Awkward encounter: DAP candidate gets earful from hawker

 

JOHOR POLLS | DAP's Johor Jaya candidate Liow Cai Tung's walkabout at a local market turned awkward after a hawker gave her an earful, a video of which had since gone viral.

In the video, the hawker selling fruits declared he liked the DAP but won't support Liow after complaining that she did not solve a road issue.

"I like the DAP but I won't support her. She can't do work. I have asked you to fix the road intersection there as there have been many accidents but you didn't do it for me," he said.

Liow (above) then said she had liaised with the local council authorities but the hawker continued to berate her in a mix of Teo Chew dialect and Mandarin.

"I've asked you to do it one to two years ago but all you said was 'yes, yes, yes'," he said.

The hawker then turned to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who was accompanying her at the Taman Johor Jaya market and told him to advise her.

Liow, when contacted, said her office received the complaint when Pakatan Harapan was still in control of the state government.

She said the Johor Bahru City Council, acting on her office's request, upgraded the intersection in question but it was not to the hawker's satisfaction.

"At the time, the city council drew a yellow box at the intersection and also built a speed bump but the hawker wanted another speed bump on the other side of the road.

"So he was not very satisfied with how the city council handled it.”

Liow said the city council was in the midst of installing a traffic light at the intersection and her office had been following up on the issue.

Accepts hawker's criticism

Liow, who is the incumbent in Johor Jaya, said she accepted the hawker's criticism and understood his frustration.

"We have done a lot of local upgrades but it's impossible to do everything perfectly. We're not perfect," she said.

Asked if the high-profile public scolding will affect her chances in Johor Jaya, Liow said with the exception of the hawker's unhappiness, public reaction throughout her morning-long walkabout had been positive.

Liow is facing BN's Chan San San and PN's Ker Ching Sheng in the mixed constituency of Johor Jaya.

The seat has around 47 percent Chinese, 43 percent Malays and seven percent Indians.

In the last general election, Liow won with a 15,565-vote majority amid a strong wave of anti-establishment sentiment due to the 1MDB scandal.

However, Pakatan Harapan, including the DAP, is struggling with voter disillusionment after the coalition's hold on power only lasted 22 months.

Campaigning for the Johor polls kicked off yesterday. Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12. - Mkini