All eyes will be in Teluk Intan for the by-election which is already in full swing with polling day fixed on May 31. This by-election was held following the death of DAP’s Seah Leong Peng on May 1 due to cancer.
The late Seah had defeated Gerakan’s Mah Siew Keong by a 7,313 vote margin in the 13th General Election on May 5 last year. Previously another DAP man, M Manogaran, a lawyer by profession, had also defeated Mah in Teluk Intan in the 2008 general election.
This time however, DAP is fielding a young candidate, 27-year-old Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud to battle against the 53-year old Mah who had previously won the seat in 1999 and 2004. Both Dyana and Mah have a degree in law but whereas Mah is a very experienced politician, Dyana is a political newbie.
Still, it is anybody’s chance as Teluk Intan is a mixed constituency of around 60,000 voters with 41% Chinese voters, 38% percent Malay and 19% Indians. With the Chinese and Malay voters being quite evenly matched, the Indian votes will be decisive.
Therefore Manogaran, the former Teluk Intan MP, has been roped in to garner support for DAP as he is still well-known in Teluk Intan, having served there for five years. He has good rapport with everyone there, regardless of race and religion besides working well with PAS who formerly held the state seat of Changkat Jong which is located in Teluk Intan.
The other state seat in Teluk Intan is Pasir Bedamar which is currently held by DAP’s Terence Naidu V. Raja.
Special mention has to be made of Changkat Jong (which PAS won in year 2008) wherein PAS’ Mohd Anuar Sudin lost to Umno in GE13 by a majority of 1,118 votes. This state seat has 62% Malay voters, 12% Chinese and 24% Indians and the voter turnout was 23,808 voters in GE13.
Manogaran will be on duty in Changkat Jong together with the PAS man to woo the Indian and Malay voters. This is a very, very tough locality for DAP as the Malays here are staunch Umno supporters.
Said Manogaran, “Dyana Sofya is the face of a new political era. DAP putting a young Malay candidate shows that our party is progressive and we want to build a Malaysian Malaysia. DAP is fair to all regardless of race and religion. Therefore a victory for DAP means that race-based politics is now a thing of the past.”
This being the year 2014 with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak harping so much on moderation, it is time that race-based politics be discarded.
DAP therefore is showing the way forward by fielding a fresh, new face to herald a new era in Malaysian politics.
In GE13, DAP’s Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz (blogger Sakmongkol AK47) defeated MCA’s Hoh Khai Mun for the Raub parliamentary seat while Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji had defeated MCA’s Chuah Boon Seong for the Mentakab state seat in Pahang. DAP’s Zairil Khir Johari had also triumphed against Gerakan’s Teh Leong Meng in Bukit Bendera in Penang last year.
Gerakan candidate a likeable man
Manogaran opined that “it is high time all Malaysians look at the credibility of the party fielding the candidate instead of the race of the candidate.”
Be that as it may, Teluk Intan is truly a 1Malaysia seat with DAP having first fielded an Indian, then a Chinese and now a Malay candidate for the seat.
On the DAP side, this columnist wishes to state that as Ipoh-born Dyana Sofya is a political newbie, controversial and sensitive issues should be avoided as Teluk Intan is a semi-rural/rural seat and thus the best and safest topic is of course the GST (Goods & Services Tax) and price hikes.
One can never go wrong with these topics.
DAP must adopt a careful and cautious approach because Gerakan’s Mah is certainly no pushover. He has served a long time in Teluk Intan and is a quiet and likeable man besides being a member of the community.
If the Teluk Intan voters vote in a fresh new face this time around, it bodes well for the future of Malaysian politics.
It also means that the nation’s future is in the hands of capable and colour-blind Malaysians.
All in all, an interesting battle is in store as it is youth versus experience and it will definitely be a closely fought battle. Thus there is no margin for error.
The stage is set. Will it be beginner’s luck for Dyana or will Mah nail it this time around? Will we see the first rays of sunlight heralding the dawn of a new political era?
Selena Tay .
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