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Ambo tok se
oghe make gaji buto (We don't want people who earn salaries for doing
nothing).
Demo tok tahu ko? Kawe dok baya hute demo (You don't know? We're paying off your debts). Doh demo tahu hute kawe, bakpo demo baya? (If you know it's our debts, why are you paying?) Round-the-clock politics heightens in
Kelantan
By Joceline Tan WHEN the helicopter carrying Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi landed on the fringe of Gua Musang town on Thursday morning, it caused quite a stir among the townsfolk. It was Abdullah's first visit as Deputy Prime Minister to this hinterland town which has become synonymous with its MP of 30 years, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Abdullah was there ostensibly to give away prizes for the Most Beautiful Traditional Kampung contest, but to most of those present, it was yet another indication of how close the general election might be - particularly, given that Deputy Prime Minister also announced a number of goodies for the hardcore poor and villagers. Politics is a round-the-clock sort of phenomenon in Kelantan and that may, perhaps, explain why anticipation of the polls seems more heightened there than elsewhere. There are few States where any two political parties are as evenly matched in terms of issues, personalities and politicking. And Kelantan politicians, whether from Umno or Pas, say they are ready even if Parliament is dissolved tomorrow - they have certainly been campaigning as if Parliament will be dissolved tomorrow! For instance, the battle of the flags began early this year and has escalated to a banner war. The Umno side claims to have put up some 10,000 banners carrying the rather provocative message in the local dialect: Ambo tok se oghe make gaji buto (We don't want people who earn salaries for doing nothing). The Pas retaliation, often strung alongside the original offensive: Demo tok tahu ko? Kawe dok baya hute demo (You don't know? We're paying off your debts). To which Umno has retorted: Doh demo tahu hute kawe, bakpo demo baya? (If you know it's our debts, why are you paying?) Says Peringat Umno Youth head Mohd Alwi Che Ahmad: "We've really put them on the defensive." And next Thursday - the start of the Kelantan weekend - DAP's Lim Guan Eng will enjoy top billing with Pas' Tok Guru at a ceramah in Kota Baru. Umno's return volley to that: Raihan, the No. 1 nasyid group in the country, will perform at a Ceramah Perdana in Jeli, the parliamentary constituency of Second Finance Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed. The ceramah is still Pas' most cost-effective form of campaigning and not a single evening passes without some Pas ceramah taking place in one village or another. "Fifty per cent of our campaign is through ceramah," admits Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah, director of election for Kelantan Pas. The Kelantan people never seem to tire of it. People go for information they cannot get in the mainstream media as well as to be entertained. Besides, there is, basically, little else to do in the evenings in these parts. The ceramah speakers rise and ebb in popularity like pop artistes. The most popular Pas speaker now - after Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, that is - is the stockily-built Bachok MP, Bunyamin Yaakob. Umno people dismiss him as a "cartoon character" or, as an aide to Mustapa puts it, "he provides comic relief in between the serious speakers". But Bunyamin is enormously popular, with a witty style that he applies with wanton irreverence against his opponents; and his hilarious anecdotes often send his audiences rolling in laughter. Bunyamin, they say, is the new Mat Sabu, that is, Mohamed Sabu, the fiery orator who used to electrify the ceramah circuit. People think he even looks and speaks like Mat Sabu. Incidentally, Mohamed is less seen or heard these day. It is said he is being phased out of Kelantan, possibly to contest in Kedah or Perlis. The other reason offered is Pas is worried that Umno may re-exploit the "Normah" issue because the lawyer who defended Mohamed in the Syariah Court has since followed Tengku Razaleigh back into Umno. Figures associated with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are also a novelty to the ceramah crowd and they include Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar (an Anwar loyalist who joined Pas) and Parti Keadilan Nasional figures such as Ruslan Kassim, Mohamed Ezam Mohamed Noor, Mohamed Azmin Ali and N. Gopalakrishnan. Umno ceramah crowds are a fraction of those enjoyed by Pas. The reason: people get enough news about Umno and the Barisan Nasional from the TV and mainstream newspapers. Nevertheless, Umno has its own band of seasoned orators: Datuk Seri Annuar Musa, Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Mohd Alwi. Tengku Razaleigh, now into his third month as Kelantan Umno chairman, seems to prefer face-to-face meetings with strategic groups - taxi drivers, trishaw men, the Chinese, teachers, etc. That way, he is able to address the specific interests of each group and there is also the advantage of interaction and feedback. But talking and explaining is only part of the picture for Tengku Razaleigh is acutely conscious that politics must provide real solutions to people's needs and aspirations. Thus, early this month, he managed to persuade Kesedar (South Kelantan Development Authority) to issue land titles to several thousand land settlers in its schemes. It is a big thing for the settlers, that they are finally masters of their own plot. Incidentally, talk that Gua Musang would be wobbly for Tengku Razaleigh has evaporated as mysteriously as it had first surfaced a year ago. Frankly, Gua Musang's loyalty to Tengku Razaleigh has never been in doubt for one must remember that the Kelantan prince has been steadfast to Gua Musang whether he was inside or outside of Umno. Moreover, for every person under 30, Tengku Razaleigh is the only MP they have known. Not long after his appointment as Kelantan Umno chairman, Tengku Razaleigh began stopping by at the coffeeshops where he caused quite a stir. Most of it was quite impromptu and once people knew that the prince-politician did not mind a cuppa at some roadside stall, they began inviting him to stay back to chat at the warung after a ceramah. And it has become a matter of pride for the warung-owner to announce the next day that "Tengku Razaleigh was here last night" before proceeding to relate what was said or discussed. There's no doubt that his down-to-earth approach has nettled Pas for it has caused Nik Aziz's controversial Press secretary Wan Ismail Wan Jusoh to comment that Tengku Razaleigh is an "anak raja gila ... pergi kedai kopi, jumpa orang sampai dua pagi ..." Actually, the coffeeshop has long been the domain of Pas politicians. There are several key coffeeshops in Kota Baru which have become gathering points for political discussion; people gravitate there to chat about what they hear at last night's ceramah or about the current issue of the day. Pas' Wan Abdul Rahim is often found at the warung across the road from his service centre in Kota Baru. He is also the State Legislative Assembly Speaker but at the coffeeshop, anyone can approach him or even join him for a drink and a bite to eat. There, he is plain Cikgu Rahim and his personal assistant Idi Hassan, a young Universiti Malaya graduate, even brings letters for him to sign at the shop. (Incidentally, Idi had been studying owls as a form of rat control in padi fields in Besut, Terengganu, but he claimed the owls kept flying off to Kelantan!) A sizeable chunk of Wan Abdul Rahim's income goes to picking up the bill for food and beverages consumed at such places but he doesn't mind, for he sees it as part of the job. Urbanites may shake their heads at this but Kelantan people actually like it that way. "They expect us to be very accessible," says Wan Abdul Rahim. And they expect no less from their Menteri Besar. Says the Menteri Besar's political secretary Husam Musa: "Anyone can meet Tok Guru at his office, his house ... easily. Kampung people don't know about making appointments, they just turn up." A great deal of the politics of both parties also revolves around the mosque. In the village, people make an effort to perform mahgrib and isyak prayers at the surau or masjid. All over Kelantan every evening, the hour-long interval between prayers is usually filled with a religious lecture and Pas politicians, particularly, have used this daily space of time to great advantage. In the case of Umno's Mustapa, he has managed to win over villagers from both sides of the political divide with his fair-minded allocation of funds to mosques, regardless of whether they are Umno or Pas-affiliated. A pro-Pas imam was curious enough to ask him about it once, and was told that "religion should not be a party thing". In fact, it will be difficult for Pas to find fault with Mustapa this general election, be it his performance record in Jeli, political approach or personal life. A pictorial volume on Umno's efforts for Islam in Jeli is in the pipeline, so are several publications documenting projects and development in Jeli. The ceramah, important as it may be, has not entirely eclipsed the written word. Umno is said to be preparing booklets with titles like: Janji-janji Pas (what Pas has promised but failed to deliver); Pas Derhaka kapada Sultan (title says all); Pembezaan antara Umno dan Pas (compilation of cartoons); MB - Mengenali 25 Sifat Tok Guru Nik Aziz (MB here does not mean Menteri Besar but Maki and Bohong and the book is aimed at exposing the inconsistencies of the Pas leader). Pas, on its part, is selling videotapes (RM8) and audio cassettes (RM2) of speeches of Tengku Razaleigh, also with the aim of showing up his inconsistencies. Leaflets bearing the photograph of the schoolboy allegedly injured by Tok Guru's son - and carrying the line, Dulu tuduh FRU, lani anak Tok Guru - are also circulating in Kota Baru although Umno claims to have nothing to do with it. Actually, Umno figures in Kelantan had met and decided not to exploit the issue because they admit that, one, it is in no way equivalent to Anwar's black eye incident; two, the victim's father had forgiven the aggressor; three, Tok Guru had declared that if his son is in the wrong, "let him pay for his sin". Nevertheless, the issue has been extremely embarrassing for Pas. But Umno people insist that the biggest boost to their campaign has been Tengku Razaleigh's return to the thick of Umno politics in the State. Says Mohd Alwi: "He really understands Kelantan politics." Pas politicians are well aware that they will be facing a tougher contest this time around. And that may explain why the campaigning has already begun in such earnest - on both sides. |
