This is cute.

Kind of makes you want to vote.

Chinese wordplay in Penang

By TAN SIN CHOW

PENANG: A banner war has erupted in various parts of the island, targeting the Chinese population.

Banners and streamers with the Gerakan logo and slogan “Keep Reinventing” or Zai zhuan bian in Mandarin have gone up along busy streets in Jelutong, Air Itam, George Town, as well as the Jelutong and Bayan Lepas expressways.

Opposition parties have responded with equally catchy taglines.

The DAP has come up with the phrase, Yao zhuan chao jiu zhuan (If they truly want to reinvent, they could have done it earlier) on their banners.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has joined in the fray with its assault slogan, Yue zhuan yue bu sing (The more you try to reinvent, the worse it becomes).

A Gerakan leader said the party had put up about 100 banners, mostly in constituencies where the party was fielding candidates.

State DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow said their banners were sponsored by supporters and that the party was coming up with more catchphrases that rhyme.

“For example, reinventing is loosely translated as ‘Zai zhuan bian’ in Mandarin. We are thinking of making it rhyme with our ‘Tou huo jian’, which means vote for Rocket,” he said.

Sim Tze Tzin, the political secretary of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said they had put up 20 banners at strategic areas.

He believed all the banners were put up without the permission of the Penang Municipal Council.

“If the council intends to remove the banners, I hope each party will be given equal treatment,” he said.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who is also acting Gerakan chairman, had earlier said the tagline “Keep Reinventing” would be adopted as an election slogan.