Neither game-over nor sure win
Joceline Tan, The Star
FROM the outside looking in, it seems like the incumbent Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong of Barisan Nasional is a goner in Teluk Intan.
The Gerakan president is fighting DAP’s fiercest orator Nga Kor Ming who aims to be the dragon-slayer of his party.
Nga’s star power is glittering and the Chinese crowd at many of the DAP ceramah have been going from strength to strength, especially when there are big names on the stage.
A ceramah at a hall that belongs to a local Chinese temple on Monday night spilt over onto the road.
It is as though all the good things that Mah brought to Teluk Intan or “Aun Soon”, as the Chinese call the town, has been for nothing.
But the nuances begin to dawn on you as you move around Teluk Intan and beyond the town centre into the Malay heartland.
That is when you realise that Nga, who is the incumbent Taiping MP, is struggling against a hostile Malay sentiment.
All those awful stuff he has said on the ceramah stage in the past has come back to haunt him – from his hitam metallic racial slur on the Perak Mentri Besar to his infamous P-word, a slang phrase referring to the female private parts.
Video clips of those unfortunate episodes have flooded the Malay villages and Nga will have problems campaigning in the kampung.
What works for the Chinese does not work for the Malays. The things that amuse his Chinese audience have been a turn-off for the Malay community.
“He (Nga) cannot come into our kampung. I am telling you frankly, we will stop him.
“He has said all kinds of things about our leaders. I have seen all the videos, I don’t want to say more,” said Yahaya Husin, the headman of Sungai Tunku.
But Datuk Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin, Barisan’s candidate for the Changkat Jong state seat, said anyone is free to campaign anywhere.
“We reject the politics of slander but we don’t want to quarrel with each other because of politics. We still want to sit together in the coffeeshop after the election,” said Azhar who is going for his second term.
In 2008 and 2013, Pakatan was able to rely on PAS to take care of the Malay ground. However, PAS is now out of Pakatan and it is telling the Malays that DAP is anti-Islam and anti-Malay.
A bridge spanning Sungai Perak in a Malay area has been decked with PKR flags, the common logo for Pakatan Harapan, the last one week. But the villagers removed every single flag after some of them viewed the videos on Nga.
Nga’s campaign is leaning on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to swing the Malay vote. Mini billboards of him standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Pakatan’s prime minister nominee have begun appearing in town.
The lady boss of a thriving mini market in a Chinese new village about 20km from the town has made up her mind to huan zheng fu (change the government), the Opposition’s catchphrase this general election.
“My children said if we don’t try it, we won’t know what it is like,” said the 58-year-old who wanted to be known as Beh.
Asked if she thought the Government would fall this time, she said: “Only if the Malays also turn.”
When asked whether the Malays have turned, there was a long pause before she answered: “Only one or two.”
The most puzzling thing about the Teluk Intan situation is that nine out of 10 Chinese you meet have only good things to say about Mah – he is a decent and diligent man, he tackled the perennial flooding problem, he is bringing in infrastructure, tourism and affordable housing.
Yet, all that has not translated into votes. At this point in time, only two in 10 Chinese are likely to vote for him because they say they are against Barisan and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
On the other hand, Nga may get only 8% or about one out of 10 Malay votes. His partners Amanah and Pribumi do not have the Malay traction of PAS.
The PAS stronghold is in an area that the Hokkien-speaking Chinese in the town refer to as pah booi or edge of the forest. It is now a modern kampung and is said to harbour some 2,000 votes that had previously gone to Pakatan.
The elderly owner of a local rattan furniture shop had this to say: “Politics is hard to understand. Last time they did not like Mahathir, then they didn’t want Pak Lah, now they are against Najib. But look who they want as prime minister now.”
Mah unveiled his manifesto yesterday with big plans for his hometown.
But Barisan’s edge lies in its machinery and logistics.
The Barisan team understands the constituency, they know where their white voters are located whereas Nga is an outsider who is only now learning to find his way around the hinterland areas of Teluk Intan
With the Malay vote on one side and the Chinese vote on the other, the kingmaker will be the Indians and the Gerakan campaign team claims to have identified every Indian vote that they want to get.
It is best not to make too many assumptions about the local sentiments of this small town.
It is definitely not game-over for Mah nor is it a sure win for Nga.
But it is the biggest Chinese battle in this general election.
