The wind is in Streram's sails

Would PKR's Dr S Streram have won the Rantau state seat on May 9 last year had he not been prevented from filing his nomination papers?

It is sterile to dwell on hypotheticals, but this question will continue to tantalise because in the tally for the Rembau parliamentary seat – under which Rantau falls – the PKR candidate had more votes in the state ward than the eventual winner, Khairy Jamaluddin.

Rantau and Paroi, two of the four state wards under Rembau gave the voting edge to PKR's Roseli Abdul Ghani, although he was still 4,000-plus votes adrift of Khairy's overall tally of 36,096.

This detail will be wind in the sails of Streram who, last week, was chosen as the PKR candidate to take on Mohamad Hasan – a formidable opponent as the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, magnified by him now serving as the acting Umno president.

"Of course, this by-election has taken on a different air to the GE14," the anaesthetist said in an interview over the weekend at the PKR operations room.

“I was to take on an incumbent menteri besar at GE14. Now I am to take on the acting Umno president, which is a whole different thing altogether."

Changing context

The atmospherics of the GE14 contest that never was have changed for the April 13 by-election, but the Kluang-born son of an estate mandore remains unfazed.

“For the past three and half years I have been the PKR coordinator in Rantau and have been working the ground,” he said on why he isn't overawed by the challenge of coming up against arguably one of the more formidable occupants of political office in the country.

“I have gone round to the Malay, Indian and Chinese concentrations in this seat, and have made contacts, especially in matters connected to individual medical needs."

Streram has leveraged on his connections at the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital – built up when he served as a consultant anaesthesiologist at the Nilai Medical Centre – to obtain shorter waiting time for sick constituents coming to him for help.

"The government health clinic in Rantau is in dire need of an upgrade," he said, cracking a somewhat triumphant smile at the thought of the upgrade being a matter of urgency were he to be returned as the Rantau assemblyperson. 

"Generally, the people here are poor and cannot wait too long for medical attention. Also, the distance, time taken and cost of making the journey to the Seremban general hospital add to their woes."

Streram has long been friends with current Menteri Besar Amiruddin Harun, with both being colleagues in PKR since 2008. 

Both were making preparations for the by-election before the candidate made time for this interview.

"He's (Amiruddin) got some weapons for the by-election, but we'll wait for things to heat up before we come to that," Streram said, sporting a look indicating he does not want to shoot his bolt just yet.

This time, the coast should be clearer for the doctor than it was on GE14 nomination day when overzealous nitpickers interposed to baulk him.

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TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for more than four decades. A sobering discovery has been that those who protest the loudest tend to replicate the faults they revile in others. - Mkini