The Malaysian Insight

TO get an idea of why it has been difficult for the opposition to gain a foothold in Barisan Nasional strongholds in rural Malaysia, take a drive to Lenggong, a three-hour journey by car from Kuala Lumpur.

The Malay-majority parliamentary seat in Perak is home to farmers, rubber tappers, petty traders and civil servants. It is where the scandals and negative stories surrounding Prime Minister Najib Razak and the government are met with a wall of scepticism.

Here, the some 30,000 villagers voting in the Kota Tampan and Kenering state seats are grateful for the cash handouts they receive from the government, believing that the peaceful way of life they enjoy is all due to the ruling coalition.

As the battle between political parties for the Malay vote intensifies, the opposition has been working hard to bring to the villagers’ attention large and complex issues such as the 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and how they had an effect on their lives.

Former prime minister turned opposition leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have been venturing into the Felda settlements and rural constituencies to persuade Malays to stop voting for BN by bringing up cases of alleged corruption in government.  

Last night, Pakatan Harapan top guns were in Tanjung Malim, some 170km away, to tell the mainly Malay voters there why they needed to ditch the ruling coalition in the 14th general election.

Blissful ignorance

In Lenggong, the 1MDB scandal has barely caused a ripple. In fact, the  villagers see the topic as a smear tactic propounded by the  opposition to damage BN’s reputation.

“I don’t really understand this 1MDB thing. But I don’t believe it. It cannot be that Najib would do something like that,” said Saudah Ngah, who was a rubber tapper for almost 30 years.

The 71-year-old resident of Kampung Banggol Batu in Kota Tampan admitted that life was tougher with the GST (goods and services tax) but said she was grateful to the government for aid like BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid).

“Prices have gone up because of the GST. But the government gives BR1M. So it means the government is giving me back some money.

“Now I am old and cannot tap rubber anymore. I get RM300 from zakat a month. The elected representatives here also help the people a lot,” Saudah said.

BN successfully defended Lenggong against PAS in the last two general elections with the incumbent MP Shamsul Anuar Nasarah securing a majority of 4,019 votes in 2008 and a slightly reduced majority of 3,453 votes in 2013.

In the state seats of Kenering and Kota Tampan, BN assemblymen Mohd Tarmizi Idris and Saarani Mohamad beat challengers from PKR by more than 1,000 votes each.

Kampung Bukit Sapi resident Saharuddin Jamaluddin, 64, also praised the BR1M handout introduced by the Najib administration.

He said BR1M helped villagers cope with the rising cost of living, which, unlike the 1MDB scandal, were of concern to the villagers.

“We don’t know about this 1MDB issue. Sounds like it could be slander. What is more important is the cost of living. Things are expensive now after GST,” said the rubber tapper who is waiting for his BR1M payment to be processed.

Saharuddin said he hoped the government would increase the aid after GE14.

“We get RM1,200. That is RM100 a month. We ask for a bigger amount. We need money for our kids to go to school,” said the father of five, whose youngest child is in Form 6.

“As a rubber tapper without my own land, my income is not fixed. Even if I tap 30kg and get paid RM60, I have to split the money with the estate owner.”

Rahmah Md Napi, 69, said there was no need to change the status quo, dismissing also the need to better understand the 1MDB affair, including the allegations that billions of ringgit were stolen from the state fund.

“I am too lazy to find out more. I don’t even watch TV. Life is peaceful, why must we change?

“We don’t need to be rich. We have enough to live on and that is good enough,” she said.

Undeterred

Still, the villagers’ clear disinterest in hearing anything bad about the government has not deterred Lenggong PKR chief Azalan Shah Banyamin from trying to win them over to his side.

The 50-year-old Azalan said the opposition had gone on the ground to explain Pakatan Harapan’s plans to better their lives, including by scrapping the GST within 100 days in office.

“We are visiting the people to personally speak to them about issues like the cost of living and prices of goods.

“We have a small network in every village and we focus on issues close to the people’s hearts, like the low price of rubber and lack of housing,” Azalan said.

However, the reality is that Lenggong has never fallen into opposition hands, and is unlikely to do so at the next general election, which must be held by August.

“I am confident we can keep Lenggong, not because of tradition but because BN reps are not seasonal reps. We provide service to the electorate throughout the term,” said Shamsul, the MP of two terms.

“You can see how good our relationship is with the people. It is very good. That is Umno and BN’s strength.”

Lenggong Kemas senior supervisor Zanariah Din, 45, said BN reps were often seen out in the field speaking to the people about current issues and giving aid.

“They also bring us development like business space for young entrepreneurs to do business. In town there are futsal courts for the youth and other facilities too,” she said.

Almost 45% of the voters in Lenggong are under 40 years of age.

No room for complacence

However, Shamsul said even though BN was in a comfortable place, it could not afford to take the voters’ loyalty for granted.

“The opposition is split but we don’t want to count on its weakness to win.

“The social media is a huge factor (in the election campaign). We can’t take things lying down even if this is a safe seat,” he said. – March 17, 2018.