By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief

KUALA TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA: The stage is set for a three-cornered fight for the seat of Kuala Terengganu as arch-rivals Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) were joined by an independent candidate who registered yesterday for the ballot.

The unknown independent - a traditional medicine man - is unlikely to be a serious contender, leaving the real battle in and around the seaside town to be fought between Umno and PAS.

Former deputy home minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, 46, registered as the candidate for the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), against Mr Abdul Wahid Endut, 51, from PAS.

THE UMNO CANDIDATE
'New bridegroom' told to smile more

KUALA TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA: Umno's candidate for the Kuala Terengganu by-election is getting a bit of flak - for not smiling enough.

Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, 46, is an affable lawyer-politician, but has been said to appear aloof to voters in this conservative east coast state.

'As a 'new bridegroom', he doesn't have to speak. He has to smile,' said Datuk Seri Najib to laughter. But it was a reference to remarks from observers that Mr Wan Farid appeared elitist and out of touch with the simple Kuala Terengganu voters.

THE PAS CANDIDATE
No handshake so women get roses

KUALA TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA: Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) candidate Abdul Wahid Endut followed strict Islamic etiquette by not shaking the hands of women voters he met on Monday on his walkabout.

To pacify some of the Chinese women voters that he met, he handed out roses every time someone wanted to shake his hands at Kampung Cina in downtown Kuala Terengganu.

'At first, I was not so sure about greeting the women in Kampung Cina, but luckily someone handed me a bouquet of roses. So every time the women held out their hands, I handed them the flowers,' the 51-year-old was quoted as saying by New Straits Times (NST) newspaper yesterday.

COMPLAINT #1
Documents on toll road deals 'too technical'

By The Star/Asia News Network

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: The Malaysia government has declassified most documents related to toll road deals, but confusion reigned at the Works Ministry library for opposition politicians and reporters.
They complained that much of the content was too technical or incomplete and that they just had no time to digest all the information.

With public viewing in the morning restricted to only five people at one time for a maximum of two hours and one document each, reporters had to rely on information supplied by politicians, who were given priority to read the agreements.

Among the 'incomplete' documents were the deals for the SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, which came with only the first 118 pages, without any appendix or schedules, and the Shapadu toll agreement, which was only 16 pages long.

Meanwhile, opposition politicians questioned the huge profits that highway operators seem to be making.

Opposition MP Tony Pua, who led a delegation from the Democratic Action Party, said the Damansara-Puchong Highway was making excessive profits and called for the government to stop compensating the operator. 'Between 1997 and 2006, it was supposed to have made a profit of RM1.22 billion (S$513 million), nearly the construction cost. So their collection to date has more than paid for the highway and what they are collecting for the next 20 years is excess profits.'

He called on the government to nationalise the highways to lighten the financial burden of the people and keep toll charges at a minimum.

Separately, yesterday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng urged the federal government to buy over all the major highway concessions and run them as a business.

'It would not cost much to buy over certain major highways like the North-South Expressway... the government would be able to regain the investment through toll collection. Wouldn't it be better for the government and Malaysia's 27 million people to gain this revenue instead of one private company?' he asked.

COMPLAINT #2
Mahathir slams approval of new budget terminal

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday slammed the Malaysian government for approving a new budget terminal in Negeri Sembilan without explaining properly how the decision was made.

Tun Dr Mahathir asked why a new low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) at the existing Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang was not more suitable. Or perhaps, a former big airport at Subang in Selangor could be reopened.

The comments on his blog came a day after local conglomerate Sime Darby said the Malaysian Cabinet had approved its plan to build a new LCCT in Labu, Negeri Sembilan. The RM1.6 billion (S$673 million) terminal is to be built on Sime Darby's land and will be called KLIA East@Labu.

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