April 15, 2011

"FIRST TIME VOTING"

From Kath Livan: From 15th morning till 17th I'll be busy travelling and there won't be any internet connection. The latest would be by Sunday or Monday. So, I'll be travelling with Evelyne to Miri tmrw by land. We actually Then Evelyne will take the bus to Niah while I'll be following my uncle - who will transport people back to ulu for the election. My polling station is SK Long Apu.

On the 16th, I'll try to go back to Miri asap and hope to arrive Miri by midnight or early morning since my flight back to KL is at 6.20 am on Sunday morning!! So, I'll only have updates after the 17th, when I arrive KL.

Hopefully I tak termuntah-muntah when I arrive Miri from ulu! It's gonna be a long long journey. Marudi-Miri about 2 hours, Miri-Lg Apu/ Lg Julan about 6-7 hours if the road is ok & it doesn't rain. Pray for a good weather!!

I'll try to send sms to u for any updates, if possible, from my kampung. Need to go on top of the hill to do so! I can't wait for my very first time voting!


April 14th
PM Visit to Marudi

(Additional photos)













PM arrives in Marudi after being late for 3 hours











Protestors demanding for road















Government workers waiting for PM's arrival













Bored performers under hot sun


April 13th 2011

Ceramah by N.66 candidate, Sylvester Entri anak Muran at Kampung Cina, Marudi at 8.00 pm.

"Bukan shake hand sahaja, bantuan saya berikan disini"

During Entri's ceramah, he urged the Chinese ppl to vote for BN. He also expressed his worries of the decline on percentage of Chinese voters for BN over the years. For the state election in 2006, 75% Chinese support BN but in the parliament seat in 2008, the percentage has decreased to 49%. He hopes that this time he'll get 100% vote. Entri mentioned that he has been very close to the Chinese community especially when it comes to the CNY celebration. He does not only provide food, but also provide 'sumbangan bantuan' for the people.

During the ceramah, food & drinks were also served. There were also enough seats (even extra) that we were able to sit & listen to the ceramah. Entri ended his speech with the 1 Malaysia slogan. He then announced that there's a concert going on at Dataran Marudi to entertain the people and all are welcomed. He mentioned that this is one of BN's event.

April 14, morning

Orang Ulu had to wait 3 hours under hot sun for Najib in
Marudi (updated with photos)

PM Najib is here. Around 1,000 crowd came to welcome him, many preparation done by people such as traditional dances and music, but Najib just passed by them even without stopping or taking a look at the performances. People waited almost 3 hours under the sun. He just walked straight to the stage. We asked one of the dancers, they came from Ulu Baram to perform org ulu dance.

"He doesn't respect us, seems like he doesn't even respect our culture" (Wil upload sme pict soon)   We also chatted with sme JKR civil servants and Bomba officers. They raised their worries about the chances of winning putting it at 50-50%. "But for sure BN will win at Marudi!" said one of the JKR engineers.

We were at the airport earlier today, and had a conversation with a guy, who happens to be a policeman. He's a Kenyah from Belaga. We talked about the dam and how it affected the people living in that area. Now, his longhouse is already under water. I can see the sadness when he showed me some pictures which he recently took when he went back to his kampung in February. Do we, the Baram people want this to happen to us too? My kampung will be one of the village that will be under water if the Baram Dam is continued.

Marudi airport with welcome sign












Last minute preparations while waiting for PM Najib's arrival
















Orang Ulu waiting and thinking about the elections














Never seen so many helicopters landing in Marudi airport before
















BN posters very big compared to PKR flags below.

more flags


















SPR things being shipped to polling stations