Hutan Melintang voters search for ‘best leader’ to solve their woes

The dire situation in Hutan Melintang has motivated the local residents to commission a survey to determine the criteria that leaders there will need to have to hold the Perak state assembly constituency under the new Bagan Datuk district.

Merdeka Center research manager Tan Seng Keat confirmed with Malaysiakini that the independent pollster had assisted in terms of data collection, while the questions were designed and the results analysed by the residents themselves.

Hutan Melintang resident N Nadarajan, who calls it a “citizens’ effort”, personally funded the survey together with fellow voter P Moorthy.

Nadarajan, who runs his own business, stressed that both he and restaurant owner Moorthy were not members of any political party.

“We are totally independent, politically. We don’t want to be associated with anybody. (We are) people who are concerned, that’s all,” he told Malaysiakini.

On problems plaguing the small town, Nadarajan lamented “slow” development and problems involving land with temples being demolished, as well as a lack of job opportunities.

“Despite Bagan Datuk being a new district, the people in Hutan Melintang are still suffering - we have a lot of problems.

“When it comes to crime and gangsterism, we don’t have to talk about it, it’s terrible,” Nadarajan added.

Although the incumbent assemblyperson, PKR’s S Kesavan (on left in photo), regularly attends local functions and makes it a point to talk to the people, Nadarajan claimed that Kesavan would cite the problem of lack of funds to do things for the local community.

“But that shouldn’t be a reason because Perak is doing so well. They can get some money out of there and bring it here. For eight years he has been giving the same reason.

“Not to say that MIC is doing a very good job either. They are more or less the same. They only come when there is an activity or something,” Nadarajan said.

The survey, which involved 500 Hutan Melintang residents, was carried out from Jan 4 to Jan 13 this year. The constituency in 2013 had 20,035 voters.

Survey questions were focused on youth candidacy, professional qualification, post-graduate education as well as research experience, among others.

Saravanabavan the chosen one

Nadarajan said the respondents chose their favoured candidates through these criteria. They were not told the names of candidates as well as the parties they come from.

Based on this, MIC’s M Saravanabavan - a practising lawyer and an adjunct professor of law who has been offering free legal aid to the community for the past two years - came out victorious from among the three other candidates featured in the survey, although they were not explicitly mentioned by name.

The other candidates, apart from Saravanabavan, were incumbent Kesavan, Perak PKR strategy director Madhi Hassan and Perak MIC chairperson V Elango.

Explaining why the respondents were not informed about the party membership of the candidates, Nadarajan said it was because he and Moorthy did not want any form of bias to cloud the minds of the respondents.

“We just gave them a series of criteria - whether they want someone who’s well-educated or someone with research experience - those kind of questions and we gave points to see which candidates fitted the criteria the most.

“To tell you the truth, many people don’t like the ruling party but if we were to mention parties, immediately there will be a bias.”

Nadarajan admitted that the results of the survey would have been different if voters were in the know about the respective political parties and the candidates themselves.

“We tried to see if these are the qualified candidate criteria. This is what we want in Hutan Melintang - can this person deliver or not.

“At the end of the day, after the names were revealed and the residents were asked whether the elements suited the candidates and would they, then, be voting for them - the respondents said ‘yes’.

“We don’t want just anybody to come in and stand (to contest in the area). We don’t want people who are not qualified to come here,” Nadarajan stressed.

A predominantly Malay and Indian area, most Hutan Melintang residents work as fishermen or plantation workers.

In the last general election, Kesavan garnered 10,155 votes, defeating BN’s R Supramaniam and Berjasa’s Azahari Abdullah as well as independent candidate Mat Sidi Hashim. Kesavan obtained a 1,240-vote majority.- Mkini