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Asian candidates embrace technology to get the word across
From mobile-phone text messaging to cap badges to poetry recitals, candidates throughout Asia are using innovative ways to get their messages across in this year of region-wide elections, reports the Khaleej Times. Philippines In the Philippines, Candidate Raul Roco employs an army of “youth texters” - volunteers who send out his daily campaign schedule and relay his stance on “issues of the day”. Each volunteer sends more than 50 messages a day, expecting they would be shared among friends. In a country where 250 million text messages are sent daily by the 30 million Filipinos - 36 percent of the population - with mobile phones, the potential hit-rate is vast. Malaysia Malaysians are also being besieged with political texts. At the headquarters of UMNO, the leading party in Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s National Front coalition, 50,000 SMS are sent daily. Vote for the PM who says work with me and we will work for you,” read one message. “This election is not an experiment. Don’t put your future at stake,” said another. M. Kayveas of the People’s Progressive Party, a tiny coalition member, estimates more than half the 10.3 million voters in the upcoming election own a mobile phone and said texting would help appeal to younger voters. The SMS is becoming a craze here. The mobile phone is our new battlefield because it is much easier and more effective than a door-to-door campaign. We can reach out to the younger generation,” said Kayveas". |
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BULK SMS GATEWAY