GE15: Five days to polling day, candidates continue to woo voters

KUALA LUMPUR: Candidates for the 15th General Election (GE15) from various political parties as well as Independents have been using various creative strategies to win the hearts of voters.

The unpredictable weather and rain have not deterred the candidates from visiting markets, public housing projects and eateries to listen to the people's problems.

Independent candidate for the Batu parliamentary seat, Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, has been holding up a yellow chair as his campaign symbol when meeting voters as he feels it is easy to remember.

"I printed a large-sized logo of the chair and hold up a yellow chair when meeting with the local community during the campaigning period to make it easier for them (to recognise my symbol) when marking the ballot paper," he said when met by reporters during his walkabout at Taman Wahyu here recently.

Independent candidate for the Seputeh Parliament, Lian Choy Ling, meanwhile, has not yet appeared to campaign in the area, where even during nomination day on Nov 5, the woman was not present at the nomination centre due to testing positive for COVID-19 and was represented by her sister Lian Cui Ling.

Interestingly, Choy Ling is using the name 'Choy San Yeh' in the ballot paper which means 'God of Luck' in Cantonese.

The candidate's campaign manager, who declined to be named, told Bernama that Choy Ling, 44, had outlined 10 points in her manifesto distributed via WhatsApp, including wanting to become the first female prime minister from Seputeh.

Elsewhere, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Lembah Pantai, Datuk Ramlan Askolani while visiting the residents of Kondo Rakyat in Pantai Dalam got stuck in the lift with his machinery for almost 15 minutes on Nov 8.

In PENANG, the police had to intervene in a verbal altercation involving political party supporters and members of the public in Kubang Semang on Nov 7, during the campaigning for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary hot seat.

In TERENGGANU, visits and gatherings in popular spots as well as short talks at district polling centres continue to be held despite the poor weather conditions due to the North East Monsoon.

"I will wait around even if it rains, as I also want to know what these candidates want to offer if they win this election," said a resident who was met in Pulau Bahagia, Hulu Terengganu recently.

It's a different situation in KELANTAN, where the state government's decision not to dissolve the state assembly at the same time as the Parliament has seen the flag and poster wars not being as lively as the elections in the past.

Realising that social media including Facebook and Tik Tok also have an impact on voters, many candidates have turned to the platforms, including Gua Musang Parliamentary seat incumbent Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, 85.

All candidates and machinery must stop their campaigns by 11.59 pm on Friday (Nov 18), as voters will then fulfill their responsibilities to choose their respective representatives.

-- BERNAMA