All quiet on the Puchong front

There is a lull in the Puchong parliamentary constituency. Nobody is sure who the candidates will be.

PETALING JAYA: Puchong incumbent MP Gobind Singh Deo is in the dark as to where he is going to contest in the upcoming general election. So far, there has been no indication whether he will be retained in Puchong or he will be sent elsewhere.

The same goes for Barisan Nasional component parties who are eyeing Puchong, all are unsure of the candidate who will be contesting, although talks are rife that a Gerakan member will be fielded.

Gobind on his part reckons that he should be retained due to his services thus far to the constituency.

“As of now, we still do not know who will contest for the seat as ultimately, the party [DAP] will decide. No one can claim a seat as their own, but I know, I have worked hard and reached out to the people.

“A lot depends on strategy, although we as candidates focus on our own constituencies and we are prepared for a second term , ultimately, it goes back to the party to decide,” he said.

‘I have done my best’

When asked to counter allegations that he has not been doing much for his constituency, he said: “In my constituency, there will be people with their views. But as far as I’m concerned, I have done my level best.”

“As you know, Puchong is a big area with a lot going on, there have been many complaints but I have done my best,” he added.

Mentioning the Sri Serdang flood issue, he said that he had been consistent in bringing up the issue in parliament.

“I pushed it to a point where we got answers. It took a lot of time but I persevered and although we did not get solutions at the federal level, we solved it at the state level.

“In the end, we got RM9 million from the Selangor menteri besar to stop the problem in Sri Serdang,” he said.

When asked how much has Puchong developed under his tenure as MP, he said that development in a constituency comes only second after problem-solving.

“Whether an MP has been effective in his job or not does not depend on the amount of development made, rather, on the amount of problems solved during his tenure as MP.

“Puchong is a fast-developing constituency, so naturally, there is going to be a lot of problems. In the last five years, I have tried solving each and every problem.

“However, some problems have been impossible to solve. And as with any other professions, you cannot solve every problem because problems will keep coming up,” he said.

Gobind also expressed his view that having access to constituents is of importance.

“Being able to connect with constituents is important. I visit my service centre on weekends because on weekdays people usually get back home late due to traffic jams so they have no time to visit the service centre.

“When I am not at my service centre, I am on the ground, moving to different areas. A lot of people do not understand the amount of work that needs to be done,” he said.

‘Poor service’

Meanwhile, Puchong MCA chairman Wong Hock Aun also said that they are still in the dark on who would be fielded as the BN candidate for the Puchong parliamentary seat.

Commenting on Gobind’s service to the constituency in the past five years, he asserted that his service has not been satisfactory.

“He has not been providing good service to his constituents as he is always busy with court cases.

“His face can only be seen on Saturdays and Sundays. Other than going to parliament, providing service to constituents is also important. On the ground-wise, I think he has given poor service,” said Wong.

Puchong division MIC chairman A Sakthivel on the other hand said that as of now, the seat will be contested by a Gerakan member.

“I don’t think it is going to be contested by anyone from MIC,” he said.

He also stressed that whether the seat will be contested by a Gerakan or MCA candidate, is irrelevant.

“Whether it’s going to be an Umno, Gerakan, MCA or MIC candidate, there’s not going to be much difference. This is because ultimately we will work in the spirit of BN,” he said.

In the 2008 general election, Gobind won the seat with a thumping 15,000-vote majority defeating Gerakan’s Lau Yeng Peng.

The Puchong parliamentary constituency has more than 85,000 voters. The Election Commission’s records showed that the seat has 45% Malays, 30% Chinese and 25% Indians.

In the 2008 election, the Seri Serdang state seat was won by Mohamad Satim Diman of the BN while Teresa Kok Suh Sim of the DAP won the Kinrara state seat.