Post-Tenang washout

Selena Tay

The recent by-election in Tenang was a real washout. And literally.

The terrible and unexpected floods wrecked havoc on polling day, January 30, 2011. Who would have expected it? For the record, the UMNO candidate won by a majority of 3,707 votes and the voter turnout was around 10,900 voters, out of more than 14,000 registered voters.

The might and weight of the government machinery had been mercilessly and ruthlessly employed by Barisan Nasional to bear down on PAS and Pakatan Rakyat when the FELDA settlers were ferried to the polling stations using the government's 4WDs.

It is not surprising then that the turnout of the FELDA settlers amounted to over 81%. The breakdown of the turnout in the FELDA areas is as follows: Felda Chemplak 88%, Kampung Redong 80% and Felda Tenang 86%. Very high figures indeed!

With the Chinese and Indian voters deprived of this benefit, it is therefore not surprising that a large number of them did not turn out to vote.

Moreover, the Chinese were busy preparing for the coming Chinese New Year, and no one wants to get sick at this crucial point in time. Some of the Chinese who were working outstation or across the causeway have also yet to return home.

Amid such a heavy downpour, it is also not surprising that the Indian voter turnout was a very low 39% compared to 62% in the 12th General Election.

Although BN managed to obtain 80% of the Indian votes, the low voter turnout hardly proves anything concrete.

With palm oil and rubber prices getting huge gains, it is not surprising that the FELDA settlers chose to stick with BN. Coupled with the fact of the low voter turnout of the Chinese and the Indians and the extremely high voter turnout of the FELDA settlers, the BN candidate seemed to have secured a thumping win. 'Seemed' because the results are as murky as the flood waters in Tenang.

Be that as it may, this writer opines that although the Malay vote have remained with BN, the non-Malay vote is still inconclusive.

Another salient point that must be taken into account is that this is a by-election when BN can focus all its strength in one location unlike a general election where attention is split on many fronts.

DAP vs MCA

MCA's Chua Soi Lek is happy with BN's achievement of obtaining 36% of the Chinese vote. It must be noted that PAS obtained 64% of the Chinese vote despite Chua harping on the 'handshake issue' which must have left him shaking his head in disbelief.

The Chinese voters turnout was recorded at 54% compared to 72% in the 12th General Election. The breakdown is as follows: Labis Tengah 72%, Labis Timur 67%, Tenang Station 51% and Labis 50%. This means that PAS still did well despite the horrendous floods. The support for PAS was unchanged as in the previous general election, when PAS obtained 64% of the Chinese vote.

Although the Tenang contest was between UMNO and PAS, it looked more like DAP versus MCA. DAP is still popular among the Chinese and I can personally vouch for it as I was campaigning in the Labis wet market and was given a warm welcome by the Chinese.

One Chinese vegetable seller even told me: "We will vote PAS for sure but BN will win big because of the FELDA people. No need to campaign to the Chinese lah, we are with DAP all the way," he said, and gave a hearty laugh.

One thing for sure is that the FELDA settlers are BN's fixed deposit. The Indian vote is still inconclusive whereas the Chinese are still with Pakatan Rakyat.

PR must embark on a massive public relations programme to woo the Indians and the non-FELDA Malays. Based on the results in Tenang, Pakatan has got its work cut out.

My previous article on Tenang was entitled "Tenang: Calm before the storm". Now that the real storm has caused massive flash floods, it is time for the winner of Tenang to get down to real hard work.

Selena Tay is a member of PAS Supporters Congress (DHPP).

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2195:post-tenang-washout&catid=38:analysis-and-opinion-&Itemid=72