Desi, or rather the Journalist-YL Chong in me, and another buddy-hound, TERENCE NETTO, spent a merry time together reporting from the action scenes, and it has a lifting experience as we encountered severla heart-warming moments of TRUTH -- evidenced by the realities of SPIRITED QUEST FOR CHANGE AMONG THE COMMON FOLKS, ESPECIALLY COMMITTED YOUTHS. I call them the TIMELY NUGGETS of GE2008 -- and I find there has indeed been a tide of Change sweeping the country, in varyong degrees in different Constituencies. Nevertheless, the mood for Change is unmistakable. And this engenders HOPE -- HOPE4ABETTERMALAYSIA.
NUGGET1:
At every PKR parliamentary constituency operations centre that Sdr Terence Netto and I visited, it was a heart-warming sight to watch the voluntary workers, mainly young with a few older ones, so committed to the Cause for Change. I understand many of these youths were roped in by PKR Information chief TIAN CHUA, famous for his street demos and confrontation with the Men-in-Blue. Tian is contesting again at BATU, against first-timer Lim Pin Sin, son of just-retired Gerakan president Lim Keng Yaik. And many of these volenteers are second-time-around, so it's again lifting to see the more experienced and seasoned campaigners "seconded" to help out first-timer WILLIAM LEONG, PKR Treasuere, contesting against an MCA newcomer in SELAYANG. Both these PKR veterans must have te "stars" smiling on them if that the BN gifted them with raw opponents -- BN incumbent Ng Lip Yong (Batu) did not have a seat as President's son enjoys priority (did someone yell out NEPOTISM?) and the other veteran MCA deputy MCA Prez Chan Kong Choy made a "sickly" exit, but Desi hears from a reliable source (foreign correspondent no less!) that it was over an 11-year-old child born out of wedlock... Ah, deposed Chua Soi Lek, former Health turned to Hell minister, did hint of similar shenanigans when he bared his soul over a sexual trip into another woman's (not his wife's) hotel room...but I digress...
Nugget2
Here's a folk hero-in-the-making -- Che'Gubard aka Badrul Hisham Shaharin fighting famos/infamous SIL KJ (I deem him not worthy of full idenyification in his own right because he himself boasted that he could do things as he enjoyed the protection of Father-in-law (first priority) cum Prime Minister (second P!) Telling about his schooldays, he mentioned that he once joined the "silat club" but his father, working as TNB general worker, could not afford the pair of uniforms Bard had to make, so the extra-curriclaractivity came to an abbrupt halt.
But this determined lad was a fighter and self-made man had looked up to a "hero", and he honestly shared that he read all about CHE GUEVARRA, Argentinian revolutionary and man-of-the-people. So this young Che'Gubard planted his feet firmly on common people's ground, trained a few years to be a school-teacher. About two years into service, this youth was once arrested at the school, and his reputation was built up as that Rembau kid who achieved a record of 14 arrests by the policefor standing up for the people's and his human rights!
Here's a GEM of a breakthrough -- Che'Gu one day surfed the Net as he was after some intellectual fish, got selected to a South Korean 3-week Training Programme related to Inter-Asia Non-Governmental Organisations' Activism. The Che'Gu topped the class of 20 youths despite his not-so-fluent English.
"I introduced myself by saying that he coud proudly tell the white men I could speak his language reasonably well, but it's rare that the white men could speak any Asian languages in return..."
The programme Director was thus impressed and the bonus was Che'Gu was offered an extended one year to purusue a Master's course in Korea, which he just recently completed.
And so the Bard is headed towards another outstanding achievement -- upsetting the 32-year-old touted four years ago bythe western press as the second most powerful man in Malaysia -- KJ, thy Waterloo might come in Rembau, on March 8, 2008, and Desi and Terence will do a dervish of Dancing Wit' the Wolf.
The latest "breaking" news was that the Oxford boy, also from the 4th Floor, DID NOT TURN up at a debate scheduled by an MU Students' Group, while the Korean grad Che'Gubard waited for an hour!(Surf to rockybru.blogspot.com to checkout a chicken running towards Kentucky Fried...)
Nugget3:
We spied a modest-looking Chinoserie youth,looking like mid-20s, a graphic art design grad, working the documentation section at CheGu's perations centre, helping to reprint pamphlets and handbills and other elction paraphernalia. Terence thinking aloud said this was a good story to share about "quite-an-unusual VOLUNTEER". His woung wife was nearby, looking after a 16-month-old boy. "I have another four-month-old baby at home in Cheras," she volunterred, proudly adding that her husband took leave from his job in CHERAS for two weeks to help Che'Gu make a DERAS headway into Parliament.
Che'Gu continued the tale here: "I befriended 'long-haired' Tan when I was under remand under detention and then Tan was in the adjoining cell. We became firm friends and when Tan learnt I was fighting in Rembau, he voluntered his services at my operations centre for two weeks!"
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