A GROUP of residents from Subang Jaya and USJ volunteered several hours of their Saturday morning to help bring down campaign banners and posters put up earlier for assemblyman Hannah Yeoh.

The group with slightly more than 10 members arrived at the Subang Jaya DAP branch in SS14 where Yeoh had set up her service centre at about 10am.

Some brought ladders and scissors while others helped attach blades to long poles in order to reach the higher spots where the banners were hung

While Yeoh couldn’t make it, her political secretary Edward Ling coordinated the clean-up by dividing the residents into groups of three to cover the various areas within the constituency.

Ling said most of the banners had already been taken down.

USJ resident Mak Meng Chin wanted to show his support to Yeoh and the volunteers who had chipped in for the cleanup.

“Volunteerism is important. We need to lead by example and to move away from monetary incentives,” Mak said.

He had found out about the cleanup effort in a posting on Ling’s website.

SS14 resident Daphne Foo and her friend Melissa Wong, who also stays in USJ, were among the early birds at the centre awaiting the start of the cleanup.

“This is the least we can do to show our support. It’s doing it for our own home ground of Subang Jaya,” said Wong.ebsite.

Work was completed at around 2pm and Ling confirmed that all posters and flyers were successfully removed.

Foo said they had found out about the cleanup through Yeoh’s w

RISING to a challenge is second nature to Hannah Yeoh. Written off before the elections for being a greenhorn, she sprang an upset and won the Subang Jaya state seat by a big majority.

Yeoh, 29, graduated in law from the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Tell us about your alma mater.

SMK Subang Utama in Selangor was a new school and there were some discipline problems initially. But eventually, we won the Sekolah Harapan award.

How were you as a student – naughty, quiet or goody-two-shoes?

I was the head prefect for both the afternoon and morning sessions, so that really answers the question.

Describe your co-curricular experiences in school.

I was vice-president of the Leo Club and was named Leo of the Year for organising a fundraising event that raised RM10,000 for Shelter Home.

I was also captain for the blue sports house. In primary school, I participated in the 400m and 4x100 relay race. I won third place at the district schools sports meet (MSSD) in one race.

Share your most cherished school memories.

There were too many good times to list.

Who were your favourite teachers, and why?

My discipline teacher Mr Wan stands out because he spent a lot of time with the prefects and provided clear guidance that helped many of us carry out our duties.

Another teacher was Mr Lim Cho Hong. I didn’t do very well in Form Five due to my over-involvement in other activities. Mr Lim assured me that “the best is yet to come”.

Was there something in your student life that sparked your interest in politics?

No. My involvement in politics happened after my political secretary, Edward Ling, motivated me to make a positive difference.

What is your view of the current education system?

I worry about some students taking more than 15 subjects at SPM level. I feel it is important to have a balance. By putting too much pressure on students to perform academically, there is a danger of robbing kids of their childhood.

It is great to win, but not at all costs, especially when one’s values and integrity are compromised.

What changes would you like to see in our education system?

I would like to see students thinking for themselves rather than being spoon-fed.

Critical thinking is important, so more activities like public speaking and debates should be organised.

Currently, university students are not allowed to be involved in politics. If this restriction is lifted and an environment of expression encouraged, this nation can really move forward.

What is the one thing that you would have liked to do as a student but never did?

I should not have enrolled in the science stream as I never had the passion for it. I chose it because I wanted to be with my friends. – RICHARD LIM

Ethnic Protests in Malaysia After Election Losses

By THOMAS FULLER

Published: March 15, 2008

PENANG, Malaysia — Chanting "Long Live the Malays!" several hundred members of Malaysia's largest ethnic group gathered Friday on this largely Chinese island, defying a police ban on protests and raising communal tensions after sharp electoral losses by the country's governing party.

Newly elected state governments have moved rapidly to abolish some of the long-held privileges of ethnic Malays. Those efforts have challenged the core of Malaysia's ethnic-based political system and inflamed the sensibilities of Malays. Until the March 8 elections, Malays thoroughly dominated politics through the country's largest party, the United Malays National Organization, known by its initials, U.M.N.O.

The opposition parties that beat U.M.N.O. and its partners in five states say affirmative action should be based on need rather than ethnicity. But the opposition, too, is struggling to contain fissures along ethnic lines as a Chinese opposition party competes with its Malay counterpart.

"We're living in very sensitive times," said Tricia Yeoh, director of the Center for Public Policy Studies, an independent research center in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.

The affirmative action program favoring the Malays has been in place for more than three and a half decades and gives Malays everything from discounts on new houses to 30 percent quotas in initial public offerings of companies. It is known as the New Economic Policy.

"The term is very emotive," Ms. Yeoh said. "I don't think many people have bothered to investigate the details of the policy itself. But it's an affirmation of their identity in the country, of their significance and their worth."

Demonstrators here on Friday, who were dispersed by a large contingent of riot police officers, chanted "Allahu akbar!" — "God is great!" — and vowed to return for future protests.

"This will continue," said Nasarudin bin Mat Nor, 70, a retired schoolteacher who took part in the protest. "If there is no help for the Malays, they will get poorer."

Malaysians are split as much along religious lines as ethnic, with Muslim Malays governed by a separate legal system. The protest Friday immediately followed Friday prayers at a nearby mosque.

But the election results showed that the Malays themselves are also divided between educated, wealthy and often urban Malays and poorer families living in the countryside.

"U.M.N.O. is going to go through some sort of consolidation," said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the Merdeka Center, an independent polling agency. "A lot of people are looking for someone to take the fall for the results."

For the first time since independence from Britain in 1957, the governing coalition has lost control of Malaysia's largest and wealthiest states, including Penang, Selangor and Perak.

The governing coalition, the National Front, won 51 percent of the popular vote and slightly more than 60 percent of the seats in the federal Parliament, down from 90 percent of the seats in the 2004 elections.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has vowed to stay on, but is coming under increasing pressure to quit. On Friday, Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, openly called for Mr. Abdullah to step down.

"The unhappy voters gave a clear message, that is they reject you as head of the government," Mr. Mukhriz wrote in an open letter to the prime minister.

The loss of Penang, in particular, is a major blow to Mr. Abdullah, whose constituency is based there. He came to power in 2003 promising to sweep away pervasive corruption and make government more accountable. But a series of scandals, rising prices and protests by ethnic Indians over religious freedom and income inequality caused his popularity to plummet.

"He looks pretty vulnerable now," Mr. Ibrahim said.

Mainstream newspapers here, most of them controlled by Mr. Abdullah's party and its partners, have emphasized squabbling among opposition leaders as they take control of state governments. A swearing-in ceremony on Thursday was delayed when the parties could not agree who should fill the top government post in the state of Perak.

"This is a process of coalition-forming that is part of democracy," Tian Chua, the spokesman of the People's Justice Party, told Reuters on Friday. "We are learning it."