Not short on dramatic moments

Yee was frustrated when told he was not able to use the fish symbol in the ballot paper when filing his candidacy for the Kepong parliamentary seat last Saturday.

Nomination day for the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 5 was not just a big day for the many candidates but also for journalists covering the event throughout the country.

As we filed stories from the ground for our readers, the day had a couple of tense moments, especially as rival parties faced each other outside the 222 nomination centres.

One incident that stood out for me was Azwan Ali, also known as Diva AA, backing out from the Gombak parliamentary contest at the eleventh hour because his late mother appeared in his dream and “told” him not to contest.

Azwan is the brother of Gombak incumbent MP Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and had contested against the latter during GE14.

And then there was the case of the missing fish symbol.

Independent candidate Yee Poh Ping initially wanted to use the fish symbol to contest the Kepong parliamentary seat but was informed that the fish was not on the list of symbols approved by the Election Commission (EC).

He was understandably frustrated because he had printed the fish symbol on his vest, which he wore during nomination day.

To Yee, the fish is significant as its Mandarin pronounciation “yu” sounds similar to his surname “Yee”.

Speaking to me later, Yee claimed that the EC might have given him an outdated list of symbols prior to nomination day.

“I asked the Kuala Lumpur EC branch for a list of available symbols a few days before nomination day and the list given to me had the fish symbol.

“But, when I got to the nomination centre in Kepong, the fish symbol was missing.

“The returning officer insisted that I choose from the list of available symbols, so I chose the elephant instead because it signifies strength and power,” he said.

Yee said he did not choose the prawn symbol because of how it sounded in Cantonese.

“Prawn is ‘ha’ in Cantonese (often referred to as laughter during Chinese New Year) and it sounded like ‘bei yan ha’, which means being bullied,” he added.

I saw my fair share of out-of-the-ordinary moments at the nomination centre Bandar Tun Razak seat, Kuala Lumpur, which I was assigned to cover.

Pakatan Harapan candidate Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had to turn back on her way to registering her candidacy when she realised that she had left her identity card (IC) with one of her aides waiting outside the nomination hall.

Dr Wan Azizah humorously said she passed her IC to her aide because she was afraid she might misplace it.

It was a case of deja vu for me because when I covered GE14’s nomination day in Wangsa Maju, then PKR candidate Datin Paduka Dr Tan Yee Kew left her IC at home and almost missed the chance to contest the seat.

After much brouhaha in the morning, Dr Tan managed to retrieve her IC, filled in her nomination form and went on to win the seat.

Then there was the case of funny names.

Social activist Kuan Chee Heng, an Independent contesting the Puchong parliamentary seat, decided to use his well-known moniker “Uncle Kentang” on the ballot paper.

Kuan opted for the telephone symbol but if EC had the potato (kentang) symbol, I bet he would have taken that instead.

Although the nomination form requires candidates to state their names according to their IC, they are allowed to use whatever name they want in the ballot paper.

Over in Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur, Lian Choy Ling, who is contesting as an Independent, had used the name “Choy San Yeh” on the ballot paper.

“Choy San Yeh” is Cantonese for the God of Wealth.

Independent candidate Too Cheng Huat who is contesting in Batu, Kuala Lumpur, opted for the name “Too Gao Lan” on the ballot paper that sounds similar to a rude Hokkien phrase which means “very pissed off”.

However, Oriental Daily reported that Too chose that name for the ballot paper because it was an abbreviation for “Give All Out, Let’s Act Now”.

I hope there isn’t a candidate in the 16th General Election forgetting to bring his or her IC during nomination day, because then that is three consecutive strikes!