Written by Chua Sue-Ann, The Edge
As the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign goes full throttle, Barisan Nasional (BN) has taken to the ceramah circuit with its guns blazing, mostly taking aim at Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR.
On Tuesday night, April 20, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was the top draw at a ceramah in the quiet housing area of Taman Seri Liam in Ulu Yam Bharu here.
In his hour-long speech, Muhyiddin lambasted the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for threatening the nation’s stability and tarnishing the country's image overseas.
Muhyiddin warned that the opposition was attacking all institutions, even the Malay rulers, that had been in place even when Anwar was deputy prime minister in the 1990s.
"When Anwar was deputy prime minister and Umno deputy president, he too would stand here as I am standing here and shout 'Support Barisan'.
"Anwar harbours ambitions of being prime minister... He is obsessed. We all have ambitions but we cannot be greedy. We must use the right ways," Muhyiddin said, criticising Anwar's failed Sept 16, 2008 bid to take over the federal government by engineering defections.
"But you see, nothing has happened. BN is still strong," Muhyiddin said. As he spoke, the eager crowd prompted him, and he repeated their choice of words. "Many have been disgusted, nauseated, sickened," he said.
Muhyiddin denied that the BN government had ever been "cruel to a single human being" and nobody had missed out on the nation's development, even if some were richer than others.
At the BN ceramah, Muhyiddin shared the stage with BN candidate P Kamalanathan and former Hulu Selangor PKR treasurer Datuk Dr Halili Rahmat.
Halili, who was earlier shortlisted as PKR's potential candidate for the polls, quit the party on Monday, saying PKR had diverted from its original struggles and many of its leaders were merely concerned with "grabbing power".
When he arrived at the open field, Halili was greeted with applause and shouts of "welcome, welcome" by Muhyiddin before Halili took his seat with other BN leaders behind the podium.
Halili said that he was to have gone to Melbourne, Australia that night but asked his wife and daughter to leave as scheduled because he "needed" to explain to the people his reasons for leaving PKR and joining Umno instead.
"My father saw the news (of my resignation) and called me. I know he shed tears because it was like I had returned to him," Halili said, referring to his decision to join Umno.
Soon after, Halili's father, who is said to be an Umno man, appeared at the ceramah stage and embraced Halili, sending the 300-strong crowd into a frenzy of applause.
Although he vowed to "move forward" and not speak ill of his former party, Halili said that "PKR creates anxiety among the Malays".
"I'm Malay. But I'm proud to be Malaysian. I'm not anti-Chinese or anti-Indian. Eighty percent of my patients are Chinese, how can I be anti-Chinese?"
"I operate on brains. Our blood, our brains are all the same," said the neurosurgeon, who was once Anwar's physician.
Halili then praised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno for fighting for Malay rights while still taking care of the interests of all.
Halili, who is from Ulu Yam, however, said he did not want to play an active role in politics but to concentrate on his medical career.
"I only want to put effort into what I do best; opening people's brains and nerves," Halili said, prompting laughter and applause.
Before handing his Umno membership application to Muhyiddin, Halili urged locals to vote for Kamalanathan "so residents can enjoy the benefits" brought by BN.
This was not the first time the former PKR local leader had campaigned for BN.
On Monday night, shortly after he announced his resignation from PKR, Halili had attended a wedding reception for Bagan Pinang assembly member Tan Sri Mohamad Isa Samad and his new wife, former Paroi assembly member Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khalid.
The dinner in Sungai Buaya here attracted a crowd of about 800 people who were enthralled by Isa, the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, who plied them with his trademark humour.
Halili received a warm welcome at the event and told the audience that he was in awe of Najib's administration and "needed to be on the right side".
Several other BN ceramahs have been borrowing their "punch" from people claiming to be former PKR members, who would speak out against Anwar and the party, purportedly "warning against believing the man named Anwar Ibrahim".
Many of them accuse Anwar of "twisting" the latter's ongoing sodomy trial as well as tarnishing the country's image overseas.
Former Penang deputy chief minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, who quit PKR and his position last year, joined in the Hulu Selangor by-election fanfare, speaking at a BN youth ceramah in Kuala Kubu Bharu town on Sunday night.
The new Umno member, lashed out at his former party, saying "they think only they are always right" and criticising PKR for allegedly "shaming" those who had left the party.
On the other side, PR's leaders have been keeping a whirlwind ceramah schedule with some speakers visiting multiple locations each night across the vast Hulu Selangor constituency.
These ceramahs often have a carnival-like atmosphere, with many stalls selling food, drinks, clothing and party paraphernalia.
The opposition personalities have been selling PKR's candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as a "man of principle and integrity" by reminding local residents of how Zaid had quit his ministerial position in 2008 to protest the use of the Internal Security Act to detain people who did not threaten national security.
Commenting on Halili's resignation at a ceramah in Kalumpang on Monday night, Anwar quipped: "Good thing we didn't pick him (Halili). If we did and he jumps party, I'm dead!"
At his nightly ceramahs, Anwar has also been hitting out on the government's purchase of submarines and the case of the stolen jet engines, expressing incredulence on how the government could overlook such "important" points.
"I am not upset when called a traitor to the nation. But whoever becomes a minister and takes land, timber and shares belonging to the people, that is the traitor," Anwar hollered to the crowd of about 300 that night.
The former deputy prime minister also took swipes at his ongoing sodomy trial and recounted how he was assaulted when he was detained in 1998, during his first sodomy trial.
DAP leaders, including DAP parliamentary chief, Puchong member of parliament Gobind Singh Deo and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, have also hit the campaign trail from last week.
From the PAS leadership, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Nizar Jamaluddin have been actively giving ceramahs.
Nizar has been a hit, especially with the Chinese community, given his popularity boost since the Perak political crisis and his command of the Chinese language.
The party's revered spiritual adviser and Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat is expected to hit the trail tomorrow, as the campaign reaches a peak ahead of polling day on Sunday.
DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang and other speakers have been telling the voters that the by-election is not only about Hulu Selangor or Selangor alone, but that this vote is "a vote for Malaysia".
Meanwhile, Zaid's speeches at ceramahs have seen an improvement from the earlier days of the campaign.
Zaid began his speech at Kalumpang that night by introducing himself with a simple greeting and saying: "My name is Zaid Ibrahim. I am 59 years old. I am PKR's candidate.
"I have a wife and three kids. That's enough lah. I only want to serve the people of Malaysia," Zaid said, to applause.
Zaid then spoke on local problems faced by the multi-ethnic communities, leaving the other PR speakers to take on the national issues. He reminded the audience that BN, which has been in power for decades before the 2008 general election, had failed to solve issues.
This, he said, included land titles, estate workers' wages, vernacular schools and abandoned development projects.
"We want an elected representative who dares to voice issues, especially the poor's problems. When people become elected representatives, they become elite and forget. I promise I won't. I came from a poor family and I remember," Zaid said.