Najib does his walkabouts; Nurul strums her guitar

It was a battle to captivate the hearts and minds of Penangites when both the prime minister and the young PKR vice president came visiting.

GEORGE TOWN: A contrast of styles gripped Penang when the state paid host to two notable politicians on Saturday while most of its local leaders were focused thousands of nautical miles away in Sarawak.

On a gloomy Saturday where the overskies gave indication of a downpour but it did not actually rain, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak came to the Pearl of the Orient under a glare of the battle royale taking place in the Borneo heartland, the Sarawak state election.

On a smaller scale, Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, the fiesty eldest child of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, also visited Penang where she sang and played a guitar briefly on stage during a human rights rock concert, organised by the Bar Council.

One wonders who scored the most “political points,” especially among the fencesitters here in Penang.

While the prime minister was championing his heartful concept of 1Malaysia in his walkabouts, the young PKR famous parliamentarian sang her heart out, rendering lyrics akin to human rights and the Federal Constitution.

The irony of it all was that while Najib walked the streets in Anwar’s hometown, the latter was busy campaigning in Sarawak, along with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Najib who oversaw a hectic pace of nine programmes from morning to dusk, ended it with a special fund raising dinner for the Penang Football Association, which is now helmed by Bayan Baru MP

Zahrain Mohd Hashim, the former Penang PKR chairman.

The paying audience at the dinner in a five-star hotel was serenaded by an invited band while 10km away, Nurul was performing at a free concert in a heritage landmark-Fort Cornwallis.

Najib turns on his charm

Penang-born political observer Jason Wong, who now works for a regional think tank, said it was obvious that Najib’s visit here was tailored to produce an impression that BN has not abandoned the state in which his coalition only has 11 out of the 40 state seats.

It is a fact that Najib seldom visits this state, which many political observers are calling to be the bedrock of the opposition, Wong added.

And, despite various issues raised by BN, an emergence of a third voice such as PCM, Kita and extremist non governmental organisations, Pakatan Rakyat continues to dominate and grow its might here while BN looks on anxiously, especially when they know that some of them are suffering from infighting, Wong said.

To overcome the perceived resentment of BN, Najib was at his diplomatic best during his walkabout in Gelugor and Jelutong as well as during an open dialogue with his online friends.

The walkabout to Gelugor and Jelutong was significant as those two localities are home to thousands of low to middle income folks, of whom many are struggling to cope with a rising cost of living, made worst with the state’s property market escalating to record highs.

Najib showed that he too has charasmatic traits when he easily dealt with the sensitive issues raised by his online friends, such as reverting to using English as a medium to teach Science and Mathematics, how can BN reclaim Penang, plight of the poor Indians and Malays as well as resentment from some Chinese over how they are perceived to be wealthy.

A 23-year old online friend, exclaimed that the Chinese worked “very” hard to gain prominence, so it is unfair to categorise them as being born rich.

The lad who was the last to pose a question to Najib, had the premier listening and nodding intently over how Chinese perceive their life as Malaysians here.

He said he has known only three prime ministers in his lifetime but only Najib has taken the trouble to reach out to the young but noted that the development pace in Penang pales in comparison to China.

“I’ve been to China several times and each time I go there, there is a new form of development taking place. In Penang, the tallest building remains Komtar,” the lad said in a capitivating tone.

Najib acknowledged the lad, thanking him for the “reprimands” and supported his call for more rapid development to take place.

Nonetheless, in a cautionary tale, Najib had moments earlier spoke of the need for Malaysians to be patient and have faith as his policies would take time to see results.

“We have started the journey and we need the full commitment from all to realise our common goals of 1Malaysia,” Najib said.

Nurul’s musical talent

He also hinted that the government may consider two systems of teaching Science and Mathematics, one Malay and the other, English.

In conclusion, Wong said the constrast in styles adopted by BN and Pakatan here, shows that Malaysians must carefully weigh their future before making their choices in the next general election.

Wong said Najib cast a spell with the people here with incentives and development pledges while Nurul did not make any promises except to showcase a musical talent.

The fact that both politicians enjoyed support in terms of crowd numbers showed that Penangites want development but also a heighten appreciation about their citizenry rights under the constitution.

Wong was asked to predict who scored the most political mileage and he replied that Najib probably won over the adults while Nurul captivated the young, simply by singing and playing the guitar.

This would translate to Sarawak, where BN has to engage the young and win them over while Pakatan has to convince the older generation that they have what it takes to govern Malaysia, he said. - FMT