JOHOR POLLS | As BN saw its grip on its birthplace of Johor slip away in the 2018 general election, Kampung Melayu Majidee in Larkin, Johor remained steadfast behind the coalition.
While Larkin was ultimately lost to Bersatu due to a strong wave of non-Malay voters going against BN, a majority of folks in Kampung Melayu Majidee stuck with Umno.
At the time, Bersatu was part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition which has traditionally enjoyed strong non-Malay support but in the upcoming Johor election, Bersatu has formed its own coalition under the banner of Perikatan Nasional (PN).
The birth of PN itself was to ensure it had the Malay-Muslim credentials as Bersatu grew increasingly concerned at its dwindling Malay support, particularly after the Tanjung Piai by-election in 2019 which saw Bersatu trounced.
Bersatu, under PN, acknowledging that it is now unlikely able to count on strong non-Malay support, is redoubling its efforts in the Malay heartland, taking Umno by its horns.
One such heartland is Kampung Melayu Majidee where Bersatu candidate Zulkifli Bujang, who is contesting under the PN banner, acknowledged that it is a “black area”.
In political lingo, a “black area” is where a majority of voters are supporters of an opposing party. This is in contrast to a “grey area” which is considered a 50-50 chance for a political party and a “white area” which is considered safe.
Zulkifli has pulled all the stops in Larkin. He was the first to turn up when a mosque’s community farm in nearby Kampung Dato’ Onn Jaafar was hit by flash floods.
Personality politics
Zulkifli, who is the former press secretary to Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin, has also roped in Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, whom PN has branded as a fatherly figure with the nickname “Abah”.
His ex-boss Hamzah, who is also the Bersatu secretary-general, has also assisted his campaign.
The moves have been enough to attract voters’ attention in the traditional Umno stronghold.
“This is the first time I'm seeing him (in person),” said a curious Nirdah Abdullah as she eyed Zulkifli during a breakfast walkabout where he was accompanied by Muhyiddin at Medan Niaga, Kampung Melayu Majidee yesterday morning.
Watching from afar while having satay, the 62-year-old housewife said she was excited to see Muhyiddin but would rather not brave the crowd amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, she asked for assistance to take photographs of Muhyiddin. “So I can make my friends jealous,” she quipped.
A voter in Kampung Melayu Majidee, Nuridah, said she currently lives in nearby Skudai but often returned to the area where she still has a rental house.
True to its name, the surrounding areas represent a Malay village enclave in the heart of Johor Bahru, covering two out of the 25 polling districts in Larkin.
“We know this is a BN fortress. Why did I bring Tan Sri (Muhyiddin) here?
“Because I believe there is a lot of room for dialogue between the traders here and Tan Sri on changes that we can bring if Perikatan Nasional comes into power here,” Zulkifli told Malaysiakini.
No stranger to public engagements with his background as a journalist, Zulkifli indicated that Muhyiddin’s appearance was a part of PN’s attempts to break through one of the few Umno strongholds left in Larkin.
Umno undermines Bersatu
Zulkifli, Muhyiddin, and the PN campaign machinery spent about 30 minutes going to over 100 lots in the food court before having breakfast with representatives from the local traders association.
“In the Ikhtiar PN (manifesto) that we launched recently, we offered to help small traders sustain their business.
“Among others, exemption from paying licence fees for five years. We promised this to keep traders in the business and hopefully revive the industry here,” said Zulkifli.
Umno, however, isn’t sitting still and has actively worked to undermine Bersatu, its splinter party.
Bersatu’s incumbent in Larkin Mohd Izhar Ahmad quit the party in January, citing a loss of faith in Muhyiddin. He declared support for Umno and BN.
Only six out of the 25 polling districts in Larkin saw more than 50 percent of voters supporting BN in the 2018 general election amid strong anti-establishment sentiment during the peak of the 1MDB scandal.
But BN is counting on the assumption that many voters will once again remember the coalition's past contributions as the anti-establishment sentiment dissipates as there is now less attention on the 1MDB scandal coupled with voter disillusionment with the opposition.
Shadow of Shahrir Samad
In parts of Kampung Melayu Majidee, the influence of Umno’s Shahrir Samad, who has on and off been the Johor Bahru MP for seven terms since 1978, is still visible.
Larkin and Stulang are the two-state seats within the Johor Bahru parliamentary constituency.
In 1988, Sharir even won the federal seat as an independent candidate after he resigned from the seat and contested it again to make a point, after then Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed he couldn't win without the party. Sharir suffered his first defeat in 2018.
Construction of the Medan Niaga building to replace the original Kampung Melayu Majidee market was initiated in 2012 by then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak through the approval of an RM20 million allocation, reportedly on Shahrir’s request.
But the face of Kampung Melayu Majidee has been gradually changing over the decades, with the younger generation moving out, leaving behind an ageing electorate.
Kamaruddin Ishak, a local voter in his 50s, said there has been little development in the area that he grew up in.
“There is nothing much here. Only this building (Medan Niaga) is the newest thing here,” he said.
Kamaruddin said there was a lack of opportunity for the young, many of whom have decided to work in Singapore.
Sensing an opening, both PN and PKR have worked hard to chip away at BN's dominance.
Some local voters told Malaysiakini that PKR's Akmal Nasir has also maintained strong visibility in the area after being elected as the Johor Bahru MP in 2018, defeating Sharir.
Akmal, speaking to Malaysiakini, said Harapan has made progress in the Umno stronghold, winning only 10 percent of the votes in 2013 but gradually increasing it to over 30 percent in 2018. About 10 percent voted for PAS in 2018.
However, the progress in 2018 was when Bersatu was part of Harapan.
Akmal said PKR's candidate Dr Zamil Najwah Arbain had also gone down to the ground, targeting specific groups including market traders in Medan Niaga unsatisfied with higher rentals but lesser traffic into the new building completed in 2018.
“Even though we didn't win in the polling district, they know we never abandoned them,” he said, adding the area has shifted from “black to grey” in terms of expected support.
The old and the new
The changing face of Kampung Melayu Majidee is a double-edged sword for BN. While younger voters may no longer feel the nostalgia of BN's golden age, the coalition could still come out on top if they do not return to vote.
BN has traditionally benefited from an older electorate, considering close to 70 percent of Stream 1 voters in the polling districts of Kampung Melayu Majidee I and II went for BN in 2018 even though the overall average was slightly above 50 percent.
By convention, the Election Commission (EC) channels older voters to lower streams as they have elderly-friendly facilities whereas younger voters are directed to higher streams. This also helps give an estimation of how older and young voters behave.
This means the turnout in the Johor polls will be a key factor that determines where the pendulum swings.
The pandemic could work to BN's advantage but a counterbalancing factor is the 20,000 new voters in Larkin from the implementation of automatic voter registration and the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18.
This presents an increase of around 35 percent, from 56,289 voters to 76,079 voters. Whether the new voters, many who didn't bother to register in the past, will be as motivated as existing voters remains to be seen.
But PKR and PN aren’t giving up. Both contenders have also actively campaigned beyond Kampung Melayu Majidee.
Yesterday, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim stumped for Zamil at a ceramah in Larkin while PN's Zulkifli continued to work on small businesses, roping in Hamzah and Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Ronald Kiande to canvass for votes at Bulat-Bulat Corner, a popular food hangout spot in Larkin.
Aside from PN's Zulkifli and PKR's Zamil, the six-cornered battle for Larkin also involved candidates from BN, Pejuang, Muda, and an Independent.
BN is represented by Umno's Mohd Hairi Mad Shah, while Pejuang and Muda fielded Mohamad Riadz Mohamad Hashim and Rasid Abu Bakar respectively. Norramadan Buan is the independent candidate.
Campaigning for the Johor elections kicked off on Feb 26 and polling will be held on March 12. - Mkini
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