Sungai SIput Story 3

• I just woke up & right away posting this. Let me continue the later part of the day, Vote counting.

It was raining since about 5 pm & we waited inside the Perbandaran Hall premises, where the total counting & announcement will be made. Police blocked the main road in front & quite a number of them were taking duty. Around 7 pm, I could see cars, carrying ballot boxes from all the polling stations 1 by 1. Each car had a party rep & policeman together. By this time, medias were already inside the hall. It took quite long for all the boxes to arrive. 

I was waiting outside & meanwhile, had a chat with one of MIC member (strong Samy supporter) who was the rep inside polling station to witness the counting earlier. He was very worried & told me many things. He said that no other MP can throw money like Samy Velu for the people. He said Samy helped from paying house bills up to funerals. During festivals, the amount of money flown into Sg. Siput is marvelous. Loads of people get new clothes, hampers & 'ang pau'. He also said the opposition always talks vulgar to the BN during campaign period & election day. But now, he is worried about Samy being toppled. He suddenly got a phone call from Rimba Panjang where he found out that Samy got 200+votes & Dr.Kumar gained 900+ votes. He was so sad & quickly went to the place with his motorbike after saying "They (opposition) have played".

I was getting updates from other places through sms & phone calls. My friend who was reporting from inside updated me from time to time. Initially, Dr. Kumar was leading by small margin, but as counting went on, the margin was getting bigger & confidence was growing among Dr.Kumar & his people. I managed to get inside the hall later on & found out that the counting was over, but no announcement was made. The EC head there made announcement that he has the results in his hands but cant reveal it until he gets green light from SPR Perak. Many couldn't understand this process, but all waited, including 4 candidates. Dr. Kumar was there, but no sight of Samy Vellu (I heard he went off from SS). By this time, the crowd inside came in as police allowed them. I could say that 98 % were opposition supporters. Everyone knew that Dr. Kumar won but kept hold of happy emotions until the official announcement. Dr. Kumar  & his people felt angry with the delay & few times argued with the EC head. The whole place was tensed as they delayed more than an hour. 

Meanwhile waiting, I manage to join other reporters interviewing Dr. Kumar;

• He said eventhough he stood with PKR's ticket, but he is still a PSM candidate & all matters will be like that. PSM & PKR shares many similar policies except for very few like the free trade country. When asked what will he do, he said that he will concentrate on the constituency first. As there are many problems faced by people in Sg. Siput socially & politically. He also told that its time to work with all the people including NGOs to create betterment. Malaysians have proved that they want change by giving oppositions big win throughout the country. He said by looking at this, they can start to think of taking over the government next election. He is very happy of his struggle in SS as he got about 15+% last two elections, then doubled to 30+% in last elections and this time around increased which brought him victory. He also agreed that Makkal Shakti played a big part in this victory. They have conveyed good message to rakyat.

Me : Doctor, what is your style? Discuss & decide or Decide & discuss?

Dr.Kumar : Of course Discuss & decide. Its not me who won, but we won. All of us work together at every point of time. Its people's victory. 

Me : It is said that Dato Seri Samy Velu has thrown so much of money to people in SS when he was here, from paying house bills to other things. He helps this way. Since you are new, how will you handle this culture?

Dr.Kumar : Well, the people of SS is going to have a culture shock. They won' be getting money from their MP. But they will get whatever they should get from government by better means. I will fight for that. Only corrupted MP can have that much of money & simply throw money. I will look into what has to reach people inclusive of orang asli and all. To change the mindset of people will take some time, but they will change.

We continued waiting & finally, the EC guy went on stage. He thanked all the candidates, jabatans & every person who helped to run this election smoothly. He looked tired as well. He invited all the present candidates to the stage & the announcement was made...jeng jeng...Sungai Siput Parliament winner is Dr. KUMAR, the PSM candidate; winning by about 2000 majority defeating Dato Seri Samy Vellu!!!...The crowd cheered & clapped & shouted out of joy. 3/4 state seats won by opposition and 1 won by BN. The crowd even cheered for the BN candidate ( I liked this).

Finally, they had a photo session & Dr. Kumar was escorted to a Toyota Corolla SE (1991 model). Never seen any MP in such a normal car before.

Whole crowd went to PSM bilik gerakan near Jalong. I was there too. The celebration was great with 'Urumi Maelam'(Indian cultural drums) playing & fireworks released into air. Dr. Kumar went to stage and many presented him with 'Maalai'(flower garland) and bouquets. He then spoke with hailer. He said we have finally won. It is a victory of all & he thanked everyone who supported him from every aspect. He told everyone to celebrate quietly & never provoke other parties or create any sort of problem because since there is big win of oppositions in country, havocs are expected. And if this happens, there would be curfew & hold of parliament. This will mean nothing to their victory. So he urged everyone to go celebrate happily but quietly. Go back home & watch TV to update themselves about other areas' election results. The crowd cheered and agreed to him. He also said that he is not only an Indian leader but a leader for all races as Malaysian. A chinese guy spoke then & said its a wonderful win for us. He spoke few words in chinese dialect to the chinese present there. Dr.Kumar spoke again and this time, the crowd shouted "Makkal Shakti Valga". Dr. Kumar mentioned Makkal Shakti and said that he will speak to Makkal Shakti leaders and see what can be done for betterment of people. The crowd dislembed & Dr. Kumar went into the Bilik Gerakan PSM. The stage which was used to give ceramah is nothing but an old wodden lorry body. For me, this was very meaningful icon. Somethings are not seen useful until we use it. The day has come to an end with a new history, Samy Vellu lost at Sungai Siput after 8 terms. Dr. Kumar has won after 3rd time contesting. The land has new fertilizer to its soil. Everyone hopes for good crops to grow...