SG BESAR POLLS DAP's billboard highlighting Umno leader Jamal Md Yunos' 'Cina babi' remark may have been short-lived as the Election Commission (EC) quickly removed them but it has become a talking point among the Malay community in Sungai Besar.
Not many people were able to see the billboard with their own eyes but most have heard it through word of mouth or watched it on television.
The billboard was targeted at Chinese voters in Sekinchan, which also included other billboards about the 1MDB scandal.
While DAP tried to whip up Chinese support for Parti Amanah Negara, the billboards risk alienating Malay voters who do not favour in-your-face kind of campaigning.
Some Malay voters interviewed by Malaysiakini expressed disapproval.
One BN supporter, trader Ismail Yahya, was livid when asked about the billboards.
"They want to make BN supporters angry, question our top leaders.
"This is not the (Malay) way, it's quite rude," the Sekinchan resident said.
Meanwhile Pasir Panjang resident Sulaiman Mat said the billboards were especially inappropriate given that this was the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
"In Ramadan it's not good to talk about the flaws of others, making all sorts of accusations.
"People want to see what the candidates can do (for us), not (see them) pick fights," Sulaiman said.
Both Ismail and Sulaiman knew about the billboards from the news.
Not everyone took offence
However, not everyone took offence to it as some were even unclear of what happened.
Darmin Mokri, who saw the news on television said he wasn't actually quite sure what the billboards were about, and was unable to comment on them.
"I saw it on TV, but they didn't clearly show what was written on the signs," Darmin said.
The billboards put up on Wednesday afternoon, were only up for a few hours before the EC officers and the police took them down.
Whether or not this short lived gamble to whip up Chinese support will pay off or backfire remains to be seen.
Malay voters make up 67 percent of Sungai Besar's 42,655 voters, Chinese 31 percent, Indians 1.8 percent, and others 0.2 percent.
In the 2013 polls which BN won with a razor-thin majority of 399 votes, PAS, then still with Pakatan Rakyat, got 38 percent of the Malay votes and 76 percent of the Chinese votes.
Amanah communications chief Khalid Samad said the party aims to get 32 percent of the Malay vote, and 68 percent of the Chinese vote, amounting to about 40 percent of the total vote.
If BN maintains its numbers in the previous election, this would mean PAS and Amanah will have to fight for 38 percent of the Malay votes, and Amanah is unlikely to win in this competition.
As Darmin and a friend of his who did not wish to be named explained it, Amanah is too new and unfamiliar compared to Umno and PAS, which have many hardcore supporters here.
However due to the hubbub over hudud, it's likely that Amanah, as a member of Pakatan Harapan, can grab a large chunk of the 75 percent Chinese votes that previously went to PAS.
Amanah's Azhar Shukur is squaring off against BN's Budiman Mohd Zohdi and PAS man Dr Abdul Rani Osman, in a showdown that will culminate on June 18.- Mkini
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