Final showdown - Shafie Apdal vs 'Bossku'

SANDAKAN POLLS | There were large crowds at respective final ceramah events held by Pakatan Harapan and PBS on the last lap of the campaigning tonight despite a slight drizzle.

Over at Bandar Letat Jaya, some 1,500 people gathered for the Harapan ceramahheadlined by Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal.

The chairs provided were wet, however, forcing the crowd had to make do by standing under umbrellas or at five-foot ways nearby.

For Shafie, the rain was a good omen as he said Sandakan had been experiencing a heat wave of late.

"Raining is a good sign for Sandakan as it did not rain for so long, (it is also a good sign) for Vivian Wong," said Shafie.

Wong is Harapan's candidate for the by-election tomorrow while her main opponent is PBS' Linda Tsen. There are three other independent candidates.

Shafie reminded his audience that Sabah was a resource-rich state and if properly managed would do even better than Selangor, Penang and Johor.

"Together we and Vivian Wong will develop the state. Vote Vivian!" cried Shafie.

At Taman Harmoni, about a five-minute drive away, an almost equal number of people gathered at near a small hall for a ceramah organised by the self-styled gabungan pembangkang (opposition coalition).

'Bossku' and 'Bapa BR1M'

When former premier Najib Abdul Razak arrived at the stroke of 9 pm, he was immediately mobbed in the rain. Some even sang the Umno party song.

"Doesn't matter if it's raining. We must go welcome 'Bossku'," said one man, referring to Najib by his new nickname.

Immediately after arriving, Najib was ushered onto the stage and began speaking in the rain. The crowd surrounded the makeshift stage while the ones at the back stood on chairs. There were some 800 chairs provided.

"I love the Sabahans. I am the prime minister who visited Sabah the most, more often than the fourth and now seventh prime minister," Najib told the crowd, who punctuated every few of his sentences with cheers or shouts of "Bossku".

Najib related that when he went to the Giant hypermarket earlier in the day, an old man greeted him as the "Father of BR1M".

"I am the 'Father of BR1M' and I am not apologetic about introducing BR1M. I introduced BR1M not because I want to buy votes or not because I think cash is king.

"I introduced it because I want to help the poor," he told some 1,500 people. 

As a Malay and a Muslim, he said they must support a non-Muslim candidate who respects the position of Islam as the country’s official religion and not "someone who ruins the management of Lembaga Tabung Haji".

Harapan crowd grows

To the delight of the crowd, Najib made fun of some of the Harapan government's initiatives such as the aggressive promotion of palm oil and the flying car proposal among others.

The crowd at Taman Harmoni cleared out almost immediately after Najib left at about 9.30pm as he was the only speaker scheduled. PBS did not appear to have a final ceramah event. 

Over at the Harapan stage, the crowd continued to grow up to an estimated 2,000 people even after Shafie left.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng somehow ended up being the impromptu master-of-ceremonies introducing many of the speakers.

"We have to end the ceramah as soon as possible. All of you are wet. We don't want you to get sick tomorrow. We hope you will contribute to voting for our candidate, Vivian Wong."

The event capped off with a group photograph session at about 10pm with everyone holding up their lit mobile phones.  - Mkini