The smell of fresh paint in Taman Sen-tosa, one of the poorer districts of Malaysia's capital, can mean only one thing: elections are at hand.The walls of the numerous public-housing blocks in the area are gleaming, all painted within the past year. The redecora-tion of one block, ia Pinang, was finished only on January 3rd, and the lucky residents got some shiny new guttering as well. The caretaker says it is the first time the place had received any attention since it was built 20 years ago. And lest anyone forget to whom they owe their good fortune, prominent signs up outside every block remind them: the ruling Barisan Na-sional (bn) coalition government. The paint-job is a federally funded project in an opposition mp's constituency.
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