SABAH POLLS | In the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu, some 25 minutes away from the city, supporters navigated narrow village roads in the dark to make their way to Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s (GRS) grand finale ceramah at Kampung Sendil, which is part of the Petagas state constituency.

They are predominately clad in party shirts and caps. The 500-strong crowd of members and supporters applauded whenever GRS leaders spoke.

The star of the event is none other than Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is the final speaker at the ceramah.

BN chairperson and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is currently in Kota Kinabalu and Sabah BN chief Bung Moktar Radin were absent from the event.

Umno vice-president Mahdzir Khalid represented Umno/BN.

According to a notice to the media, Zahid - who was campaigning in Sook, Pensiangan, and several other interior constituencies today - was scheduled to arrive in Kota Kinabalu by 7.30pm today.

It is not immediately known why both Zahid and Bung could not make it to the event.

Read more: Sabah Decides 2020: Making sense of the players, parties and battles

BN secretary-general Annuar Musa was also supposed to attend the event but said he had to cancel after being ordered to undergo quarantine. This is because he was identified as a close contact to Umno supreme council member Mohd Razlan Rafii, who tested positive for Covid-19.

Also present were Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hazmah Zainuddin, Sabah PN chief Hajiji Noor, Star president Jeffrey Kitingan and PBS secretary-general Jahid Janim.

BN parties were represented by MCA president Wee Ka Siong and PBRS deputy president Arthur Joseph Kurup.

Meanwhile, about five kilometres from the heart of Kota Kinabalu, DAP is holding its own grand finale event in Tanjung Lipat.

Several DAP candidates in the Kota Kinabalu area attended the event, including Luyang candidate Phoong Jin Zhe and Likas candidate Tan Lee Fatt. PKR candidate for Api-Api Christina Liew was also present.

Aside from the candidates, DAP national leaders such as DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and deputy secretary-general Nga Kor Ming were present.

The crowd comprised about 350 people, mostly ethnic Chinese. It was held in the large air-conditioned Hakka Hall.

The speeches by the candidates were mostly in a mix of the Hakka dialect, Mandarin, English and Malay.

“Sabahans can speak all sorts of languages, am I right?” Liew asked, to which some in the crowd agreed.

Read more: The who's who is the Sabah 2020 election

When the DAP leaders arrived, the crowd stood up and clapped to welcome them. Some lined up to take pictures with the DAP leaders.

The event also live-streamed a special message from Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal who urged everyone to vote for Warisan as the campaign neared its end.

Polling day for the Sabah state election falls on Saturday.

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