Throughout the campaign period especially in urban and semi-urban centers saw the notable presence of Malay Malaysian voters, mostly closed mouthed, at Pakatan's rallies.
Many of them tend to be at the back of the crowd during mega ceramah or standing at the fringes at small groups ceramah (ceramah kelompok).
Their cryptic response has been difficult to read but if they buy the opposition coalition's message, the result could possibly be a silent Malay revolt.
Coupled with the strong anti-establishment sentiment among the Chinese community, a small swing of between five to 10 percent among these Malay voters would be enough to cause several parliamentary constituencies previously not under the "marginal seat" radar to fall.
If significant, the swing could also potentially claim other parliamentary seats such as Ledang, Ayer Hitam ,Batu Pahat and Tanjung Piai.
Whether such undercurrent exists will be determined at the ballot box tomorrow (May 5).
Dubbed the "mother of all elections", never before have voters felt they could wield this much power over the government at the ballot box.
Many of them tend to be at the back of the crowd during mega ceramah or standing at the fringes at small groups ceramah (ceramah kelompok).
Their cryptic response has been difficult to read but if they buy the opposition coalition's message, the result could possibly be a silent Malay revolt.Coupled with the strong anti-establishment sentiment among the Chinese community, a small swing of between five to 10 percent among these Malay voters would be enough to cause several parliamentary constituencies previously not under the "marginal seat" radar to fall.
If significant, the swing could also potentially claim other parliamentary seats such as Ledang, Ayer Hitam ,Batu Pahat and Tanjung Piai.
Whether such undercurrent exists will be determined at the ballot box tomorrow (May 5).
Dubbed the "mother of all elections", never before have voters felt they could wield this much power over the government at the ballot box.
New and young voters
This is reflected in the spike of new voters registered, at 2.6 million for the 13th general election, is more than four -fold compared with the last general election which only saw about 638,000 new voters.
For example, the increase of new voters in Pasir Gudang and Tebrau is over 35 percent and over 25 percent in Pulai, thereby adding to the uncertainties in these constituencies as previous trends are rendered obsolete.
Furthermore, outstation voters, most of them youths are also expected to return to vote in record numbers this time around.
The overwhelming Chinese support notwithstanding, Pakatan is having a hard time reaching out to Malay voters, particularly those outside urban centres.
Should Malay voters swing back to BN in line with the trends from several by-elections in 2011, Pakatan's hopes will be on their most reliable vote bank - Chinese voters.
The response shown by Chinese Johoreans in this week's mammoth Pakatan rallies was unprecedented, even surpassing the ones seen in Penang during the 2008 general election which wiped out Gerakan from the state.
DAP has since revised its initial target of garnering 75 percent of Chinese votes to over 80 percent, and its final-hour focus has been on Chinese areas in marginal constituencies such as Labis and Segamat.
Furthermore, outstation voters, most of them youths are also expected to return to vote in record numbers this time around.
The overwhelming Chinese support notwithstanding, Pakatan is having a hard time reaching out to Malay voters, particularly those outside urban centres.
Should Malay voters swing back to BN in line with the trends from several by-elections in 2011, Pakatan's hopes will be on their most reliable vote bank - Chinese voters.The response shown by Chinese Johoreans in this week's mammoth Pakatan rallies was unprecedented, even surpassing the ones seen in Penang during the 2008 general election which wiped out Gerakan from the state.
DAP has since revised its initial target of garnering 75 percent of Chinese votes to over 80 percent, and its final-hour focus has been on Chinese areas in marginal constituencies such as Labis and Segamat.
The Malaysiakini Johor team consists of Kuek Ser Kuang Keng, Lee Way Loon and Nigel Aw.
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