JOHOR POLLS | Paloh, a semi-rural constituency with a small sleepy town in central Johor, has been abuzz with activity since campaigning for the Johor polls kicked off with a flurry of party flags now dominating the landscape.
Most prominently though, are the colours of Pakatan Harapan's red and BN's blue, which is also a reflection of the local perception that the election here is a two-horse race despite it being a four-cornered fight.
The incumbent is DAP's Sheikh Omar Ali who is representing Harapan against BN's Cambridge University-trained law graduate Lee Ting Han who is from MCA.
Sheikh Omar is DAP's sole Malay incumbent assemblyperson in Johor, who pulled off a win in Paloh during the 2018 general election despite expectations that it would be a tough fight after a redelineation exercise added a Felda settlement into the constituency.
His path has been an unconventional one, having left PAS for DAP, a party which the former often paints as "anti-Malay" and "anti-Islam".
But for the Malay electorate in Paloh, the DAP bogeyman narrative was less of an issue, as Sheikh Omar has in the more than three years since he was elected built up a track record of service for the community.
In the first week of the campaign alone, Sheikh Omar had visited Felda Kahang Barat twice, the constituency's sole Felda settlement that made up around 12 percent of the votes in the last general election.
During one such visit, a 45-minute drive away from Paloh town, some 20 local residents welcomed Sheikh Omar, referring to him as "Bro Shake", at a warung.
Sheikh Omar brought with him a group of mid-level Malay DAP leaders which the party has groomed, namely Ketari assemblyperson Young Syefura Othman and Dusun Tua assemblyperson Edry Faizal.
Joining them was DAP's Selangor speaker Ng Suee Lim, who speaks fluent Javanese and charmed the local residents with his language skills.
A casual 'bro'
Local residents spoke fondly about Sheikh Omar's effort to provide aid during the Covid-19 pandemic, including food baskets, cash aid and chickens.
“Normally you have to listen to the speech first before you get the aid from YB.
“But Sheikh Omar turned up in his casual clothes and slippers, rolled up his trousers and sat there handing out 200 chickens," said 43-year-old local resident Mohd Kifli Md Jinun.
However, another local resident Jopri Sobandi acknowledged that Sheikh Omar still has yet to get through to older Felda voters, believing that most who were likely to support him are middle-aged or younger voters.
In the 2018 general election, Sheikh Omar received around 30 percent of the votes in Felda Kahang Timur.
But when broken down by voting streams, those reserved for senior citizens only saw less than 20 percent voting for him while the support for younger and middle-aged voters ranged between 32 and 38 percent.
BN supporters have also acknowledged Sheikh Omar's contributions.
Food and beverage operator Harun Ismail told Malaysiakini that his family still preferred BN but noted that Sheikh Omar had also helped the local community a lot.
“Sheikh Omar helped those vulnerable groups financially. He also helped to maintain not only mosques but also Chinese and Indian temples.
“However, I will look at the manifestos of the candidates. Sheikh Omar was good but as the opposition, he can only help on the smaller matters.
"BN could bring more development, such as affordable housing projects for the youth,” said the 23-year-old Umno Youth member.
Bridging the racial divide
In the town area, some Chinese voters admitted that they were initially worried that it could be difficult for them to communicate with a Malay candidate as all previous assemblypersons that came before were Chinese.
However, the voters said they were happy with his service after Sheikh Omar was elected as the first Malay assemblyperson in Paloh.
A 40-year-old coffee shop owner who gave her name as Madam Yeo said Sheikh Omar had come to their aid when she needed help.
"My worry didn't turn out to be real. We had a water supply issue on Chinese New Year and he helped to arrange a water tanker for us," she added.
A 69-year-old plantation worker who gave his name as Gan also described Sheikh Omar's service as "not bad" and was prepared to vote for him again.
Other voters also commended him for his willingness to attend Chinese funerals.
Sheikh Omar won overwhelmingly in town areas during the 14th general election, with more than 80 percent of the votes.
However, Sheikh Omar risks his small majority of 783 votes being erased in the face of likely low turnout amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
New challenges
Sheikh Omar has positioned himself as a caretaker of the elderly in Paloh, as many younger voters work outside of the constituency, particularly in Singapore.
But many may not return amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is coupled with a sense of disappointment towards Harapan due to the untimely collapse of its coalition government, which poses challenges for his bid to defend his seat.
However, his main BN rival is not without problems. On paper, MCA has fielded a candidate with an impressive educational background.
However, many residents are unfamiliar with Lee even though he is from Chamek, a polling district in Paloh.
Even some voters who are partisan against Sheikh Omar complained that they didn't really know Lee.
These voters slammed Sheikh Omar for "not keeping his promises" although they couldn't say what promises he had broken.
Their gripe appears more towards the national level, where opponents have accused the short-lived Harapan government of failing to keep its promises.
They speak fondly of BN's previous candidate Teoh Yap Kun, who they referred to as "Cikgu Teoh". Teoh was the Paloh assemblyperson from 2008 to 2013.
"He (Lee) is new to us," said 52-year-old Mohd Jailani Mokhtar who works as an auxiliary police officer.
"All the candidates are now young but we're old. I don't know what to say, it's hard.
"Before this, it was Cikgu Teoh, he worked at the school, he was okay," Jailani added.
He also lamented that the political scenario in the country had become confusing.
"Now there are so many candidates, so many coalitions, we're having a headache on which to choose," he said.
Apart from Sheikh Omar and Lee, the other contenders are Perikatan Nasional's V Selvendran and Pejuang’s Aminuddin Johari.
Political infighting
The BN machinery, particularly MCA, has also been plagued by infighting.
The local MCA division had submitted five names for consideration as the possible candidate for Paloh but none were selected by the central leadership.
Among the five included MCA Sembrong chief Teoh as well as his deputy Lim Sin Hai.
Paloh is a state seat within the Sembrong parliamentary seat.
On March 3, the Sembrong MCA Youth issued a statement accusing its central leadership of fielding a ‘parachute’ candidate and accused MCA president Wee Ka Siong of nepotism.
Lee, 32, was a special officer with the Transport Ministry headed by Wee.
Teoh quickly nipped the controversy in the bud and refuted the statement but the controversy had become public knowledge.
Teoh told Malaysiakini that the local MCA division has accepted Lee and will give their full support despite the initial unhappiness.
Meanwhile, some local Umno members too were unhappy with Lee's candidacy as they had hoped for Umno to be given the seat to contest in.
Slightly more than a week before nomination day, China Press quoted an Umno source as saying that there was a high chance Umno would get the seat, but that did not materialise.
The central Umno leadership has also worked to quickly contain any fallout.
Development card
Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein visited Paloh on March 3, shortly after recovering from Covid-19.
At the Kampung Muhibbah polling district, he introduced Lee to Umno and MIC members and urged them to help him.
The defence minister reiterated to the media that Lee has his support and urged Paloh voters to give Lee a chance.
“With this new candidate supported by myself and assisted by Umno and MIC, I believe that not only will we win but that victory will be translated into more comprehensive development in Paloh,” Hishammuddin had said.
Kampung Muhibbah along with other estate polling stations that Lee visited that afternoon are traditional BN strongholds.
According to the latest Election Commission data, Paloh comprises 48.1 percent Malays, 35.8 percent Chinese, 15.2 percent Indians and one percent others.
Johoreans will head to the polls this Saturday. - Mkini
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