It was a cool evening after the late afternoon rain on Monday 3 March. Standing at the USJ 12 padang listening to Gobin Singh Deo’s serious yet humorous speech; watching the huge ‘pine’ tree behind the stage swaying gently in response to the breeze; hearing the unique remarks from the huge crowds in cheering the speaker, it was an incredible moment in attending the DAP ceramah before we cast our votes on 8 March 2008.
Unfortunately, while we enjoyed ourselves in Gobin’s speech, it started to drizzle at around 10 p.m. And the rain, slowly but surely, became heavy. I did not bring umbrella, so were Chin YH, Rose and her sister. Desperately, we went near to those spectators that were well prepared with their umbrellas. Despite the rain, Gobin proceeded with his speech and the number of audience did not dwindle. After a while, the whole area was covered with umbrella.
That evening, I was there early 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the ceramah. At that moment, all the seats were taken up and there were thousands of people already standing there waiting for the ceramah to start at 9 p.m. I walked around surveying the area. There were a few mobile stalls operating at the inner side of the field. There was one van that was loaded with iced can drinks. That would be a good idea to have a cold drink when the speeches were too heated up.
While walking around, Chin YH, a Pacesetter runner, spotted me. He actually came all the way from Kelana Jaya. Just like me, he also wanted to listen to Lim Kit Siang’s speech, and I believed most audience shared the same objective too. We later spotted Rose (another Pacesetters runner who live 500 meters away) and his sister.
The other main speakers in that evening were Tan Kok Wai (P123 Cheras) , Jeff Ooi (P50 Jelutong), Hanah Yeoh (Subang State Assembly) and Loh Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya Parliamentary).
Unfortunately, while we enjoyed ourselves in Gobin’s speech, it started to drizzle at around 10 p.m. And the rain, slowly but surely, became heavy. I did not bring umbrella, so were Chin YH, Rose and her sister. Desperately, we went near to those spectators that were well prepared with their umbrellas. Despite the rain, Gobin proceeded with his speech and the number of audience did not dwindle. After a while, the whole area was covered with umbrella.
That evening, I was there early 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the ceramah. At that moment, all the seats were taken up and there were thousands of people already standing there waiting for the ceramah to start at 9 p.m. I walked around surveying the area. There were a few mobile stalls operating at the inner side of the field. There was one van that was loaded with iced can drinks. That would be a good idea to have a cold drink when the speeches were too heated up.
While walking around, Chin YH, a Pacesetter runner, spotted me. He actually came all the way from Kelana Jaya. Just like me, he also wanted to listen to Lim Kit Siang’s speech, and I believed most audience shared the same objective too. We later spotted Rose (another Pacesetters runner who live 500 meters away) and his sister.
The other main speakers in that evening were Tan Kok Wai (P123 Cheras) , Jeff Ooi (P50 Jelutong), Hanah Yeoh (Subang State Assembly) and Loh Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya Parliamentary).
Lim Kit Siang and Jeff Ooi. Photo is from http://www.jeffooi.com/ When the rain intensified, I managed to seek partial shelter under a small umbrella meant for two persons – I was the fourth person. After a while, part of my shirt was wet. When the rain was picking up intensity, Gobin’s speech was eventually halted.
I have heard of DAP’s President, Mr. Lim Kit Siang since I was young but I have never heard his speeches before. So, it was a hard decision for me whether to stay on – to get wet – or go home.
After a while and when the situation was not getting any better, we decided to go home. With the wet shirt and when the wind blew, it was cold. I could never imagine that I actually shivered while walking to my car.
According to Rose, she and her sister went to the ceramah again when the rain had stopped at around 11 p.m. She managed to hear Mr. Lim’s speech. He explained with assurance that the opposition parties, even with the maximum seats, could only deny BN’s two-third majority.
While I communicated with a runner about the recent Ironman race in Langkawi and my repeatable visits to the election ceramah, I was labeled as Ironman also - Election Attendance Ironman. After all, being an Ironman means carrying out tasks repeatedly in order to improve the performance.
Note: Gobin Singh Deo is contesting for Parliamentary Seat P103 Puchong. Part of USJ constituency is aligned into Puchong.
Written by KC
No comments:
Post a Comment