The Malaysian Insight

THOUGH he lost on two occasion, M. Manogaran has never given up on Cameron Highlands voters – and kept on serving them.

The former Teluk Intan MP was first fielded by DAP to wrestle the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat from MIC in the 2013 general election and again in the last polls.

Both times, he lost by small margins.

“I have been coming and going. I still attend events the locals invite me to, assist the locals with their complaints and issues, and give advice,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Pakatan Harapan today declared him as its choice to contest the January 26 polls.

The 59-year-old lawyer has been serving the federal seat in Pahang since 2013, handling complaints and giving advice to locals who need help. His party also maintains a service centre in Brinchang.

Manogaran was involved in helping locals during the Bertam Valley floods, even helping 100 residents win their negligence suit against Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

The residents, represented by the lawyer, won their lawsuit against TNB in May last year when the High Court ruled that the utility company was liable for causing floods in the area in October 2013. TNB challenged the decision, but its appeal was thrown out by the Court of Appeals last month.

The seat was declared vacant after Manogaran won a court order to nullify MIC vice-president C. Sivarraajh’s victory last year.

The election court had found that Barisan Nasional was involced in vote-buying during the election campaign, which led to Sivarraajh winning the seat with 10,307 votes – a 597-vote majority over Manogaran’s 9,710 votes.

Nomination day for the coming by-election has been fixed for January 12.

Cameron Highlands – an area driven by farming and tourism activities – is traditionally an MIC-Barisan Nasional stronghold. 

It has two state seats – Tanah Rata, held by DAP’s Chiong Yoke Kong, and Jelai, held by BN’s Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, who is also Pahang menteri besar.

DAP, a component of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, has never won a Cameron Highlands seat. 

The new ruling alliance only managed to win the majority support of Chinese and Indian voters, losing most of the Malay and Orang Asli votes to BN.

Orang Asli neglect

Despite their support for the former ruling party, Manogaran said the Orang Asli in Cameron Highlands were “shockingly most neglected”.

More than 6,500 people make up the Orang Asli community in Cameron Highlands, or 21% of the more than 32,000 voters – the largest number of Orang Asli voters in any electorate.

Their villages, Manogaran said, were neglected and lacked basic utilities, with some even inaccessible by 4x4 vehicles.

He said some could only ride motorcycles into the villages to visit sick relatives, and wondered how ambulances could reach the sick in cases of emergency due to the lack of access for larger vehicles.

“The conditions of the roads are very bad. Even a 4x4 can’t get into some places,” he said, urging the federal government to look into it. 

“It was immoral of the government not to resolve such longstanding issues. It was a dereliction of duties in that, for the last six decades, these people were not helped, and it was a misfeasance of public office that the community was neglected to such an extent.”

Illegal farming and worker issues

While issues affecting the Orang Asli community required special attention, Manogaran said there were several other issues that the powers that be should look into with the by-election looming.

He said the farming community in Cameron Highlands had been facing problems for decades, citing land issues from Ringlet to Blue Valley in which long-time farmers had no proper permits.

“These farmers have toiled on their farms for 20 to 30 years but the land is a forest reserve. They applied for leasehold but were turned down.”

Manogaran said the problem could be solved if farmers were given 66-year leases to farm.

The farming sector also faced problems with illegal farmers.

Manogaran said the authorities could break down illegal structures put up by illegal immigrants but this would not solve the problem.

“The workers will escape into the jungle, hide and then return. There is someone who brings these people to Cameron Highlands and protects them,” he said.

The lawyer said the problem could better resolved if all the law enforcement authorities were free of corruption.

He also said the government needed to shorten the processing time for foreign workers’ permits.

Traffic woes, infrastructure improvements

Manogaran also highlighted the traffic problem between Tanah Rata and Kea Farm, which he said was especially bad on weekends and public holidays, when tourists visit Cameron Highlands.

“It can take up to two hours to clear 10km. I blame the district council.”

He said several issues contributed to the congestion, such as stalls occupying parking lots and the one-way street conversion in Brinchang.

“The people want it converted back to two-way, but the district council and police want it to remain one-way, although the current situation leads to congestion.

“If almost 100% of the locals want it two-way, I don’t understand why the authorities don’t see things the same way. The present situation is a problem for local businesses.”

Manogaran said Cameron Highlands also needed infrastructure improvements, and more teachers and doctors for local schools and government clinics.

For the Malay community, he said there should be more housing for second generation Felda settlers, more employment opportunities and stronger efforts to fight drug addiction problem among youth. – January 4, 2019.