COMMENT From the ground in Hulu Selangor – in this huge constituency the size of Malacca – predictions from afar feed the chatter. Both sides remain quietly confident of victory based on different assumptions.

For Pakatan Rakyat, the focus is on maintaining previous levels of support and a firm belief in the people of Selangor’s commitment to change and opposition to Umno. For BN, the focus is on winning back support in non-Malay areas, their new campaigning message of 1Malaysia, centred on Prime Minister Najib Razak, and the tried method of money.

The funds have flowed over the past few days, from small payments of RM100 to RM50,000...