Chapter 5: The Poster War

Kampung Sentosa, usually a quiet and peaceful town, suddenly found itself bursting with colorful campaign posters. From streetlamps to coconut trees, every corner of the village became a battlefield of visual propaganda. But this war of posters was anything but peaceful—it quickly turned into a hilarious and embarrassing spectacle of sabotage.

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Mak Cik Timah vs. Uncle Wong

Mak Cik Timah started with a classic campaign poster featuring her smiling face alongside the slogan, “Vote for Timah: Sincerity for Sentosa!” Her posters popped up on lamp posts and fences all over town. But by the next morning, they looked different. Someone had added a fake mustache to her face and cartoonishly enlarged her eyes.

“Who did this nonsense?!” Mak Cik Timah fumed when she saw the defaced posters.

Meanwhile, Uncle Wong’s posters, which featured him holding a box of durians, were also targeted. His original slogan, “Wong for a Sweet Future!” was altered to read, “Wong for Rotten Durians!” The villagers couldn’t stop laughing at the creative vandalism.

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Johan and Azri: Modern Sabotage

Johan, trying to present himself as the modern young candidate, used digitally designed posters with trendy graphics. But no sooner had his posters gone up than they were mysteriously torn down overnight.

“This has to be Azri’s doing!” Johan exclaimed with absolute certainty.

Azri, on the other hand, claimed that his own posters were disappearing from strategic spots like near the warung and the school. “Maybe Johan’s just jealous because my posters are better-looking,” Azri retorted sarcastically.

The two young candidates began spreading rumors about each other on social media. Johan accused Azri of hiring a team of “poster ninjas,” while Azri uploaded a blurry CCTV clip supposedly showing Johan climbing a pole to remove his posters.

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Cikgu Halim and the Fake News Scandal

Cikgu Halim attempted a more professional approach, using minimalist posters featuring his face and the serious slogan, “For Education and Progress.” But his poster problems were just the beginning.

Local newspapers suddenly published sensational headlines: “Election Candidate Caught Sleeping in Class!” The article claimed that Cikgu Halim had once fallen asleep while teaching Math and included a clearly doctored photo of him snoring as “proof.”

“This is slander! I’ve never slept in my life!” Halim raged, but the damage was done. The villagers started calling him “Cikgu ZZZ.”

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The Climax of the Poster War

On Saturday night, the poster war reached its peak when a mysterious set of parody posters appeared all over town. These posters depicted all the candidates in cartoon form with ridiculous slogans:

Mak Cik Timah: “Cookies for All, Not Policies!”

Uncle Wong: “Vote Durian, Vote Wong!”

Johan: “Kuih Lapis for Everyone Every Day!”

Azri: “TikTok Your Future with Azri!”

Cikgu Halim: “Nap First, Then Develop the Village!”

The villagers couldn’t stop laughing, and the hashtag #ParodyPosters started trending in their WhatsApp groups.

Who was behind these parody posters? No one knew, but the poster war had turned Kampung Sentosa’s election into even more of a circus.