Kamalanathan: I will win Hulu Selangor

By Clara Chooi

BATANG KALI, April 18 — Just under 12 hours into his campaign trail and Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate P. Kamalanathan is convinced that he will win the Hulu Selangor by-election this April 25.

“I am very excited. I am going to win. I am absolutely sure,” he told The Malaysian Insider at Kampung Sungai Buaya here near midnight last night.

Ironically, a more humble-sounding Kamalanathan had admitted to reporters hours before that he was the underdog in the race and that PKR was the “defending champions, fighting on homeground”.

PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is defending the seat won by a narrow 198 votes in Election 2008 by Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad, who died last month.

Two independents are also in the race for the parliamentary constituency.

“Yes it is true I felt that way. When I filed my papers at the nomination center this morning and I saw Zaid, I said – yes, I am in for a tough fight.

“However, after embarking on the first leg of my campaign, I am telling you – I am going to win,” he said.

The usually soft-spoken Kamalanathan seemed fuelled by his own conviction, confidently claiming that feedback from the people had made him change his mind.

“The people have given me a lot of confidence. That is why... I will win,” he continued to say.

He even went as far as to add that he would be able to give a rough prediction of his vote-majority within the next few days.

“I cannot talk about my majority now, whether I will deliver a higher majority that before. I can tell you that in the next few days. For now, however, I say I will win,” he said.

In Election 2008, PKR’s Zainal won against MIC deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel, who was the incumbent Hulu Selangor MP for four terms since 1990.

The constituency with 64,500 voters is the largest in the state and is at least double the size of Perlis. It has three state seats within it which are controlled by BN although the state is now ruled by a PKR-led Pakatan Rakyat government.

Kamalanathan is however unfazed by the large number of voters and the short eight-day campaign period that he had to introduce himself to the people.

He will embark on an exhausting journey to conquer all 47 voting stations in the constituency by tomorrow and will today visit 18 stations, beginning with Pertak near here.

“I am here not to fish for votes or to beg for it. I am here to make friends. I am here to make over 60,000 more friends,” he had earlier said in his speech to the group of villagers at Kampung Sungai Buaya here earlier.

He pointed out later that the manner with which he had been greeted by the people had warmed his heart and convinced him of his surefire win.

“Look at how that elderly lady just now spoke to me and hugged me and even blessed me. This is my first time here and everyone treats me like their brother. Where can you get such a welcome?

“I believe that it is blessings from the elderly that will give one the confidence to win,” he said.

The warm embrace that Kamalanathan was referring to had come from 84-year-old Fatimah Ali, a well-known Umno veteran at the village.

The soft-spoken woman said that she could see from Kamalanathan’s personality that he was a sincere man who was truly willing to help the people of Hulu Selangor.

“You can just tell from his character. I truly, truly support him with all my heart,” she said.

She added that she had also personally known Kamalanathan’s mother, who had stayed before in Sungai Choh near here.

With such encouraging words, it is no wonder why Kamalanathan believes that the odds are in his favour.

His confidence may not be misplaced as well for the MIC information chief, who used his skills from his public relations background to connect with people on his walkabouts.

Initial observations of Kamalanathan and Zaid’s methods of engaging with the public show that the former is obviously smoother than the latter.

The 44-year-old former Selayang municipal councillor took pains to listen to the plight of every person who greeted him and more often than not, would end up sharing a laugh or two with the same person.

At Kampung Sungai Buaya, Kamalanathan listened to complaints from Felda settlers who, even after 17 years, were yet to collect on a debt owed to them by housing developers amounting to some RM325 million.

According to villager Azmi Nayan, the group of about 360 Felda settlers had sold their rights to a land to the size of 1,600 acres to the housing developer in the late 1990s.

The developer however has failed to settle the debt until today, he claimed.

“I will definitely look into how I can help the villagers here recover this loan. But give me some time, I cannot promise you the sun and the moon,” he said.

Unlike Kamalanathan, Zaid’s walkabout to meet the people of Kuala Kubu Baru earlier yesterday evening was a more “touch-and-go”, detached affair.

Despite some promising response from the Chinese community at the town of Kuala Kubu Bharu, Zaid did little to capitalise on the support he seemed to have.

Instead, he merely smiled, occasionally struck up small talk, and then left before a lengthy conversation ensued.

The former de facto law minister’s charm with the people clearly paled in comparison to his opponent’s, a factor which could likely up the ante a little for him come polling day.