In the capital of Malaysia?s poorest, opposition-led state, newspaper vender Mat Zin counts his blessings before his morning?s earnings. ?Money isn?t the number one priority. It will come when you do good. God will send you everything, whatever you want,? he says, displaying the sort of attitude that has previously stumped Malaysia?s main Malay party in its chase for rural votes.

Like many other roadside traders hawking their wares in the state of Kelantan, ruled by the Islamic opposition Parti Islam se Malaysia, the 47-year old Mat is happy with his lot in life: a monthly wage of about $132.

Most households in this mainly Muslim northern state bordering Thailand get by on much less than the $7,900 average annual household income Malaysians enjoy.

Kelantan and Terengganu ? the two of Malaysia?s 13 states under opposition control ? have seen little of the progress that has transformed the country from backwater to manufacturing hub.

And the prospect of more development projects has failed to move voters in the rural Malay heartland to switch their allegiance to the ruling National Front coalition led by the United Malays National Organization.

A general election, due by November, is widely expected to come in the first half of the year. The ruling party has governed since independence from Britain in 1957 and will undoubtedly win again.