THE usually quiet Jalan Gelugor in Pokok Machang, Tasek Gelugor, had rare burst of activity last night when some 3,000 people gathered at a field opposite former Agriculture and Agro-based deputy minister Mohd Shariff Omar’s bungalow.

They had turned up to listen to Dr Mahathir Mohamad speak. Some went alone, some met up with friends there, and others went as a family with kids in tow. More than a thousand plastic chairs were not enough for the crowds, leaving hundreds standing or sitting on the grass.

Many were aware of the national issues but still wanted to hear what the former prime minister and other Pakatan Harapan leaders had to say at the ceramah themed “Save Malaysia”.

Dr Mahathir, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman, was his usual sharp and witty self as he tickled the crowd while bashing his former party Umno and the federal government over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.

When he poked fun at Prime Minister Najib Razak, his wife and members of the cabinet, the crowd laughed and cheered.

Abdullah Kasim, 54, a Tasek Gelugor voter, said listening to Dr Mahathir and the other leaders directly was better that relying on stories that had been going around.

“It makes you think. I am now thinking that if everything Dr Mahathir has been saying is false, why hasn’t Najib sued him?

“He has called him a thief (in his speech),” he told The Malaysian Insight, adding that listening to Dr Mahathir and the others has influenced his vote.

“I had been an Umno member, until just now,” he said, gesturing to a makeshift counter, where Bersatu was receiving new membership applications.

Other personalities who spoke last night were PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Amanah vice-president Husam Musa, Penang Bersatu chairman Marzuki Yahya and Shariff, who is state deputy chairman and Tasek Gelugor division chief.

Their speeches touched on 1MDB, alleged mismanagement by the BN-controlled federal government, the selling of assets to foreigners, and the goods and services tax (GST). They also defended their PH colleagues DAP, which had been painted by BN as anti-Malay and anti-Islam to frighten Malay voters.

Abdullah said Malays had been told all sorts of things about DAP, as if the party was very bad.

“It doesn’t seem so bad to me. Nobody dies from sitting next to someone from DAP. Lim Guan Eng became the chief minister in Penang and I can still make a living.

“What killed my livelihood was the GST,” Abdullah said, recounting how he had to close his contractor business when he could no longer cope with paying GST in advance before his clients even paid him.

Another former Umno supporter Noordin Zainol, 60, said the speakers explained the issues well, and he was supportive of their struggle.

The Penangite said he had been disappointed with his party and the government for some time over the still-unresolved 1MDB scandal, the rising cost of living and other issues related to education, healthcare and welfare.

“I have been following the issues and the politics. I think Najib should go for the sake of the country and Umno,” he said.

Noordin expects Umno to focus on winning rural folks in the coming general election by throwing “dedak” (bribe) at voters to make them forget.

“But I don’t think it is so simple now when people are better informed. Youths will play a big role this time,” he said.

Muhaitin Samad, 25, who reads both the mainstream and alternative media for news, said he also wanted to hear what both sides of the political divide were saying, although he had already made some conclusions.

“Listening to Mahathir and observing how he spoke, I saw that he was confident that he was speaking the truth,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Muhaitin, who lives in Tasek Gelugor and would be voting for the first time in the coming polls, said he did not belong to any party but he might join Bersatu.

Another Tasek Gelugor voter Halim Ahmad also said he wanted to listen to the speeches, although he had long decided not to support the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional.

“I am a PAS member. I have rejected them a long time ago.

“Things are bad now. The cost of living is high. I believe many are going to reject BN here this time,” the self-employed man in his 40s said.

In a press conference after the ceramah, Dr Mahathir said people were still drawn to ceramah gatherings, which proved that they were not fed up with politics.

“They are interested in removing Najib,” he said.

On whether Bersatu was confident of taking Tasek Gelugor, since his ceramah had drawn such a large crowd, Mahathir replied: “We have to be somewhere.”

“But many who came tonight are from all over Penang. Some are from Kedah, as far as Pulau Tuba,” said the Langkawi Bersatu division chief.

Asked what he thought of the seat’s incumbent MP, Umno’s Shabudin Yahaya who recently courted controversy when he suggested there was nothing wrong with a rape victim marrying the rapist, Dr Mahathir laughed.

“This is to encourage more rape. So be careful. When they feel like marrying, they will rape,” he said.

Nurul Izzah said the reason why PKR decided to support Bersatu in Tasek Gelugor was because they felt the incumbent MP was “unfit to be a representative of the people”.

“It is un-Islamic to recommend such a thing. It is a disservice to the community, coming from a former Shariah court judge.

“We are here specifically in Tasek Gelugor to ensure such MPs are ousted in the next elections,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.

Shabudin made the remark in the Dewan Rakyat earlier this month. Although he had said the media took his comment out of context, the damage was done.

The controversy has since inspired the opposition to campaign to take his constituency, which has been a BN seat since it became a constituency in 1986. – April 24, 2017.