Tun Dr Mahathir has always been a straight talker. By his own admission he is not an artful craftsman with words unlike the other fellow he knows very well. The other fellow is in Bukit Selambau I think. If TDM goes to Bukit Selambau after this, he will be chasing after Anwar (?). The mountain does not move. When it moved, the protagonist in Kagemusha lost.
Today, Monday he is in Bukit Gantang. He was speaking at the Padang PPP at Simpang in Bukit Gantang. He is doing his bit to shore up support for the BN candidate for Bukit Gantang.
He was in his element with his straight talking style. Maybe it's the sceptical me inside, but this time, I feel that TDM is not his fiery self. During his speech, he talked mostly about tangential issues. He was more elaborative on the stories surrounding his onetime protégé now turned nemesis. He is asking the people of Bukit Gantang not to be beguiled by Anwar Ibrahim.
The people of Bukit Gantang may have been regaled by TDM. After all he was our leader for 22 years. Most had come to catch a glimpse of the man who has been very critical of UMNO these few years. He has just rejoined UMNO. As to seeing this as a personal fight between TDM and Anwar Ibrahim, as TDM himself said, the people of Bukit Gantang are not stupid.
I scanned the sea of people who had come to see him. Most of them are outsiders who had come to Bukit Gantang to help out in this election. I saw a number of familiar faces from Pekan, the ketua wanita and her deputy were right in front.
Suddenly it struck me- where are those in saluran 3, 4 and 5? These are the ones who are going to make the difference in this election. They are missing. Then I remembered, I saw them in droves at the ceramahs held by the PR people. That was yesterday.
We will see whether TDM's presence here is impactful or not. I am not going to add to my frustrations by admitting that perhaps, TDM has come too late to the scene. The spirit is willing, the body isn't there.
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