Campaign in rural areas - DAP new focus

After all the hardworks, Pakatan Rakyat candidate from DAP, Sdr Wong Ho Leng, finally won the battle in Sibu. It is a victory that all Pakatan Rakyat comrades should feel proud about. Though Barisan Nasional poured millions of Ringgit into the campaign, they fail to retain Sibu and lost to PR at a slim majority, considering the fact that they won the seat in 2008 with more than 3000 majority.

Still, there are a lot of ground works to be done. This is my answer when people share with me how proud they feel with the result of the by-election in Sibu. I say that Pakatan Rakyat has to work doubly and triply hard in rural Malay, Indians, Chinese, Iban, Kadazan and Orang Asli areas. These areas are largely still hit by inadequate infrastructure with no basic amenities like water and electricity supply.

These places are barricaded from the outside world with no connection of information from urban areas. Thus, good news and programmes carried out by the PR-led state government normally does not reach them. Majority of them are still reading main stream newspapers like Utusan Malaysia which reports nothing but lies and concorted news against PR. In rural places of Sarawak and Sabah, telecomunication signals are so weak that they can't even receive RTM's signal.

How are we going to penetrate into these areas? I see changes in the DAP's campaign in Sibu. Rural Iban areas are not our conventional support ground and yet campaigners are sent to these places on a daily basis to reach out to the electorate.

Back home in Selangor, PR especially DAP which does well in urban seats, should start working in rural and semi-rural areas. Personal networking is important in winning the hearts and minds of the rural people as they are less exposed to information, leading a comparatively simpler life than urban dwellers.

I witnessed this on a first hand basis in Sibu. During our walkabout, the local grassroots normally will bring the Yang Berhormat from Peninsula and other parts of East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) to visit the village from house to house. Normally the YBs are the focus, still villagers are more comfortable to communicate with party local grassroots, especially when the party grassroots do speak their native languages. Come to think about it, the party grassroots have been visiting the villages for years. How couldn't they not able to communicate well with the villagers?

From here I witness the strength and importance of engaging local people in winning the battles of the rural. It is neither because the rural people are more simple-minded, caring less for the national issue, nor they are only concerned about bread-and-butter issues, it is the people that carries the message that makes the difference.

For BN, their grassroots have been living in the village for years, they know almost every single house and villagers in their village. Therefore in the past, it is always very difficult for DAP to penetrate into the hearts and minds of the rural folks. Now it is the time for change, and it also means that the DAP has to change to a better fighting force in any election/by-election that the party machinery must prove itself to be capable of penetrating into all communities in spreading the PR message of REFORMASI.