opponents, including graft allegations and
accusations of being arrogant since he entered his second term as Penang
chief minister, grassroots support for him and his father Lim Kit Siang
remain solid.
This was evident in the thousands who waited in the rain and cheered heartily when he and Kit Siang appeared at Pakatan Harapan's two grand ceramah in Penang last night.
And despite being constantly demonised by their opponents in Umno, there is a noticeable increase in the Malay crowd at both events and ceramah in other states as well.
Lim appeared rather confident when he said there could be a "Malay tsunami" in the horizon come May 9, polling day, where increased support from the community would help Harapan seize Putrajaya and topple BN chief Najib Razak.
"We have seen more Malays, more than 10,000 attending our ceramah in Johor, where Umno was born. There are also encouraging signs in Sabah and Sarawak as well," Lim told the large crowd at Han Chiang School last night.
He recalled how times were tough in the past when the party organised events, where support from the public was poor.
"We could not penetrate kampungs, we were chased out," he lamented, boasting that these days, Harapan could muster a crowd of 15,000, for example in Pasir Gudang, where 90 percent were Malays.
In Muar, Johor, the field was flooded with a 12,000 crowd, and Pagoh, a stronghold of Umno, Harapan surprised even themselves when 10,000 turned out, he added.
"Nobody paid them to come, they paid their own expenses," he said proudly.
Lim said he noticed similar developments in the East Coast, adding, "There is really a chance to change, ini kali lah (make it happen this time)," as the crowd cheered in response, "Ubah! (Change).".
Marked increase in non-Chinese crowd
Earlier, at about 9pm in Bukit Tengah, the initial crowd of about 3,000 doubled when Guan Eng and Kit Siang arrived at the ceramah venue.
There was also a marked increase in non-Chinese crowd in the area, which has Malay (36%), Chinese (47%) and Indian (17%) voters.
Many left their shopping at a pasar malam nearby to attend, as the two DAP heavyweights lent their support for Harapan candidates Gooi Hsiao Leung (Bukit Tengah), Kasthurirani Patto (Batu Kawan), and Chong Eng (Padang Lalang).
The crowd went into a frenzy as Lim and Kit Siang, both candidates for Bagan and Indera Puteri respectively, were ushered to the stage, accompanied by an entourage of men and women waving PKR blue eye flags.
As soon as the father and son team reached the stage, an artist approached to present them with his sketches of their portraits.
Later, light from thousands of mobile phones illuminated the field as the crowd chanted and blew their vuvuzelas enthusiastically, signalling the people's hope for change.
The mood was similar, to if not more intense, than the spirit seen in 2013 when then Pakatan Rakyat won the popular vote (51% against BN's 49%) and denied BN a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
This was evident in the thousands who waited in the rain and cheered heartily when he and Kit Siang appeared at Pakatan Harapan's two grand ceramah in Penang last night.
And despite being constantly demonised by their opponents in Umno, there is a noticeable increase in the Malay crowd at both events and ceramah in other states as well.
Lim appeared rather confident when he said there could be a "Malay tsunami" in the horizon come May 9, polling day, where increased support from the community would help Harapan seize Putrajaya and topple BN chief Najib Razak.
"We have seen more Malays, more than 10,000 attending our ceramah in Johor, where Umno was born. There are also encouraging signs in Sabah and Sarawak as well," Lim told the large crowd at Han Chiang School last night.
He recalled how times were tough in the past when the party organised events, where support from the public was poor.
"We could not penetrate kampungs, we were chased out," he lamented, boasting that these days, Harapan could muster a crowd of 15,000, for example in Pasir Gudang, where 90 percent were Malays.
In Muar, Johor, the field was flooded with a 12,000 crowd, and Pagoh, a stronghold of Umno, Harapan surprised even themselves when 10,000 turned out, he added.
"Nobody paid them to come, they paid their own expenses," he said proudly.
Lim said he noticed similar developments in the East Coast, adding, "There is really a chance to change, ini kali lah (make it happen this time)," as the crowd cheered in response, "Ubah! (Change).".
Marked increase in non-Chinese crowd
Earlier, at about 9pm in Bukit Tengah, the initial crowd of about 3,000 doubled when Guan Eng and Kit Siang arrived at the ceramah venue.
There was also a marked increase in non-Chinese crowd in the area, which has Malay (36%), Chinese (47%) and Indian (17%) voters.
Many left their shopping at a pasar malam nearby to attend, as the two DAP heavyweights lent their support for Harapan candidates Gooi Hsiao Leung (Bukit Tengah), Kasthurirani Patto (Batu Kawan), and Chong Eng (Padang Lalang).
The crowd went into a frenzy as Lim and Kit Siang, both candidates for Bagan and Indera Puteri respectively, were ushered to the stage, accompanied by an entourage of men and women waving PKR blue eye flags.
As soon as the father and son team reached the stage, an artist approached to present them with his sketches of their portraits.
Later, light from thousands of mobile phones illuminated the field as the crowd chanted and blew their vuvuzelas enthusiastically, signalling the people's hope for change.
The mood was similar, to if not more intense, than the spirit seen in 2013 when then Pakatan Rakyat won the popular vote (51% against BN's 49%) and denied BN a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
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