So, is there a case for going back to the old ways, preserving Deception and launching a full-scale onslaught at the voters? Don’t be surprised if method eventually becomes more important than madness again. After all, Raja Nong Chik has never been more serious than now.in the current context of the controversy created about…The details of this futile rearguard action are well known to those who are tuned to the political grapevine. Political messaging holds the key to   Nurul’s  campaign. There has to be a dominant theme that touches voters in every corner of To all Lembah Pantai folks, you have to view the big picture. Don’t fall for all these short – term goodies. Apparently, from this article, many simple minded folks have fell into BN’s trap. Obviously, FT Minister RNC under BN controls all financial resources, while Nurul had been denied her financial allocation all these years. Very unfair indeed!!! All this assistance by RNC is just to win the election only. Remember, if you grant Raja Nong Chik a win in the 13th GE, all the assistance will definitely stop.

Please don’t be taken in by visits to the market. I went to Canning Garden market on the second day of Chinese new year. there was a big crowd at the entrance. They waved me aside and was only concentrating on the Chinese. They were wearing the BN blue and had video cameras and they were stopping the Chinese shoppers, carrying their bags and taking photographs. I am not Chinese so I was told to move aside. That is the truth. The truth lies in the past 56 years of what you have seen and experienced. Not in the money they hand out and the promises that they make now. Listen to your heart and hear the truth. Change.

Nurul Izzah told  that her she stands firm by her record, and that her activities are all recorded on her blog and her website.

“We do what we can and I believe he should really be ashamed for being responsible and blocking my access,” she said, alleging the advantage Nong Chik has over her as Federal Territories minister.

“I’m not concerned at all because you’re talking about a minister who has been abusing government resources. And you know, it’s important that people understand to a large extent he is the man responsible for DBKL and if the service is not up to par, he should be blamed.”

Responding to Nurul Izzah’s call that he and Rusli declare all their financial assets, Nong Chik said, “I have already declared to the prime minister. Ask her father to declare his assets.”

He also dismissed any challenge Rusli might pose to his candidacy, saying, “I think the fight is between the two of us (Nurul Izzah).”

Several Lembah Pantai voters who The Malaysian Insider spoke to at the market seemed to indicate that it would be a close fight between the two candidates.

One Malay father in his thirties, a resident of Flat Bukit Angkasa, said that he would vote for Nong Chik in the upcoming elections because he had brought a lot of change to the surrounding area, such as installing air-conditioning in the flat’s surau and subsidising new facilities so residents only have to contribute a small amount.

However, a 30-year-old Malay mother who works in a cafe said that as a first-time voter, she would be voting for Nurul Izzah as a fellow woman and because she does not agree with some of the things BN does.

“I have never asked Raja Nong Chik for help. I never applied for BR1M because I feel that’s like bribery,” she said.

She also said that Nong Chik liked to “tunjuk hebat”, but admits that he comes to the area often to spend time with the people.

The heat is on for the 13th general elections, especially in the political battleground of Lembah Pantai, as PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar and Umno’s Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin jockeyed for the hearts and minds of voters in a low-cost housing area in Pantai Dalam yesterday.

At a walkabout around the Kampung Kerinchi pasar malam, the incumbent Lembah Pantai MP and the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister took turns greeting shoppers and stall owners, entourage in tow, without crossing paths.

“This is where I come from. My opponent is only using this as a base. For me, this is my home, do or die I’m here,” Nong Chik told reporters, beaming as he shook hands with market-goers, accompanied by his wife Datin Nafesah Raja Nong Chik.

He seemed to be confident of the community’s support as he weaved briskly through the market, stopping traffic to shake hands with people driving by in their cars, and even pausing to holler and wave at residents looking out of their high-rise flat windows.

PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar posing for pictures with market-goers.

Later, when he had left the scene, Nurul Izzah arrived and handed out a plethora of items: her blue candidate name card, a flyer directed at women with the slogan “Wanita Dihargai”, and Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) ubiquitous cartoon manifesto.

As Nong Chik acknowledges that the voters he needs to woo are the middle- and upper-middle-class Bangsarians, so Nurul Izzah admits she needs to win over voters in low-income areas.

“Yes, he’s strong here because he’s created this ecosystem of those subservient to financial renumeration, but does it mean that everyone will fall for it? No,” she said, referring to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s People’s 1 Malaysia Aid (BR1M) annual handouts for low-income families.

“Certainly, in their plight right now, the short-term solution is of course provided by Umno… But there has been no meaningful change in the increase of wages in the last 10 years, and they have failed to improve people’s opportunities to get a better life,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

“I think he’s addressing their current needs but we are trying to showcase that for three terms, BN had the opportunity to change lives in Lembah Pantai but they only started improving their services post-Pakatan win,” she said.

Nong Chik did not hand out any informational titbits or promise any ceramahs, which seemed to be in line with his view that his work in Kampung Kerinchi has been done and is self-evident.

When asked about Nurul Izzah’s challenge to him and Independent candidate Rusli Baba for a public debate after nominations yesterday, he told The Malaysian Insider, “No need to debate anymore. Only two weeks left, what more is there to debate? She always wants to debate that’s why she doesn’t do any work.”

“If she has done work, for five years not five months, record should have. Show it to us and compare with what BN has done, right?”

Watch this space?

Nong Chik love traffic jams

Kuala Lumpur “Tut-tut,” goes my neighbour, Ms X. “Imagine, we were stuck in a wretched traffic jam for more than 25 minutes! The traffic lights weren’t working, the policeman was nowhere to be seen, and life came to a halt. I tell you, what a waste of time!” And so she spent the next 20 minutes hyper-ventilating over her ruined morning, in the process using up 20 minutes of my time as well. I consoled myself  (and her) by thanking God that at least, no one whipped out a pistol and fired shots that could have killed lives. Remember, the Capital is infamous, among other things, for its highly volatile road rage prone owner-drivers.

But most of all, we need to make the last mile connectivity better, especially for cyclists and pedestrians. Otherwise, many of us have forgotten what it is like to walk on our roads, and I will give an anecdote here.

Walking from my home along Ring Road, I was crossing one of the side roads, when a huge SUV came barreling upon me, horn blaring, lights flashing. I am big built, stocky, there were three of us, and the car was not going that fast that we would get hurt, so we simply stopped in its path, till it came to a halt. The driver got tough, but that’s not the real issue – so did the educated couple in the back seat.

What we did is another blog entry, or maybe I will let readers guess, but that is the larger issue. Anywhere else in the civilised world, the pedestrian and cyclist get primary concern and right of way, and public transport gets the next highest priority. In India, we all know, that it is the other way around.

But matters are changing. Around 3.5 to 4 million public transport trips in Delhi, bus, train and metro, is a lot of voters. Add to that the growing number of cyclists. And cycle rickshaws.

Mark my words – this will be solved only when it becomes an electoral issue. And that is happening. And requires just a little bit of help, direction, push. Ofcourse, you won’t hear about such matters in long winded speeches given at 5-star hotels to industry stalwarts. But guess who was in the back of that SUV and apologised profusely, when he saw the crowd building up in seconds around his car.

As FT Minister, Raja Nong Chik is responsible for attending to the relevant needs of the people within FT and has included under him Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to assist him in performing his duties.

Exactly how well has he performed in discharging his duties?

One would reasonably expect that with him living in TTDI and thus being present there regularly, if not daily, he would ensure that TTDI is well-managed by the authorities that answer to him, principally DBKL.

Seeing him always smiling one would think he is pleased with his performance.

I was however appalled during a recent visit to TTDI to visit an aunt, to find that TTDI is poorly managed.

There are illegal stalls operating everywhere and I understand from residents there that this has been going on for ages, with the authorities turning a ‘blind eye’ to them.

Rumour has it that some DBKL personnel are on a ‘retainer basis’ with these stall-holders and hence no action is taken against these stall-holders, despite many complaints by residents.

Illegal stalls

Some (repeat, some) of the numerous illegal stalls found in TTDI along pedestrian paths and back lanes.

Why is this so, Nong Chik?

Are there those on the take?

There is a dire shortage of parking lots for motorists and to compound matters many of these illegal stalls operate from parking lots, thus reducing the number of available parking lots for motorists. They operate from the same parking lots each day without any hindrance from DBKL.

Why the dereliction of duty, Nong Chik?

Parking lots

Typical daily scenes of several TTDI parking lots.

Chaotic parking

Parking has become so chaotic in TTDI that motorists park so haphazardly and in an inconsiderate manner and yet hardly any action is taken by the authorities.

Why, Nong Chik?

Double-parking throughout the day just 50 metres from DBKL’s branch office at TTDI.

Vehicles parked right around a junction causing a danger to others.

Vehicles parked along the pedestrian pavement, forcing pedestrians onto the road. Incidentally, the jeep belongs to the Jabatan Hasil Dalam Negeri with “Hasil” painted on its side.

Back-lanes full of illegally-parked vehicles. How will Bomba gain access in the event of fire, Nong Chik?

Even a DBKL van is parked at a bus stop.

Illegal banners

Illegal banners pinned to trees seem to enjoy immunity. Clearly this is wrong, Nong Chik!

Scenes of uncollected rubbish

Heck, even those involved in less than savoury activities get to promote themselves.

See the stencilled graffiti for massage services, Nong Chik?

Now, Nong Chik, seriously, should you not give priority to these matters, for which you are paid by the rakyat, rather than have spent the last few years campaigning at Lembah Pantai to take on Nurul Izzah?

Remember, responsibility and duty should come first before ambition.

At best I will give you a ‘D’ on your report card.

A residents’ initiative planting coloured flags to support Nurul Izzah Anwar is now part of the incumbent Lembah Pantai MP’s campaign to defend her seat against Umno strongman Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal.

Miniature blue, white, and red flags — the PKR vice-president’s party colours — as well as electoral reform group Bersih’s bright yellow were planted at a Bangsar roundabout as part of residents’ “Malaysian Spring” campaign for political change over the weekend.

But the same group had to stand up to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers who had plucked the “flowers” hours later on Sunday, citing transgression of city by-laws.

The residents later replanted the flags, after criticising the City Hall officers for ignoring similar transgressions by Nong Chik’s Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign officials with their billboards and flags.

Nurul Izzah said the idea to make the “Malaysian Spring” as part of her campaign came after “one of the residents called me and said, ‘We’re going to fight for this place’.”

“Then the suggestion came from resident lawyers — they said one of the ways to mitigate this is to adopt it formally as part of my campaign material. So if you (DBKL) would like to remove them (the flags), you first and foremost have to remove the other paraphernalia belonging to Barisan Nasional,” the 32-year-old lawmaker told The Malaysian Insider.

Nurul Izzah — the eldest daughter of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — is facing interim federal territories and urban wellbeing minister Nong Chik in the May 5 polls, the second minister she is contesting against after defeating then-women, family and community development minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in Election 2008.

Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin today slammed news portalMalaysiakini for allegedly twisting facts about his involvement in an offshore company, RZA International Corporation.Tell us, Raja Nong Chik, how much of our money is sitting in your bank account? Would Raja Nong Chik please explain how his family make its millions? Hopefully not another cronyism or cow-shit … Read more