Sunday, July 30, 2023

Empty seats at ceramah? They watched online, says Chow

 

Penang PH chairman Chow Kon Yeow speaking to reporters in George Town today. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: There were empty seats at Pakatan Harapan’s election ceramah at the Penang Chinese Town Hall yesterday because more people preferred to watch it via online broadcasts, according to Penang PH chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

He said the ceramah was broadcast live on social media channels.

“This is the new norm, so they switched methods of listening to the talk, online… we have Facebook Live, so the reach there is much bigger compared to physical attendance,” he said in George Town, according to Bernama.

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“But we need to put in the physical effort, we also need to reach a wide target, yesterday was just the first day, and we have 13 more days with various forms of more important activities, such as walkabouts,” he told reporters in George Town.

One of the photos being widely shared showing a small crowd at a PH rally in Penang. (Facebook pic)

He was asked for a response to widely-shared photos depicting many empty seats during the PH ceramah. However, the Penang DAP Facebook page showed that the talk was watched by 16,700 people online.

Chow, who is contesting the Padang Kota seat, denied allegations that those who attended the talk left the hall in protest when a DAP leader spoke. Chow said audience members left as it was getting late.

“It has always been like that. As the night goes on, older people will leave. I’m usually the last speaker, by then almost half or a quarter of the hall will be empty. The audience will gradually go home because it is late as most of the talks are held at night,” he said.

“The lack of audience at the end of the talk (even though the speakers are famous leaders) is normal,” Sinar Harian quoted him as saying.

Chow said the response from the public to the PH campaign had been good based on feedback and observations

“I attended the Perai service centre opening just now and was informed that during a candidate walkabout in Taman Chai Leng market, the response was very good and I was also warmly received in Bayan Baru just now, but we can’t be over confident,” he added. - FMT

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