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reporting
this weekend the malaysian election is expected to be the closest ever with the
latest polling showing a fifty-fifty split
between the government and the opposition
the ruling coalition has controlled Malaysia since independence fifty seven years
ago
and its warning of potential civil unrest if voters throw it out
Southeast Asia correspondence Zoe Daniel reports from Penang
"Ubah"
"Yeah"
Lim Guan Eng is on the hustings
"DAP"
he's the chief minister of the state of Penang
and the secretary general of the democratic action party
one-in-three parties that make up the opposition coalition
and he's selling the idea it's ready to become the national government
but he has to convince voters who may never have even considered voting against the ruling
Barisan National coalition
Instead of
Being a contest of principles
ideas and policies
we have turned this into a
contest of who can lie better
who can hate better
and of course, who can threaten fiercer
i think this is not what the people want
what the people wants is "What is A Better Vision
For Malaysia"
cause Malaysia
deserves better
Penang is an island of opposition control in a country that has been dominated
by Malaysia's ruling coalition for fifty seven years since
independence
it's one of five states taken by the opposition in 2008
in a shock result constricts the ruling coalition of it's two thirds
parliamentary majority
Lim Guan Eng says Penang
is now a model behalf of the opposition government country
I think it's important that uh... we've got a record
the record of good governors
a record of good governors that delivers u_s_
and I think it has given us, not only credibility
but also confidence that we can do
a better job
uh... at the federal ruling
opposition leader and long-time political rival of Mahathir, Anwar Ibrahim
believes there's a mood for change and only one thing that can stop the
government's being thrown out massive fault
we have uh... mm
presented our case
based upon the March
electoral role
where we can even find
even postal voters
who are actually
designated there
as Bangladeshis', Pakistanis', Indonesians'.
so clearly
there's a fault there
penang is awash with the blue flags of 1 Malaysia
a taxpayer funded campaign for national unity that was the brainchild of Prime
Minister Najib Razak
Najib's ruling coalition has been accused of bribery
wooing voters wheat free meals to get them to attend its rallies and is handed
out billions of dollars worth of pre-election sweetness
the local Democratic Action Party candidate Jeff Ooi
has uncovered what he says
is blatant vote buying in his constituency in Penang
He say if Barisan wins you get it: 160 Ringgit
160 ringgit,
he's lodged a police report of the constituents clients that they've been
given lottery tickets
and told to come back if the government is re-elected
to pick up the award
one hundred and sixty ringgits
is you vote just this cheap?
How can we get 160 ringgit for my vote
Shame for my country. Jeff Ooi says social media, internet news sites
are the only means of culturing
what he describes as false information about opposition policy
in the government-controlled mainstream media
that's predominantly about race which plays a big part in the Malaysian
politics
race politics it's very scary um... we especially DAP face
the wrath
of Barisan National campaigners
who has
who have uh... resorted to calling names and they have issued
booklet like this calling DAP being racist and have this booklets
distributed through the national mosque and houses of worship
and they refer us
to be being racists
anti the malays
all these are basically news cuttings published in government owned media
Utusan Malaysia and this being used so randomly to split us
we've talked about national unity
but Barisan National resort to, to fight
and call us
the cost of all racial problems
Malaysia's racial diversity
is both its strength and its weakness
the country is sixty percent malay but also has large chinese and indian
populations
islam is the dominant religion
Internal bickering within the opposition coalition
particularly in relation to the potential for the inposition of the Islamic law
has fed Government warnings
but it's the opposition does take power there may be a repeat of deadly race riots that
took place in the nineteen sixties
it makes no apologies
this country is formed
on uh..
the very different components of racist
so the chaotic situation can be easily exploited
so both are playing such games. "I don't deny that, yes we are part and parcel of the
game
I know it's not right. But it is a risk of unrest story is that
just a political tactic as you said
Part of it,
Part of it, because we are cautioning we are caution. We're caution with people, Look
this country is so divided now
the latest polls predicted null fared result
with the electric evenly split just a few days out from the election
"Ubah rocket style"
whoever wins,
change is already on the way in Malaysia
Everyone is talking about getting the quality, and uh.. the fairness um.. so like in
Australia, You'll be saying, "You'll be getting a fair go?"
So I think its something that people want to see across the board
and he wouldn't get through with that "Gangnam Style" Southeast Asia Correspondent Zoe Daniel
reporting from Malaysia and that's the program for tonight
tomorrow night here we'll have state editions of
7.30 and I'll be back with you on Monday. Good Night.