Will a Chinese wind of change blow BN’s way?
Amid uncertainty over how the Chinese community will vote, DAP candidate Liew Chin Tong took a brief respite from the Perling campaign by taking a walk in Sireh Park yesterday. (Liew Ching Tong Facebook pic)
JOHOR BAHRU: Chinese voters are expected to have a huge say on which coalition forms the next Johor state government on March 12.
Although all parties claim they have the support of the community, Chinese voters in urban areas have traditionally been considered to be “opposition supporters” although there were indications in the Melaka and Sarawak state elections that there was a change of tide or general discontentment with Pakatan Harapan.
Many members of the community told FMT they had already decided on how they would be voting, though some remained uncertain.
Na Hui Seong, 50, in Skudai, said he would support Barisan Nasional as he was disappointed with PH’s 22 months in power in the federal and state governments, particularly its failure to fulfil its election manifesto promises.
He also complained that the elected assemblyman had rarely gone to the ground despite various issues raised by residents. The previous Skudai assemblyman was DAP’s Tan Hong Pin.
“There was a recurrent power issue in my area, Taman Nusa Bestari, but we were forced to resolve the matter ourselves with Tenaga Nasional Berhad. It’s the assemblyman who should be addressing this kind of issue. But when we file complaints, he just sends his officers,” he said.
“They’re really smart when it comes to talking about the economy, but they don’t do their work. They’re useless.”
Perling voter An Bin Lin, 38, said she would not vote for Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong as he is not a local, although he is contesting in the constituency.
She raised doubts over whether Liew would be present as much as a local would to attend to problems. She said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang was often not around as MP for Iskandar Puteri, the parliamentary constituency in which Perling is located.
Another Perling native, Lun Khai Xian, who will be voting for the first time, said he would vote for the BN candidate, citing the coalition’s stability as a major factor.
“Before this, they took good care of the people. I’ve been asking my friends to go out and vote to bring change for the state,” said the 22-year-old.
Tee Lian Teng, 44, admitted that she was a loyal BN supporter, having voted for it for the past three general elections, but also claimed that many of her PH-supporting friends were starting to change their minds.
Yap Seng, 48, said he would continue supporting PH as he believed that the coalition had brought some much-needed change to Johor in its short 22 months in power, including introducing a Johor health card for Johoreans.
“If they’re given another chance to rule, maybe they can do even more for the people of Johor. Their plans were abruptly halted after their tenure was cut short,” he said.
However, 49-year-old Chong Fat appeared to be in a dilemma.
The party he had previously supported had failed to perform well in government. “We thought that after voting for another party, we would see some changes. But it’s just the same; blue is the same, red is the same,” he said, referring to the colours of the BN and PH flags.
“If we support the same party (PH), there won’t be much change, but if we go back to supporting BN, there are some leaders there who aren’t good and have court cases.
“It’s better to just not vote then.”
Political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara did not deny there could be a shift in Chinese support to BN, though it would be difficult for the coalition to take over the DAP stronghold of Skudai.
He told FMT he predicted around 20% of Chinese voters who used to back PH previously may return to BN. This, he said, could cause the Perling seat to fall into the Umno-led coalition’s hands, though fielding Liew as a candidate could avoid this from happening.
JOHOR BAHRU: Chinese voters are expected to have a huge say on which coalition forms the next Johor state government on March 12.
Although all parties claim they have the support of the community, Chinese voters in urban areas have traditionally been considered to be “opposition supporters” although there were indications in the Melaka and Sarawak state elections that there was a change of tide or general discontentment with Pakatan Harapan.
Many members of the community told FMT they had already decided on how they would be voting, though some remained uncertain.
Na Hui Seong, 50, in Skudai, said he would support Barisan Nasional as he was disappointed with PH’s 22 months in power in the federal and state governments, particularly its failure to fulfil its election manifesto promises.
He also complained that the elected assemblyman had rarely gone to the ground despite various issues raised by residents. The previous Skudai assemblyman was DAP’s Tan Hong Pin.
“There was a recurrent power issue in my area, Taman Nusa Bestari, but we were forced to resolve the matter ourselves with Tenaga Nasional Berhad. It’s the assemblyman who should be addressing this kind of issue. But when we file complaints, he just sends his officers,” he said.
“They’re really smart when it comes to talking about the economy, but they don’t do their work. They’re useless.”
Perling voter An Bin Lin, 38, said she would not vote for Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong as he is not a local, although he is contesting in the constituency.
She raised doubts over whether Liew would be present as much as a local would to attend to problems. She said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang was often not around as MP for Iskandar Puteri, the parliamentary constituency in which Perling is located.
Another Perling native, Lun Khai Xian, who will be voting for the first time, said he would vote for the BN candidate, citing the coalition’s stability as a major factor.
“Before this, they took good care of the people. I’ve been asking my friends to go out and vote to bring change for the state,” said the 22-year-old.
Tee Lian Teng, 44, admitted that she was a loyal BN supporter, having voted for it for the past three general elections, but also claimed that many of her PH-supporting friends were starting to change their minds.
Yap Seng, 48, said he would continue supporting PH as he believed that the coalition had brought some much-needed change to Johor in its short 22 months in power, including introducing a Johor health card for Johoreans.
“If they’re given another chance to rule, maybe they can do even more for the people of Johor. Their plans were abruptly halted after their tenure was cut short,” he said.
However, 49-year-old Chong Fat appeared to be in a dilemma.
The party he had previously supported had failed to perform well in government. “We thought that after voting for another party, we would see some changes. But it’s just the same; blue is the same, red is the same,” he said, referring to the colours of the BN and PH flags.
“If we support the same party (PH), there won’t be much change, but if we go back to supporting BN, there are some leaders there who aren’t good and have court cases.
“It’s better to just not vote then.”
Political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara did not deny there could be a shift in Chinese support to BN, though it would be difficult for the coalition to take over the DAP stronghold of Skudai.
He told FMT he predicted around 20% of Chinese voters who used to back PH previously may return to BN. This, he said, could cause the Perling seat to fall into the Umno-led coalition’s hands, though fielding Liew as a candidate could avoid this from happening.
Johor was a MCA stronghold for 56 years , until 2014 when Lim Kit Siang made his Iskandar Puteri move.
ReplyDeleteSo, for most Johor Chinese, support for Harapan is paper thin, and easily swayed back to BN, especially if they see PH as not delivering during its 22 months.
61 years of BN misrule seems to be OK for most Johor Chinese...they love MCA deeply.