DAP Rocks Penangite

People start assembling in the school's padang. Anticipated crowd is 20,000

The football field at Han Chiang soon starts to fill up. 20,000 looks easily achievable.


The crowd stretches back as far as the eye can see. There's easily 30,000 people now

There's a rock concert atmosphere. People are eagerly awaiting the start of the show.

Jeff Ooi backstage. He arrives with an electric guitar slung over his shoulder and an amp in hand. Is this a rock concert or a political ceramah?

Like a true rock star, Jeff obliges and goes down to the ground to greet fans.

As the show is about to start, Han Chiang is awash in a sea of red. General estimate is that there's 40,000 people now!

Some ceramahs have been marred by poor audio systems. Not this one, which is fully wired for sound. There are also large screen projectors for those standing too far away from the stage.

Murphy's Law - Rain threatens to spoil the party. But the crowd has swollen to record levels. 50,000 fans will not be denied!

The Zanster is on hand ready to capture it all on film.

BN events typically feature performances by local artistes but the DAP has its own rock star.

His voice completely hoarse and barely audible after 10 non-stop days of campaigning, Jeff still manages to rock the padang with help from 50,000 voices. The first song is a famous Chinese oldie loosely translated as "What did you say?" with lyrics like "I haven't forgotten you but you've forgotten me" - dedicated to BN. Second song is the election jingle "Mari Mengundi" (untuk DAP).

The media goes crazy as DAP's own Elvis belts out his third and final song for the evening, a Hokkien number loosely translated as "No risk, no gain" - a reprise of DAP's theme song in 1990. The crowd goes crazy too.

Han Chiang overflows. With the padang and school corridors completely packed, people start flowing into the street and even gathering behind the stage. There's about 60,000 people now.

The crowd goes crazy when the emcee introduces the first biggie of the night as someone who is "weak in body but still strong in mind". They know who he is talking about. Karpal is wheeled to the front of the stage and gets the crowd roaring in approval when he talks about the "celaka menteri pendidikan" and his keris. He mentions a few more "celaka" people, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

Guan Eng arrives in style, carried by supporters from one end of the padang all the way to the stage.

Guan Eng would be forgiven if he mistook Han Chiang for Wembley Stadium. He stirs up the crowd with comments in Hokkien, English and Malay.

It's close to midnight by the time Kit Siang takes the stage but the padang is still packed. No one wants the show to end.

Everyone is worn out, especially the speakers who have been doing this kind of non-stop for past 10 days. Two more day left!!

Jeff can barely keep his eyes open.

Someone - not the organizers - brought fireworks, causing Kit Siang to temporarily halt his speech to soak in the happy atmosphere.

The event might be over but work continues for the media. Malaysiakini's star reporter Beh Li Yih interviews a worn-out Guan Eng after the ceramah wraps up.

Guan Eng goes to a nearby hawker centre around 1 am to grab a bite before he retires for the night, but a politician's work never ends - especially with two days left before the polls. He gets his second wind and works the rounds, pressing the flesh with the patrons there.

This is not Kota Melaka but the Penangites have warmed to Guan Eng. He can't have his food yet.

Finally, at 1.45 am, fueling up for the morning's rounds which start at 7.00 am. In between slurping his noodles, he hums "The Heat Is On". He says the night's ceramah is the biggest, most successful one ever in DAP history. 60,000 people and over RM120,000 in donations in one night.