DAP candidate and hawker who berated her make peace

 

JOHOR POLLS | A hawker who publicly berated DAP's Johor Jaya candidate Liow Cai Tung for not "knowing how to do work" has reached out to her to make peace.

The hawker, referred to as "brother Lim", said he did not mean to scold Liow and was being emotional at the time.

Liow posted a 24-second video on Facebook yesterday of the duo having a cordial conversation and doing a fist bump.

Lim had scolded Liow when she approached his fruit stall on Feb 27, complaining that the incumbent Johor Jaya assemblyperson had not addressed his complaints about an accident-prone road intersection.

A video of the encounter went viral on social media.

Liow said her office, since the beginning of the complaint, had liaised with the Johor Bahru City Council to address his concerns and a yellow box and speed bump were installed but it was not to Lim's satisfaction as he wanted another speed bump on the other side of the road.

"Brother Lim took the initiative to contact me and we went to check up on the intersection again.

"Lim said he didn't want the matter to be made into an issue by the opposite side, so he came out to clarify it," she added.

Liow thanked Lim for his attention to local issues and his concern about the accidents occurring at the intersection.

She added that Lim, through his own initiative, had also organised local residents to meet with Liow on how to make further improvements to the road intersection.

She promised to relay their requests to the Johor Bahru City Council.

Liow grateful for support

"Thank you, brother Lim and the residents, for their support. We also humbly accept the advice of every voter as our common goal is to build a better Johor Jaya," Liow said.

She is facing BN's Chan San San and Perikatan Nasional'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 DAP, is struggling with voter disillusionment after the coalition's hold on power only lasted 22 months.

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