Bangi MP comes to grips with Malaysia's most populous constituency

 

INTERVIEW | With a total population of nearly 700,000, Bangi is the most populous parliamentary constituency in Malaysia, but first-time MP Syahredzan Johan is not overwhelmed by the task ahead of him.

A practising lawyer who also previously served as principal secretary to DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang, Syahredzan has dived into the task of serving his constituents.

“In my case, I’m still juggling legal practice with constituency work. So, usually, I would dedicate one or two days a week to come to the office to settle paperwork, such as applications and meetings. If it’s something that requires attention, then I will ask one of the staff members to attend to it or if it's an application for distribution of funding, we will review it.

“On a weekday, I usually go for a site visit to a school or a courtesy call or another programme. We have usually three or four programmes a day and that doesn’t include event invitations during the weekends,” he said.

Aside from debating and passing laws in Parliament, an MP is also required to assist constituents when events such as floods or landslides strike.

“Flooding is an issue here. Not a lot but in certain parts of the constituency. Thankfully, this year, we haven’t really had a major flooding incident where the water level has gone into schools and homes. But we had that last year when I was assisting the then-MP Ong Kian Ming. During the monsoon season, the risk is there, so we’ve had to deal with that as well.

“The issue of landslides, well not landslides per se, but we do have soil erosion and things like that to watch out for,” he told Malaysiakini in an interview at his service centre.

Bangi is a largely semi-urban constituency stretching from Bandar Damai Perdana to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

A number of highways and expressways also run through the constituency - PLUS, Silk, Grand Saga, Lekas, and the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (Suke).

Syahredzan has also pledged to look at improving public transport access in the area.

Strong support, stronger expectations

Originally from Petaling Jaya, Syahredzan said he needed to understand the issues faced by his new constituents.

“Thankfully, I had some time to familiarise myself when I was appointed as a representative under Ong last year in June. So I’ve had the opportunity to meet people in the constituency.

“But as you mentioned, I am not born and bred in this area. I’m not a Kajang Boy or a Bangi Boy, I grew up in Petaling Jaya and I live now in KL.

“We're looking at 680,000 people staying in the same parliamentary constituency, which makes it the most populous constituency in terms of population.

“Bangi is a constituency where you have about 49 percent Malays, 37 percent Chinese, and 11 percent Indian. So that means a diverse demographic with diverse needs as well,” he said.

“Thankfully, the people have been welcoming. They are always willing to tell me about particular issues in that particular area. I’ve had the benefit of working well with the three state representatives from Kajang (PKR’s Hee Loy Sian), Sungai Ramal (Amanah’s Mazwan Johar) and Balakong (DAP’s Wong Siew Ki).

“Also the local councillors both from my party and from other Harapan parties, and the people in my team right now about the parliamentary constituency are actually the same people who have worked with me before this. So there is continuity, from Ong to myself,” he added.

He said that the strong support comes with a lot of voter expectations too.

“In terms of pure numbers, it’s a huge majority of 69,701 votes, but in terms of percentage, my predecessor had a bigger winning margin. There was a decrease from 2018 from the 65 percent obtained by Ong to 58 percent.

“This is not unique but it is actually a national trend where you look at places where Harapan won in 2018 and compare it to 2022, especially places with large Malay populations, there is a decrease in support for us, a decrease for Umno/BN, and an increase in PN support.

“That is still a cause for concern. Our job is to deliver a higher standard of living and better way of life for those we serve so that the negative politics of our opponents don’t take hold,” he said.

---

This is part two of a three-part interview.

And watch out for Part 3: My father was at almost every ceremah, says Syahredzan

- Mkini