The seats to watch in Klang Valley The following are our picks for seats to watch on polling day. We have received ground reports on these seats as the candidates wind up their two-week campaign. Here’s the latest state of play.
KUALA LUMPUR
Lembah PantaiShahrizat Abdul Jalil* (Umno)
Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR)
N Periasamy (Independent)
* Incumbent in bold
Underdog Nurul has put up a strong fight over the past week, enough to worry Shahrizat. However, the challenger has to reverse a whopping 15,288 majority. It’s still not clear whether the swing - especially from Chinese (27.0%) and Indian voters (18.2%) - will be enough to give her an upset win. If the vote is close, the independent candidate can be a spoiler. The decider will be whether there is a swing among its 54.5% Malay voters. For now, it is too close to call.
Bukit BintangFong Kui Lun (DAP)
Dr Lee Chong Meng (MCA)
Lee has centred his campaign around ‘developing’ Bukit Bintang and argued that the constituency could be better off voting for him so that the Golden Triangle could be transformed into a world-class metropolis. While Fong claimed that 6,000 postal votes may cause him to lose, Lee suffered a setback last week. A ‘misunderstanding’ with 6,000-strong Selangor and Federal Territory Char Yong Association remains unresolved. Add 10.4% disgruntled Indians, Lee's dream of being Bukit Bintang's legitimate MP is expected to fade away.
KepongDr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP)
Lau Hoi Keong (Gerakan)
This DAP seat is expected to remain under opposition’s control, especially given that newcomer Lau's campaign focused mainly on local issues. Sixth-term MP Tan, a medical doctor, is a familiar face to voters and in the slightest chance he loses, it would be due to the young voters who prefers a new face. Gerakan has made inroads in Kepong in recent years and has reduced Tan’s once-sizable majority considerably. What used to be a safe DAP seat is now a marginal seat of less than 2,000 majority. But a swing of Chinese voters to DAP will help Tan increase his winning margin.
BatuTian Chua (PKR)
Lim Si Pin (Gerakan)
The odds seem stacked against Gerakan candidate Lim Si Pin - that he was parachuted into the seat and that he is son of Gerakan supremo Keng Yaik. His rival Chua, who has contested in the seat twice before, have steadily built his support base in the seat. Given the likely swing of Indian votes (Indian: 14.3%) to PKR, the only challenge Chua has to contend with is the Malay vote (44.3%). Chua was defeated in 2004 by two-term MP Ng Lip Yong - a senior Gerakan leader who had to make way for Lim - by 11,517 votes but such an easy victory for BN is not likely to be repeated tomorrow. But the formidable BN machinery will ensure victory for Lim.
SeputehTeresa Kok (DAP)
Carol Chew (MCA)
The MCA lightweight was never expected to give too much of a fight for popular two-term MP Kok. Add a few sexist caricature banners to the equation and Kok should win hands down. Remember how she made her entry in Seputeh after MCA's Dr Sua Chong Keh and his "men stand and women squat" remark? Seputeh is the DAP seat with the highest winning majority - 12,895. Expect Kok to increase it by a few thousands more.
PuchongLau Yeng Peng (Gerakan)
Gobind Singh Deo (DAP)
This will not be an easy seat for DAP to take as Lau last won his seat with a 11,882 majority. However, then it was a three-cornered fight with PAS and DAP taking 9,409 and 9,185 votes respectively. If this is taken into consideration, Lau won by 3,000-odd votes. Since then, the electorate has an additional 15,000 new voters while the racial breakdown has hardly changed - 43.6% Malay, 40.8% Chinese and 15.3% Indian. While the combination of DAP’s Teresa Kok and PAS’ Ahmad Idzam Ahmad for the state seats under Puchong should help, it will still be a stretch for Gobind. Close fight predicted with Gobind just nicking it.
Petaling Jaya SelatanDonald Lim (MCA)
Hee Loy Sian (PKR)
It was initially thought to be an interesting three-corner fight but independent candidate Toni Kasim pulled out at the last-minute due to health concerns. However, this mixed urban seat appears to favour incumbent Lim due to opponent Hee's inability to cash in on the growing sentiments over the spike in crime and other national issues. Although there will be a swing among Chinese and church-going voters in Hee's direction, the majority of the 73,192 PJ Selatan voters are likely to play safe and give Lim his fourth term in Parliament.
Petaling Jaya UtaraChew Mei Fun (MCA)
Tony Pua (DAP)
Touted as one of the hottest seat in Selangor to watch, true enough, voters are finding it very difficult to make a choice. Will it be two-term incumbent Chew who reaps praises from locals for
her community work or the DAP millionaire-cum-politician raising national issues and explaining the actual role of a parliamentarian? PJ Utara is one of the few predominantly Chinese seats which is not under DAP’s control. Having lost it to MCA by default as its candidate was disqualified in 1995, the opposition party has been itching to reclaim the seat. Both candidates are tipped to win with a needle-thin margin but bets are on rookie Pua.
GombakSaid Anuar Said Ahmad (Umno)
Mohd Azmin Ali (PKR)
Umno's reputation in Malay-majority (74.3%) Gombak - which has a strong PAS presence - has taken a beating despite its win in 2004. Incumbent Dr Raman Ismail was dropped by the BN leadership in favour of new face Said Anuar Said Ahmad, who is not as high-profile among Umno leaders as his contender Mohd Azmin Ali who is as a top PKR leader. All of these factors may serve to neutralise the 13,207 majority which Umno's Raman obtained in 2004 over then-PAS candidate Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli. Azmin will give Said Anuar a tough fight on March 8 but the majority may too big for him to reverse.
KaparKomala Devi (MIC)
S Manickavasagam (PKR)
A confident S Manickavasagam have been capitalising on the Hindraf and price hike issue there. Apart from this, his promises of providing more employment and reducing crime in the area have been received well by both the Chinese and Malay communities there. This, however, may not be enough to ensure that the staggering 14,588 majority won by the incumbent can be overcome. The decider will be how the Malays, who represent 49.3% of the constituency’s 112,224 electorate, will vote tomorrow.
KlangCh’ng Toh Eng (MCA)
Charles Santiago (DAP)
Both parties have fielded new faces in this contest. Though previous contest saw DAP’s candidate losing to MCA’s by 13,281 majority votes, Santiago is confident that the situation is different this time. This is because the constituency has been a stronghold for Hindraf, and it is expected that Indian voters - which make up 19% of the consistency - to swing in favour of the opposition. Santiago will also be helped by sizable proportion of Chinese voters in Klang (47.1%). Given this, Santiago is in a position to score an upset victory.
SubangS Murugesan (MIC)
R Sivarasa (PKR)
Two lawyers are contesting this safe MIC seat which was won by party’s vice-president KS Nijhar with a 15,000 majority. While Murugesan, who is making his election debut, is expected to retain the seat, Indian votes (15.6%) are expected to swing to the opposition. There is a general wave of discontentment towards MIC sweeping across the Indian community and this could prove to be advantageous for the opposition candidate. Furthermore, the seat also has a large number of urban voters concerned about issues such as transparency, corruption and human rights which will benefit Sivarasa. Expect MIC to hold the seat with a reduced majority.
*Source: malaysiakini.com
