Sunday, April 10, 2011

SUPP relying on groundwork rather than huge gatherings attended by Opposition


While opposition parties continue to draw huge crowds to their ceramah here, Barisan Nasional is discreetly going on personal crusades to get its messages across to the constituents.

While opposition parties continue to draw huge crowds to their ceramah here, Barisan Nasional is discreetly going on personal crusades to get its messages across to the constituents.

The first four days of the campaign has seen Sibu DAP candidates united in most of their public functions, from walkabouts to press conferences, while the SUPP candidates mostly went around noting down the grouses of the grassroots.

Sibu SUPP chief Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh has likened their approach to the conquering strategy of China’s Mao Zedong.

“Right from day one, we have agreed to go separate ways to cover every inch of our constituencies which are very large,” he said yesterday.



“I started from the rural areas and slowly moved to the town centre, somewhat like Mao who covered the peripheral regions before circling the cities.”

So far, the SUPP campaign has been a low-key affair, having been overshadowed by the huge turnout at DAP nightly ceramah in open public areas.

Despite a brief drizzle on Saturday, hundreds of people filled the street opposite Paramount Hotel where DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and several other big names such as Teresa Kok and Tan Kok Wai spoke.

However, Wong remained confident that the personal touch practised by his team would be more effective.

While maintaining that he was not worried about the big turnout at his opponent’s events, Wong admitted that the Opposition’s ceramah were more interesting than those held by the Barisan.

“In town, it is very difficult for us to attract a big crowd because people know we always talk about deve-lopment and other plans,” he said.

“The Opposition, on the other hand, attacks Barisan leaders and carries out character assassinations, even making mischievous statements and baseless allegations.”

Claiming to have learned a few lessons from last year’s Sibu parliamentary by-election in which SUPP lost to the DAP by a narrow margin, Wong said they started reaching out to the constituents very early.
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