UPDATE, 17 August 2008: More pictures added! / Sudah tambah banyak gambar lagi!
You have to be here to believe what you see and to feel the pulse of the fervour of the supporters of Pakatan Rakyat.
The crowd was already making its way to the nomination center at Kubang Semang as early as 6.35am when my supporters and I arrived. Cars were already parked on both sides of the road leading to the nomination center.
By about 9.00am the whole place was already chocker-blocked with Pakatan Rakyat supporters.
Cars were parked everywhere and at every available nook and corner. Even the North South highway was triple or quadruple parked on both sides for kilometers leaving a small lane for vehicles to squeeze through!
We have often heard of traffic jams but can you imagine a human jam? It’s all happening at the nomination center at Kubang Semang this morning. I have never seen such a phenomenon in any election nomination day, let alone a by-election one. This has to be the mother of all nominations.
And if this is any indication to go by, the game is over for the Prime Minister who allowed the trumped up sodomy charge to be preferred against Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
– Terjemahan oleh Lee Wee Tak – Ucapan ribuan terima kasih dari Wee Choo Keong –
Keadaan di pusat penamaan calon di Permatang Pauh susah dipercayai!
Anda hanya boleh mengecapi betapa hangatnya sokongan terhadap Pakatan Rakyat jika anda berada di sini.
Orang ramai telah datang berduyun-duyun ke pusat penamaan calon di Kubang Semang seawal 6:35 pagi apabila saya dan penyokong saya tiba di sana. Banyak kereta telah diletak di tepi dua belah jalan menuju ke arah pusat penamaan.
Lebih kurang 9.00 pagi, tempat tersebut telah sarat dengan penyokong Pakatan Rakyat. Kereta diletak di merata tempat dan sudut dan celah.
Malah Lebuh Raya Utara Selatan pun dijadikan tempat letak kereta sedalam tiga atau empat deret di dua belah jalan untuk beberapa km dan hanya tinggal satu lorong kecil untuk lalu-lintas!
Kita selalu dengar adalah kesesakan kereta di jalan raya tetapi bolehkah anda bayangkan adanya kesesakan akibat orang ramai? Ini berlaku di pusat penamaan calon di Kubang Semang page tadi. Saya belum pernah nampak keadaan macam ini di mana-mana hari penamaan untuk pilihanraya umum, lebih-lebih lagi pilihanraya kecil sahaja. Ini adalah “ibu” untuk semua penamaan.
Jika keadaan ini dijadikan garis ukur, maka tamatlah permainan Perdana Menteri yang membenarkan tuduhan meliwat yang dicipta untuk Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Above: Here’s where the BN supporters gather. / Atas: Disinilah mana penyokong BN berkumpul.
YB Gopalan Krishnan, MP for Padang Serai, and his wife.