Batu, Serendipity & 'Voices in my Head'

I am by nature, and through exposure to looes74 and his antics (and not by choice), wakakaka, a suspicious person. I have been thinking about one issue since 2230 hours last night, and no, it's not about  Mahathir winning in Langkawi, wakakaka again.

Rather, it's Yang Berhormat Prabakaran a/l M Parameswaran, the newly crowned victor of Batu.

There were/are three factors about him that have made me think, think and think about his serendipitous victory, namely:

(1) his initial reluctance after his victory to pledge allegiance to PKR or Pakatan.In my post Election night - 09 May 2018, I extracted the MM Online article as follows:

Newly-crowned Batu parliamentarian P. Prabakaran is keeping mum as to whether he will join Pakatan Harapan or remain an independent MP.

He said he has discussed his options with his advisors including his father, who is his chief advisor.

“Soon, I will let you know (of his decision),” Prabakaran told the Malay Mail. He politely declined to speak any further on the matter when asked.

I had wondered why his hesitation after a campaign period when he was personally mentored by none other than Tian Chua, without whom he would in all probability obtain as many (or as few) votes as another Independent, VM Panjamothy a/l Muthusamy, to wit, 383 votes.

Instead, under Tian Chua tutelage and Pakatan's endorsement, he an unknown 22-year old Independent candidate emerged as the winner of the Batu election securing 38,125 votes out of a total 76,328 cast. That's almost 50% of the votes.

Gerakan obtained 13,687 votes while PAS 10,610.

The ethnic demographics informed us that Batu has 43% Malays, 38% Chinese, 17% Indians and 2% Others.

The 43% explains PAS' wishful thinking while the 17% Indians, quite a decent figure, even in general circumstances STILL could NOT explain two (not one) Indian Independents contesting in Batu, unless they were from PSM, wakakaka.

Was Yang Berhormat Prabakaran a/l M Parameswaran reluctance about joining PKR merely to hedge his options as an Independent (never mind that PKR had endorsed his candidature, without which he would probably have obtained as many votes as his competitor Panjamothy)? Or what?

I don't know. Do you?

(2) The deposit for a candidate contesting in a federal constituency is not lollipop, being a costly RM10,000. Contestants who did not obtained at least one-eighth of the total votes cast (which we now know to be 9541 in Batu in GE14) will have the deposit confiscated.

Really, can a 22-year old university undergraduate afford that sort of money just to "voice the needs of youth" in a constituency like Batu known to be a PKR fortress, and fantasised he would secure at least 9541 votes?

Could he take such a financial risk? There but for serendipity, he would in all probability have been RM10,000 poorer.

'Serendipity' is defined in the dictionary as 'the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.'

The disqualification of Tian Chua provided him with that fortunate stroke of serendipity.

But could he have foreseen that? Crystal ball or bomoh?

And that Tian Chua would select him rather than the other Independent Panjamothy a/l Muthusamy?

Why did our dear young YB risk RM10,000? Is his dad that rich?

(3) And of course the 3rd obvious question is why were there so many as two Indian Independent candidates in Batu?

Of course one could answer such a silly kaytee question by pointing out the 17% of registered voters in Batu being Indians.

How bloody silly of me. Thanks for telling me such a simple fact.

Oh, that brings me back to query (1), to wit:

(1) his initial reluctance after his victory to pledge allegiance to PKR or Pakatan.

wait for my signal as to which Independent to vote for

Sorry, it has been a long night and I lack sleep, thus these silly inconsequential thoughts have been buzzing my befuddled mind. Thanks for listening to me complaining about "voices in my head", wakakaka. 

P115 Batu

WILAYAH-PERSEKUTUAN

2018 Batu (P115)

Total Voters   76,328

	BEBAS PRABAKARAN A/L M PARAMESWARAN	38,125
	GERAKAN DOMINIC LAU HOE CHAI	13,687
	PAS AZHAR BIN YAHYA	10,610
	BEBAS VM PANJAMOTHY A/L MUTHUSAMY	383
Turnout 0% (0)   Spoilt 0% (0)
Early 5% (3,614)   Postal 0% (21)
Malays 43%   Chinese 38%   Indians 17%   Others 2%