Chinese votes no longer DAP’s fixed deposit, says Loke’s MCA rival

 Siow Kong Choon says if elected, he'll be able to focus his time on the people of Chennah, unlike Loke Siew Fook who is DAP's head, a minister and an MP.

BN’s Chennah candidate Siow Kong Choon meeting members of the Chinese community in the constituency on the campaign trail for the Negeri Sembilan election.

JELEBU:

MCA’s Siow Kong Choon, who is challenging DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook for the Chennah state seat, is hopeful of regaining Chinese voters for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Negeri Sembilan election.

Siow said the community could no longer be seen as a “fixed deposit” for DAP as the Chinese had become more rational at the ballot box instead of voting based on racial or political sentiments.

“In fact, I don’t see the votes of any community being the fixed deposit of any party. It all depends on our efforts and the policies that we offer voters.

“Voters know how to evaluate candidates who are capable of serving and focusing on the constituency,” he told FMT.

Siow nevertheless acknowledged being the underdog in the straight fight for the state seat, given that Loke is a federal minister, the Seremban MP and has represented Chennah since 2013.

What the BN candidate is offering voters is his ability to focus all of his time on serving the area, given that he does not have other political or administrative responsibilities.

“The people of Chennah deserve to have an assemblyman whom they can easily meet or contact, and who has the capacity to go to the ground any time constituents face problems.”

Siow and Loke are in a straight fight for Chennah, a mixed seat that falls under the Jelebu parliamentary constituency held by Umno since its creation in 1974.

The seat comprises 46% Malay voters, followed by the Chinese at 44%, Orang Asli at 5.9% and Indians at 2.1%.

While Loke has represented Chennah since 2013, he was the Lobak assemblyman for two terms prior to that.

Siow rejected the notion that BN was focusing on wooing Malay voters in hopes of wresting the seat from DAP, saying he would approach the constituents of Chennah regardless of race. - FMT