THEY may not form the majority of Permatang Pauh voters, but their every vote is precious as it can tip the balance in this by-election.

Until yesterday, it was still widely believed that the Chinese support remained rooted to Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Chinese voters had rejected Barisan Nasional in the March 8 general election, giving former member of parliament Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail a 13,000-plus vote majority to retain her seat for the third term.

In the 2004 general election, Dr Wan Azizah won by a mere 590-vote majority.

The BN charge, led by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not perturbed by the fact that the coalition is the underdog.
Campaigners are pushing hard to make inroads in Chinese-concentrated areas, hoping hard that those who had turned away from BN would return into its fold.

"Feedback has been positive but we have to work very hard. We are not giving up," said Penang MCA deputy chief Law Chiek Tuan while on a house-to-house campaigning.

At Sama Gagah polling district where the Chinese make up 44 per cent of the 2,787 registered voters there, party workers from both sides are embarking on an aggressive campaign trail.

The polling district has 53 per cent Malay voters and three per cent are Indians.

Despite Dr Wan Azizah's big win in Sama Gagah the last time -- securing a 1,292-vote majority, PKR's apparent victory in the war of flags and the open support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by a majority of voters, BN campaigners camped in Permatang Pauh since nomination day are not giving up.

Chinese voters make up 24.5 per cent of Permatang Pauh's 58,459 registered voters, second highest after the Malays who make up 69.4 per cent of the voters.

"From what I know, the Chinese here are with PKR.

But we can never know as people do change their minds when they go to cast their ballots," said Goh Guan Meng, 60, caretaker of the 102-year-old Gaik Cheng temple in Jalan Sama Gagah.

Goh, who voted for Anwar when the PKR adviser was in BN, said he will remain loyal to the leader.

Businessman B.P. Lee, in his 30s, raises interesting points as to why he is rejecting BN; he wants to make sure that his elected representative is from the same camp as the ruling party in Penang.

Lee is of the view that "a new prime minister" who hails from Penang will be able to take good care of the well-being of people in the state.

For some BN leaders, Najib's appeal to the non-Malays on Monday to reject the opposition and instead vote for Umno's Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah, could have gone down well with the voters.

Najib had reminded the non-Malays not to gamble their children's future away. They were also advised not to be hoodwinked by the opposition's promises.

There were also goodies in store for Permatang Pauh folk when Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong announced a RM200,000 allocation for a Chinese school in Kg Sungai Lembu on Tuesday -- an additional allocation to the RM1 million which was announced a week earlier for five other Chinese schools in the constituency.

The Aug 26 by-election sees a three-cornered fight involving Arif Shah, Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia president Hanafi Hamat and Anwar, who continues to be the hot favourite.

Opposition leaders, meanwhile, are not impressed by Arif Shah's attempts to play to the hilt his knowledge of Mandarin and Hokkien.

Hu Pang Chaw, chairman of national Pas supporters' club, and PKR's Law Choo Kiang, who is also Penang exco in charge of agriculture and agro-based industry, do not believe that Arif Shah's much-publicised ability will have a bearing on the voting trend, which they say is still bent towards the opposition.

Opportunities for both sides to entice voters using every strategy they can imagine remain aplenty until the eve of polling day.

BN takes battle into cyberspace: www.nst.com.my/ppauh