In Kuantan, another monster crowd attends PR's 505 BLACKOUT rally!

BESERAH, KUANTAN - Undeterred by a last-minute change in venue, more than 60,000 people made a beeline for Anwar Ibrahim's 505 Blackout rally  to protest "stolen" electoral victory.

Although the turnout was smaller compared to the 3 previous 505 Blackout rallies held in Kelang Jaya, Batu Kawan and Ipoh, it is nevertheless an eye-opener, signalling how widespread the "call for change" has become in Malaysia.

"I only found out at 6pm through Facebook," a young lady told Malaysia Chronicle, referring to the venue change from Taman Mahkota Aman to Beserah.

Indeed, Kuantan folk parked their car and walked as far as 3km to the Dataran PKR where the rally was held. And gauging by their shouts and applause throughout the night, Anwar - who as usual was mobbed on arrival - did not disappoint them.

Helping him were MP for Kuantan Fuziah Salleh, MPO for Batu Tian Chua, Pahang PKR chief Fauzi Rahman, Chegubard, Nizam Hamid and PAS bigwigs Husam Musa and Hatta Ramli, the MP for Kuala Krai.

They spoke on a range of issues, focusing on how skewed the May 5 general election had been, drawing shouts from the crowd that Najib must resign and the Election Commission sacked. The 64-year-old Anwar himself minced no words, saying that for democracy to prevail, "the EC must be first to go. Out!"

What happened to the 'gongxi-gongxi' red tunic and cap?

Prime Minister Najib Razak was also condemned for his political hypocrisy.

"Before Chinese New Year, look at how Najib 'bodek' or tried to get into the good books of the Chinese. He wore a red Chinese tunic, red Chinese trousers, red Chinese hat and went around 'Gongxi gongxi' begging for their votes. Now after the general election is over, it is 'what more do the Chinese want," said Fauzi, drawing loud laughter with his humorous comments.

He was referring to Najib's latest political blunder in calling the May 5 election a "Chinese tsunami" implying that his Umno-led BN coalition had been betrayed by the community and hence their poor result in obtaining only 133 seats in Parliament compared to 140 in the 2008 election.

'Over my dead body'

Najib was accused of irresponsibility and trying to get the Malays upset with the Chinese so as to deflect attention from the Opposition's slew of exposures of electoral fraud.

It is clear that the Najib administration fears another groundswell of public support for Anwar and his call to have re-elections in 27 seats where polling was conducted in highly dubious circumstances.

"Malaysia has become famous for having international voters in its elections," noted a sarcastic Hatta, referring to the Bangladeshis that Najib has been accused of using as 'phantom' voters to jack up the ballot-count for Umno-BN.

The PAS leader also had the crowd roaring when he told the Chinese not to be discouraged by discrimination shown towards them by Najib and Umno-BN.

"He is deliberately creating racial tensions to shift attention from all his shameful wrongdoings in the election, that his is a minority government with only 47% of the total votes while Pakatan has 53%," said Hatta.

"To cover this, they stir up racial tensions, they hurt our Chinese friends, they humiliate the Chinese, they want to boycott the Chinese. Let me ask the Malays, can we defend our Chinese friends. Let me warn Umno, if you want to disturb our Chinese friends, then you will have to do it over my dead body!"

"They are our friends, they were born here, they contributed to the nation's development, why are they being discriminated against in this way. Don't worry, we are very much with you. We will defend you to the last."

Chinese have eaten their sharks-fin - what more do they want now?

Another PAS leader Husam Musa, who managed to raise his national profile despite losing the Putrajaya seat to Umno sec-gen Tengku Adnan, also took to task Najib and Umno-BN for the latest bout of Chinese-bashing.

"The general election is over. (They are asking) what more do the Chinese want. The Chinese have got everything, they have eaten sharks-fin. What more do they want? Let me answer on behalf of the Chinese, the Malays and the Indians - we want a change of government!" Husam said to thunderous applause.

"Rosmah must go. Najib must go. Rosmah and Najib must go," the crowd chanted along with him.

It is a testament to the sincerity of the crowd, which was again multiracial and reflecting the ethnic makeup of Malaysia's 28 million population, that they came despite the weak conditions offered.

PKR, which organized the event to be held at Taman Mahkota Aman, had to scramble to find a new location after receiving a tip-off that the Kuantan police would wield 'the big stick' if they did not shift to a more obscure place.

'They cannot remain the government because they have no legitimacy'

For the media and camera people, the lighting was poor and the sound system a nightmare. But the night breeze was cool and the people were in a festive mood, all of their own. They were 'high' on change and it is this sentiment that might well be the final downfall of the once-mighty Umno-BN.

"They cannot remain the government because they simply have no legitimacy," said Anwar.

Even in the finale during the singing of the national anthem, a technical mishap left everyone with no accompanying music to sing along to but that did not stop the crowd from belting out what must surely count as being one of the most moving renditions heard in a long time.

Sometimes money or the lack of it is not all that important, will-power and spirit can harness much more result!

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