Subang Jaya Campaign: Win within Lost

The results of the election comes nothing more than an upset victory, emphasize on the "upset". Who would have known that a simple blackout can change the entire course of the election to "their" favor. I am not fond of mentioning names, but in this case, it is necessary for the readers to understand that BN's low tactic is not a secret to the citizens of Malaysia, although the said accusation comes with no proof of the crime. But let's divert the attention towards the underdogs and how they tried their utmost effort to gain get their votes.

General Elections lasts only 10 days, and during that time, the banners of DAP and PKR covered the streets along Subang Jaya, SS15. It was nothing short of impressive that there was no accidents along the main roads leading to and from Sunway. Of course, the whole campaigning would not be complete without BN's Scale banner along the railings as well as temporary billboards around the area. Both parties did not hold back when it came to campaigning.

Like I mentioned just now, temporary billboards of the area's constituency was strategically placed at locations which would bring the most attention. Places like the roundabout known as Persiaran Kewajiban. The face of the area's constituency from DAP, Hannah Yeoh, and PKR, Wong Chen, were placed together on the same board (Chen's constituency is around Kelana Jaya by the way). A scale model of DAP's rocket logo was also placed in the middle of the roundabout, sadly I didn't have a chance to take a picture of it.

BN also have their fair share of campaigning on the roundabout as well, placing billboard of their candidate, Long Seng Kok, next to DAP rocket model. When passing by, it would seem like the billboard is blocking the rocket model, but that's only a matter of perspective.

A few "Ceramahs" were held during PKR's campaigning. One that is within my area was held at Padang Awam, where a whole number of PKR supporters came to listen to the candidate's speech.

The crowd who came for the rally

Yeoh's speech which jabbed on BN's unfair conditions for campaigning and her charisma set up a flare of cheers and applause which echoed throughout SS15. Chen as well had his part in the cheers, with a heart-warm gratitude to the audience, shouting "Reformasi" along with the crowds.

Hannah Yeoh's turn to take the mic

After the rally, I interviewed a taxi driver who came with his family on why he came to the rally. He answered "Well, this is the change that people around here was hoping for. This is our country and we have the right for that change!"

It didn't really answer the question, but I didn't want to disturb his time with his family, so I let it pass.



The observation on PKR's campaigning was interesting with the supporters going through the extent of going around the neighborhood with flags tied to their car, blasting the PKR song to the maximum. At the end, although PKR didn't win the war, they did have a few victory, with the result that DAP won Subang Jaya Area.

So, all in all, there is still some win within the lost, so it's not all bad. Change at least came through at the end.

The Lion's Visit

On the 19th of February,  Taylor's Lakeside was graced with the presences of the Lion.

That's right, a troupe from the Shaolin Goh Chor school came to Taylor's and performed the Lion Dance in several shops around Taylor's Broadwalk

For those unknown to the topic at hand, Lion Dance is a traditional dance in Chinese Culture where a troupe from the Chinese martial art schools or Chinese association mimics the movement of a lion. The dance is accompanied by other members of the association or schools playing the drums and can be seen performing at houses and shops of the Chinese community to perform "Cai Qing", which literally means "plucking the green". This is an act where by the lion  pluck the green (green refers to vegetables, or in this case, lettuce), hung 5-10 feet in the air, strapped with a Red Envelope containing money. The lion 'eats' both the envelope and the green, and spits the green while keeping the envelope as a reward. The belief behind this dance is that the lion will dispel bad luck and misfortune, and bring prosperity and good wealth to the stores and houses.

And that is pretty much the sum of what I saw that day, but I'll go to a little bit more detail on that.

Well, the event opened with a bang (or more of a clash), the drums beating and cymbals clashing together in front of Old Town White Coffee. The sound could be heard from across the campus (which is where I was at that moment). Making my way, I witnessed a whole group of students gathering around the cafe and people dressed in yellow and red, with the words "Shaolin Goh Chor" on the back of their shirts. I entered the cafe, passing by customers already deciding to leave so they won't get in the way of the dance, and saw the lion dancers inside, one moving around the cafe and into the kitchen, while another greets the cafe staff.

The Lion bows

Afterwards, the owners of the shop presented red envelopes to the two performers. The lions accepted their reward and made their way to the entrance of Old Town, where the position themselves to "pluck the green".

The performance ends with one of the lion chewing lettuce and spitting it out, accompanied by the other lion dancing behind it, and the beating and clashing of the instruments going faster and faster, then, it halts. The dancers took off their lion costume and were greeted by an applause from the witnessing crowd.

The troupe made their way to several other locations before leaving the campus.

Mekong House

Mbuji

ReCezz

Visited our Residences as well!!

I got a chance to speak with the organizer of the event, David Lau, who is also our Senior Executive in Advertising & Promotion. Apparently, this is the first time the Lion Dance was performed at Taylor's Lakeside and the troupe's first time in Taylor's. I asked whether the troupe also performed at the Chinese New Year Event in Pavilion as well. Lau replied that there are other groups from the same martial arts school who performs as well. "But this group is told to be the best among all" Lau continued.

I lucky enough to catch up with one of the performers as well, asking how was their first time in Taylor's. "Grand" was all I could get from one Ng Yi Jie, who performed as the "head" of the lion and at times on the drums.