3000-strong crowd on the field!
I know I earlier said that I wouldn't be going because I had a date with elsf.
Well, it turns out elsf also wanted to go to listen to the ceramah. So off we went together with my parents and my aunty.
It rained earlier so the padang was a little wet and muddy. Thank you so much MPSJ for the poorly maintained padang. There were approximately 3000 people in the crowd, so it was a great boost to DAP's morale. Buntings and banners were hung and there were tents for the volunteers and, I suppose, registration to become polling agents and counting agents.
Anyway, first 2 speakers were a little irrelevant and boring. Then when Loh Gwo Burne took to the microphones, everyone was delighted because of the Lingam issue, sniggering "korek korek korek" throughout the speech. However, I must say that Loh still has a long way to go in terms of public articulation and garnering public support for his campaign. His speech was awkward, peppered with too many pauses, and didn't seem to have a coherent story. He pressed on corruption mainly.
Then the stage was stolen by Edward Ling, campaign manager for the Subang Jaya DUN candidate. He also doubled as emcee for the night, and I must say he was really passionate and managed to drum up emotions of the audience. His loud and boisterous voice and his sincerity won the hearts of the audience as he rambled on the countless wrongdoings of the BN government, and reiterated his undying support for Hannah. The audience simply loved him.
Then some guy named Ruben came on stage and sang praises of love to Hannah. The audience was getting impatient. We want Hannah!
She took to the stage, graceful and poised. Hannah Yeoh, DUN candidate for the Subang Jaya state seat, addressed the crowd.
"Salam Sejahtera. Good Evening. Da Jia Hao."
Wow. She really held the crowd! Intelligent, articulate, clear in speech, and most importantly full of substance. I can really imagine her in the state assembly, bashing the BN lackeys for their inaction and ineptness. Being raised in Subang Jaya, she really connected with the residents. She touched on all the points in her manifesto, which is amazingly down to earth and relevant. Overdevelopment, mismanagement of public funds, corruption... these were some of the points she raised. The crowd was very supportive. Hannah really has a chance! I vaguely remember her from SMSU last time, when she was Head Prefect. My, what a wonderful choice for DUN candidate!
When she finished, Edward resumed his long tirade against the BN government, until Teresa Kok arrived and started her speech. It wasn't a long one, and yet somehow it held the most value. You can really see the seasoned politician in her. It is evident in the way she speaks and the words she uses. She went on for around 15 minutes, and then suddenly a surprise emerged. By then it was already 11.40pm.
Guess who arrived? Tony Pua! He wasn't slated to appear in tonight's ceramah, but I guess it was our lucky night. I was dying to hear Tony speak again ever since his debut appearance in the DAP Damansara opening in DU Uptown. Man has he improved tremendously! Now he speaks like a true politician, stirring up the crowd's emotion and response. Tony spoke about Pak Lah's failures and the "lies" fabricated on the economical situation of the country.
The ceramah ended at 12am approximately. The crowd dispersed peacefully. Everyone, I believe, returned home with renewed inspiration and true hope that we will see a positive change in this coming general elections.
"If you see what I see and if you believe as I believe then I ask you to vote for a change."
