That night in Penang...

That night in Penang...
The Malaysian Insider - 12 March 2008

It's just gone past 1am and the streets of Georgetown, Penang, are unnaturally silent. A few late-night kopitiams and mamak joints stay open but are largely devoid of the usual Saturday night clubbers that patronise the eateries at this hour.

You could, if you cared to, lie down on any one of the main thoroughfares – Jalan Burmah, Jalan Macalister, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Jalan Kelawai, even super touristy Persiaran Gurney – and not land so much as a scratch from a passing vehicle. The two-wheeled mosquitoes that plague the island state 24/7 are conspicuously absent.

Then again, this is no ordinary night.

The people are all shut away in their homes, parked in front of the TV and/ or computer screens and are following zealously the results of the 12th General Elections.

It was a scene straight out of The Twilight Zone. Alien invaders could have landed and beamed the vocal citizenry back to their mothership – except they didn’t. The only incident of note was that the Democratic Action Party and Parti Keadilan Rakyat have just made a killing at the 12th General Election and together formed a new state coalition government.

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