Of pigs and tigress, tiny town in spotlight again
By Zubaidah Abu Bakar (NST)
TAKE a random survey of your friends and very few will know the location of Bukit Selambau.
The laid-back rural suburb near fast-growing Sungai Petani would have remained just a name on the map of south Kedah had not the proposed construction of a modern pig farm there been politicised to the hilt last year.
It also made headlines a few years ago when a resident, Zaiton Arshad, paraded his pet tigress all over the little town.
News about Malay villagers opposing pig-rearing on their doorstep had Bukit Selambau in the spotlight for months.
Almost nightly, television channels aired the complaints until the menteri besar, Datuk Seri Azizan Razak, declared a no-go on the grounds that the Veterinary Services Department found the area unsuitable for the project, which had been approved by the previous Barisan Nasional government.
Life in the villages and estates returned to its languid pace until last month, when a by-election was announced for the state constituency.
Bukit Selambau, with 35,596 registered voters in an area that also covers part of Sungai Petani town, will go to the polls to choose a new wakil rakyat because V. Arumugum, its independent representative, who later joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat, quit over alleged threats on him and his family.
Come April 7, voters will choose between BN's G. Ganesan, the Kedah MIC deputy chief and former Lunas assemblyman; Parti Keadilan Rakyat's S. Manikumar, a newcomer and associate of Arumugam; and a couple of independent candidates.
While the main contest will be fought by the BN and Pakatan Rakyat coalitions, a popular independent has garnered strong support and thus has a good chance of winning.
Bukit Selambau is a racially mixed constituency of 17,974 Malay, 9,831 Indian, 7,462 Chinese and 329 mainly Siamese voters.
Arumugam defeated BN candidate S. Krishnan by 13,225 votes to 10,863 in the last general election.
Since the seat fell vacant last month, BN campaigners have been busily pointing out what the former representative could have easily done but did not, such as building drains and putting up street lamps.
Allegations abound that Arumugam, despite having been a state executive councillor, had not brought much-needed help to the constituents.
"Chinese and Indian voters rejected BN last year but they now realise their mistake," says Gerakan's Merbok chief, Tan Kok Seong. "Both communities are now back in BN's fold."
Bukit Selambau is one of the state seats in the parliamentary district of Merbok.
Mohd Hazwan Jamil, 24, says it is time Bukit Selambau got more public amenities and a bank so that residents do not have to go to Kuala Ketil and Sungai Petani to do their banking.
"Arumugum was not serious about politics, seeing that he quit his post so soon after being elected. I hope voters will choose wisely this time."
Azizah Awang, 59, one of those unhappy with the pig-rearing project, complains of a lack of development in Malay-concentrated areas and says she prefers a Malay representative.
Many Malay voters are said to share Azizah's view. Independent candidate Zahran Abdullah, a member of the Laguna Merbok Umno branch, has cited this as the reason he decided to contest.
There is fear that intense campaigning may give rise to racial tensions. In response, police have set up beat bases in 17 potential hotspots.
S. Thullukanan from Kampung Petani Para, who supervises workers at a local oil palm estate, does not believe voters will be easily swayed by the parties playing the race card.
"We have lived in harmony for so many years.
"We do not need people going around fanning racial sentiments in the run-up to the by-election," says the 54-year-old, who has lived in Bukit Selambau for the past 10 years.
Former Merbok Umno chief Datuk Arzmi Abdul Hamid, while believing Bukit Selambau voters have learned their lesson, is not sure how far the vote will swing in BN's favour.
Neither is Kedah BN chief Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, who says that BN has to work doubly hard to ensure those who are leaning towards the BN will eventually vote for the coalition.
"Many, Malays, Chinese and Indians in Bukit Selambau abandoned the BN last year but we see them returning."
Local BN leaders admit that banking on Arumugam's performance alone will not be enough to regain lost support.
The Bukit Selambau by-election is seen as a test of BN's strength in Kedah after it lost the state in the March 2008 general election.
A victory for BN, though it will not change the equation in the state assembly, will mark a turning point for the coalition's chances in the next general election.
