Dr M and sidekicks reunite, Malacca crowd goes gaga

GE14 | They may be old now and carry the baggage of their past, but the reunification of three of Malaysia's former political juggernauts was something to behold for many Malaccans.

Tonight, thousands of people swarmed a small stage in the Bukit Piatu suburbs to catch a glimpse of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Daim Zainuddin and Rafidah Aziz – former Umno top brass who are now seeking to overthrow their former party.

Rafidah, the former Wanita Umno leader and long-time member of Mahathir's cabinet, arrived first, urging Malaysians to "change contractors" that would run the country.

"Cancel the old contract (with BN) so that Harapan can fix the mistakes," she urged the ethnically-mixed crowd.

By the time she was midway through her speech, the crowd had already spilled onto the streets.

Hundreds of latecomers were forced to watch from across the road, behind a massive and unpleasant-smelling monsoon drain.

When Mahathir finally hit the rostrum, he reminded Malaccans of the significance of Dataran Pahlawan – the site where Malayans received Tunku Abdul Rahman after his return from London after negotiating the country’s independence.

"There has never been such a crowd of Malaccans before. I was there when Tunku Abdul Rahman came back from Europe with news that we would have our independence in 1957.

"That was a historical event. But I am confident that the crowd then, despite its significance, was not as big as the one we have today," he said.

Mahathir said he was confident that the impressive turnout tonight showed that the participants were confident that BN was about to lose the election.

At one point, Mahathir, sensing that the crowd was also building behind the stage, turned back, only to be greeted by deafening chants of "Hidup Tun" (long live Tun).

Crowd does the 'phone torchlight wave'

Malacca has long been an Umno stronghold. During the last general election, BN formed the state government with slightly over two-thirds of the seats.

The atmosphere among the crowd which was close to 10,000 at its peak was electrifying.

All the speakers received thunderous applause and cheers during most of the speeches and the crowd reacted to every joke, quip and witty remark.

This reached fever pitch during Mahathir’s speech which was frequently interrupted with lusty chants of “Hidup Tun, Hidup Tun”.

When he coughed for a third time during his speech, people in the crowd began to demand loudly for him to be given water.

Though Daim was also in attendance, he did not speak.

The night ended with the emcee asking the crowd to do the now popular smartphone torchlight wave which they happily obliged.

Malacca DAP estimated there were about 30,000 people in attendance at the rally tonight. - Mkini