Taiping, the 2nd largest town in Perak earned its name from the meaning great peace (太平). However, the Taiping parliamentary constituency is not that peaceful after all. The following news item of Malaysiakini says it all.

I’m staying in Taiping, says Kayveas

Andrew Ong
Malaysiakini

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president M Kayveas today publicly announced that he would be the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Taiping parliamentary seat, after seeking confirmation from BN chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday.

The announcement was made during Kayveas’ public address during his Chinese New Year open house in Taiping which was received with an enthusiastic response from the crowd.

At a press conference later, Kayveas expressed the hope that his announcement would put to rest speculations on whether PPP would be allowed to contest in Taiping, which was ‘loaned’ to the party by fellow BN component Gerakan during the 2004 general election.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve already obtained a confirmation from the prime minister yesterday. No more speculations,” he said.

Gerakan has never lost the Taiping seat since 1969 but reluctantly allowed PPP to contest there in 2004 in what was then dubbed a ‘one-off’ seat arrangement with Umno.

Then, Umno made way for Gerakan’s women’s wing chief Tan Lian Hoe to contest in the Malay-majority Bukit Gantang seat, which neighbours the Taiping seat.

Since 2004, Gerakan and PPP have been trading barbs over the Taiping seat. Following this, Tan was made the BN Taiping chairperson, which was seen as a prelude to Gerakan’s return to the Taiping seat. Umno Bukit Gantang on the other hand had been previously promised the return of the Bukit Gantang seat by BN Perak chairperson Mohd Tajol Rosli.

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You can now check your polling centre & polling stream information at the Election Commission website.

URL: http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarbi.asp

So, we read on the papers that politicians are doing their pre-election campaigns on Valentine’s Day by capitalizing on it to win the hearts of potential voters. One catchy theme is Love Democracy messages by DAP leaders urging people to love their family, friends and democracy.

While newspapers on Friday headline the nomination and polling dates of the 12th General Election, we read on the front page of The Star and The Sun of how a man spent RM40,000 for a billboard advertisement proposing marriage to his girlfriend. Come to think of it, I personally feel such an amount of money is better spent wisely on more important stuff. There are many more meaningful ways to show our sincerity to our love ones that do not require a huge sum of money.

Personally, I don’t celebrate Valentines’ Day. I feel that if we are to show our love to our love ones, we should show it constantly, daily, not once a year. Besides, Valentine’s Day is so commercialized where florists, chocolate sellers, restaurants, etc. are capitalizing on it for huge profits. Do you still remember that nearly 9 years ago a man drove all the way from Penang to Cameron Highlands to get roses for his girlfriend amounting to thousands of ringgit?

Instead of spending on flowers, chocolates, expensive dining, or even a billboard advertisement, why not keep the money for other purposes such as providing a better life to your eventual spouse? Perhaps a bigger house, a better car, better environment for future generation, etc.

And you probably read that there are mass weddings being organized on Valentine’s Day. And from the press, you probably noticed they are Chinese couples. And a check on Joey Yap’s 2008 Tong Shu Monthly Planner, 14 February 2008, Valentine’s Day is a Month Breaker Day. We should not engage in any important activities on a Month Breaker Day or Year Breaker Day according to Chinese Astrology. This includes marriage!