‘The lowering of oil prices is again a sign of Anwar being a lucky charm for this country. He's not even in parliament yet but he has been able to lower the oil prices.'

On Arif: I'll win with 500 to 5,000 majority

Om Prakash: Anwar must win and so shall he for all of the ‘non-Umno’ citizens of Malaysia. His march into parliament however must be cautious since when the time comes for the crossovers to form the new federal government, PAS will show its real traits to derail a secular government.

PAS itself has declared it will insist on its religious constitution for the formation of a government under PR which will surely create a split in the PR coalition.

It is a mockery of PR to come into power and lose it all so soon. If MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, Supp and the others decide to truly support a secular government, then PAS can be stopped in its tracks.

Progress under PR without a PAS ultimatum will surely bring more progress to Malaysia and its people. It’s here and now or be besieged forever under racial and religious discrimination.

Marion Tharsis: Today is the Decision Day for Malaysian politics with the outcome of the by- election results at Permatang Pauh.

Our choice is to remain in this current state of limbo or work towards a new beginning and better future for all Malaysians.

Changes have to come and there is no easy way or quick solutions to all the challenges we are facing but given resilience, patience and tenacity, they will surely come and uplift us.

The voters at Permatang Pauh know what to do and will carry out their right with utmost wisdom and with the vision for a governance that is fair, just and honest.

This is the crossroads we have been waiting for so long and there may not be another chance to bring this change.

Vote for excellence! Vote for Unity! Vote for our National Pride!

Timo Finian: Before the last GE, I wrote that the welfare of every Indian Malaysian lies in the hands of the people of Sg Siput and said, ‘Dear Lord, if you hear this please respond’.

He did and the rest, as they say, was history.

Today, on the day of the battle between the ‘Darth-Vader’ and the Jedi-knights, I write that the welfare of every rational-thinking Malaysian lies in the hands of the people of Permatang Pauh and say again, ‘Dear Lord, if you hear this please respond.

‘We have been suppressed, kicked-about, lied to, cheated, humiliated, conned, persecuted, bullied, trampled upon, bruised, battered, reduced to a heap and driven to the edge for the last 50-odd years.

‘It would be pure hell if we woke up, opened our newspapers and saw the grinning faces of ‘Darth Vader’ and his band of shady ‘Sith Lords’ indicating the fall of Permatang Pauh onto the dark side’.

DSAI and his "jedi-knights" simply cannot let this happen. May the force be with them.

Alfred Ho: Dear Datuk Seri Anwar, I strongly urge you to continue fighting the good fight in spite of the dirty tactics of the Barisan Nasional government to thwart your chances of winning today’s elections.

Just like all right thinking Malaysians, we are all desperate for change and you are our saviour to prevent our country from total destruction.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I am quite certain that you will be victorious in the elections and it is hoped that you will lead the next federal government where all Malaysians will be given equal treatment regardless of race or religion.

Allow me to wish you all the very best in your quest to be the next prime minister of Malaysia.

Jo Dumas: As if March 8 was not enough evidence, the lowering of oil prices is again a sign of Anwar being a lucky charm for this country. He's not even in parliament yet and he has been able to lower oil prices.

Just imagine what this country would be destined for if he was in parliament, or even if he was the prime minister. This proves scare-mongers and doom-sayers like Khairy wrong.

John Johnson

: To the people of Permatang Pauh - I have never been there, nor do I know anything about the life, culture and daily activities there, but I must tell you all that this is the same as the Ijok by- election in that they came, got what they wanted, left, and the people suffered.

This is all a ploy to get votes, that's all. I don't blame them, because they are enjoying their lives so much. They would not want to go back to their previous occupations.

But we have the power - we the people, we the rakyat - to change their destiny, especially if we feel that they are non-performers and are abusing the system for their own means.

Get rid of these people and vote for a change in leadership - in parliamentarians, MPs, councillors - and we will see the difference.

Make a change, and if you don't like our system with these new leaders, make a change again after four years and see how people power can make a difference. People power and rakyat power. God bless.

Eric Koh:

We want Anwar Ibrahim to lead the country so as to rid this beloved country of ours of corrupt leadership. Send a strong signal to the BN - their days are numbered.

I feel sorry for MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other minor component parties of BN. Despite being kicked in the face, they are still kowtow to Umno.

For all members of the named parties, please, for the country's sake and for the future of our next generation, tell your leaders to jump ship.

Look at the current smear campaigns. This is not our culture, and these types of cultures must not be tolerated.

For the community, for the state and for the country, we must take up the responsibility of ensuring that our beloved country is safe from all of these ill practices.

On Arguments break out at EC press conference

Concerned Citizen: In the first place, I do not understand EC’s logic in having a Tueday as polling day.

Whoever who made this decision must be severely reprimanded and punished. Any electoral losses, I believe, is totally due to them.

These people are not fit to manage the EC. Their role to encourage voters to exercise their rights is seriously undermined with this selection.

It seems to me and very obviously to many, that EC is not keen to have high voter turnout.

I applaud our Penang CM in making the public holiday declaration. At least, he is more ‘public- sensitive’.

I hope, ‘public sensitive’ MP's will bring this matter up at our next parliament sitting. And the EC officer/s concerned should have their services terminated.

Kenny Gan: Journalists at the press conference failed to ask the EC an important question - why was polling set on a working day? As it was also a school day, schools in the area had to be given a day off.

The EC has not even bothered to explain this highly unusual act.

As the winning candidate's majority will depend on voters' turnout and knowing that BN is the underdog, it is highly suspicious that the EC is trying to reduce Anwar's winning majority.

The EC should explain this blatantly partisan act to the public's satisfaction or forever stop claiming that it holds free and fair elections.

If indeed the turnout happens to be good, it will be because of the determination of voters to exercise their democratic right in spite of difficulties caused by the EC.

In that case, I hope the EC will not shamelessly claim that it was justified to put polling on a working day.

On PM: Fuel price cut nothing to do with by-election

Eileen: Pak Lah, you, your DPM and your whole bunch of cabinet members may say that the DNA bill, the swearing on the Quran by Saiful, and now the cutting of fuel prices have nothing to do with Permatang Pauh by-election.

However, the question is, will the rakyat believe you about what you said?

Pak Lah, for God's sake, please don't ever think that the rakyat can be fooled so easily this time around.

Barbara:

The PM has taken the meaning of the term ‘flip-flop' to a whole new dimension. The PM is obviously incompetent and does not have an iota of leadership quality.

Mahathir did a great disservice to the rakyat by appointing Abdullah as his successor.

The PM is espousing Anwar's proposals on how to bring the fuel price down. How shameful. The PM must go.

Khin Nyunt:

On Aug 21, the PM said ‘No new fuel price announcements for now', and on Aug 22 it was said that ‘PM announces reduced fuel prices', showing that he doesn't have any decisive power in his cabinet anymore.

He is playing according to other peoples' tunes. If hidden hands behind the scenes order him to announce something, he has to follow. Poor thing...

TimoFP:

Hehehe - nice try, Mr PM, but you won't win Permatang Pauh.

Maran: I expected this when our PM confirmed that the government would not revise the price before Aug 31.

Since he took over from Tun Dr Mahathir, he has always lied to rakyat in so many ways, from his denial of love concerning Jean Abdullah and the dissolution of parliament to the increase in fuel prices and now the cut in fuel prices.

Shame. We have a liar as the PM. We are forced to believe rumours rather than the PM's assurances, since the rumours always turn out to be the truth.

KSN:

It is silly to point out that the PM lied to the country again, as this is habitual for him. Now the prices have been brought down, no doubt marginally.

How is the government going to ensure that this decrease is passed on to the consumer? Are there any mechanisms or enforcement? Is there the will?

Please, explain to us Shahrir, so that we can be enlightened.

Talking about tightening the belt, I remember a joke in the exchanged telegrams between Chairman Mao and Khrushev.

The chairman in his telegram requested Russia to send grain, as China was going through a drought and was short of food.

The PM replied that Russia too was experiencing a food shortage and told the Chairman to ‘tighten (their) belts.

The chairman was very annoyed and replied ‘Send belts'! Our government's call to the people to adjust their living habits is the same. Right, folks?

On 'Forgive, not forget' vs Sodomy 2.0

Lim Keat Hoe: I welcome the optimistic results projected by the writer. But even as Anwar steps on the road that I hope will lead to Putrajaya, I wish to sound a note of caution.

From Sodomy 2.0, we can infer those currently holding the reins of power will not give it up without a struggle.

They have very powerful weapons in their arsenal: the ISA and though March 8 supposedly laid to rest the ghost of May 13, what if they are willing to create another racial disturbance to prevent Anwar from gaining power?

I believe the strategists in PR will have plan for these possibilities. What happens ‘if?'

On Najib to voters: Reject Anwar for pawning Malay dignity

David Tong:

What a hypocritical stance Najib has taken and shown to the Malaysian public. In one breath he claims that Barisan - and Umno in particular - does not play the ‘race' card.

The ‘race' card is only uttered by extremists and hardliners in Umno, not the leaders of Umno.

But by accusing Anwar of sacrificing the ‘dignity of the Malays' for promoting a more just Malaysian platform, isn't Najib himself playing race politics?

If the ‘dignity of the Malays' - as represented by Umno - is corruption, cronyism, cheating, nepotism, incompetency and waste of public funds (as we have seen), then I think he has insulted most of the Malays in this country.

I think the dignity of the Malays in this country as a whole (even some in Umno) is much more honourable, intelligent and clean than what he implicates.

Shame on you for making such a shallow statement about Malays out of fear of losing the by-election that you are leading.

Rodney Hew:

Najib had just epitomised the mentality of the Malaysian government in its efforts to cling onto power.

He thrives on driving fear into the Malays but sadly today it will not work anymore because the Malays know that only the elites enjoy benefits from the BN government.

Anwar is trying to change the image of the Malays in that he wants them to be competitive, go for personal development, be confident, not be complacent.

He will change and enhance the dignity of the Malays by making them knowledgeable and tolerant towards all people regardless of race, creed or religion.

He will lead Malaysia far and wide with his forward-thinking and bring peace to the nation with his ideologies and PR's concepts.

After the general election, we find that generally the races have been so much more tolerant of each other and this is what exactly Najib (read Umno) fears. They do not want peace amongst the races.

Lastly we hope that a DPM of the country will not stoop so low as to comment on the character of a citizen. He should be talking about important matters affecting the country.

On BN campaign picks up momentum

Ex-Umno Follower: Khairy has just made up my mind on who I am going to vote for today. Just to ensure that he is out of Malaysian politics, we will now have to vote for Anwar.

My family and I were actually undecided, but Khairy has now helped us make a decision.

Khairy is a racist. Rembau may have been bought by him, but he doesn't have enough money to buy out the rest of the country. Umno will be okay without him.

Khairy, where did you get all that money to buy shares in ECM Libra? You still haven't told us that.

And Nalla, everyone knows that you are just an opportunist. Samy Vellu made millions by selling out the Indians. Now that he is ‘drowning', you run in to fill his shoes.

On Arif drops out of 'bogus' PhD study

Barbara:

Gullibility seems to be the order of the day.

The Chinese voters are supposed to be enamoured by Arif's linguistic skills - gullibility.

Arif undertakes a PhD programme without a degree or a masters qualification - gullibility.

Arif registers with a questionable online/off campus entity - gullibility.

Is this the level of intellect the voters of Permatang Pauh deserve?

On Money and groceries for votes

Jon Ah:

Ng Yen Yen, shame on you. So many elderly and disabled people need this small amount of financial assistance that was denied by the cronies in the welfare ministry.

They are in the Federal Territory and other areas in Malaysia. Why give these funds only to Permatang Pauh, especially at this crucial point in time just a few days before the by-election?

On Offensive banners, fake leaflets rule

Khairul Zaman

: There is nothing new about this action. Why must there be such commotion about it? Don't tell me PKR is really that ‘clean'?

Birds of a feather flock together, be it BN or PKR.

The rakyat still need to work, and most of the time the rakyat is forgotten once the politicians have achieved their goals.

They will not have time for you, so be wise - just fulfill your responsibilities, but don't be overzealous over someone.

On Aug 26 a special holiday in Penang

Nicholas Chin:

I wish to express my support for the decision taken by the Penang government, and I would like to say to this action's detractors (especially the DPM and quarters who decry the decision because of business losses) - there is no price too high for freedom and democracy.

Even if the losses for the day run into the hundreds of millions, it is but pittance compared to the innumerable lives that were sacrificed and the blood that was shed by those before us so that we could have the freedom today to vote and decide our destiny.

In fact, I personally find the implication that business losses are more important than our freedom to be simply disgusting.

Lim Leong:

I can't help but laugh at Najib's comments on Guan Eng declaring Aug 26 as a special holiday in Penang. Najib is concerned that the move is unprecedented and that it will be a big productivity loss for the state.

For a start, when did the BN government start to worry about taking unprecedented actions? Weren't the following BN actions unprecedented or not?

- At the last GE, the cancellation of the use of indelible ink at the 11th hour

- Using a convoy of commandos to arrest an opposition leader based on a one sided dubious investigation

- Cordoned off major streets leading to the parliament based on unfounded rumours.

The BN government will never win the trust of the people because it consistently applies double standards for its own political survival and not for the benefit of the people.

As for the productivity loss, the blame is squarely on the Election Commission. It is unprecedented to hold election or by election on a working as doing as it could deny a person's right to vote in a democratic election.

The only logical conclusion one can draw is that the EC is serving the interests of its political masters rather than the interests of the people. Sad but true.

On Ustaz leaves BN campaign in tatters

Khairul Zaman:

I was amazed the so called ustaz and imam chose to highlight his innocence on PKR platform.

I presume he has no other avenues except to go to PKR and after about nearly 10 days after Saiful's historic swearing.

Why not in the first place confide to his superiors? Are all his superiors and Jawi so biased? He further claimed he was a fake Umno member.

As an imam he is expected to have a higher credibility and integrity and should not be that easily swayed.

I wonder what was in his mind when he registered himself as an Umno member and later in 2004 be given a job as the imam of Masjid Wilayah.

And now he probably has a better and more lucrative offer to give him the guts to make him partial. Ustaz, please concentrate on your sermons and on the well-being of Muslims do not confuse them. Have some dignity.