Malaysians go to polls amid hopes and fears for future
We should have a leader who is good, who can make the value of our money go up.” Tan Kim Chong, Owner of a repair shop I urge you all to join the people’s movement to demand for change.” Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian oppn leader
For those of us who are living in villages, that is not important. What is important is the cost of living.” Noorfazilah, widowed mom of two
sekinchan — From rural hamlets to the jungles of Borneo and bustling, modern Kuala Lumpur, Malaysians will vote Wednesday in one of the country’s closest ever polls.
The country of 32 million people is a melting pot, home to a Muslim Malay majority, ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, as well as a kaleidoscope of tribal groups.
Malays provide the government with the bedrock of its support and enjoy a privileged position.
The large Chinese community has dominated business, while traditionally working class Indians have made inroads into professions such as law and medicine.
News reporters talked to three voters from across Malaysia’s multi-ethnic spectrum:
Between a busy coastal road and expansive green paddy fields in the small town of Sekinchan, Noorfazilah Azis peels mangoes that she sells to passers-by from a make-shift stall.
The widowed mother of two is from the Malay majority, which comprises about 60 per cent of the population, and has traditionally been a strong supporter of the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
Malays are supported by a decades-old system of affirmative action that gives them advantages such as priority for government jobs.
Nevertheless many, like 27-yearold Noorfazilah, still struggle to get by. Her main concern is the soaring cost of everyday goods, particularly of food. The massive 1MDB financial scandal that has ensnared Prime Minister Najib Razak is of little concern to her, just something for faraway politicians to bicker about.
“For those of us who stay in the villages, that is not important. What is important is the cost of living,” she told reporters from her stall, where she sells fruit.
She said a basket of corn that might have cost 50 ringgit ($12) a few years ago has doubled in price.
Noorfazilah won’t say who she plans to vote for at the poll but is clear that the situation for those at the bottom of society has to improve.
Tan Kim Chong’s repair shop is home to mountains of electrical items, with televisions, amplifiers and speakers piling up around the tiny space. Like many ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, the 62-year-old runs his own business in Sekinchan. Largely locked out of working for the government or in state-run companies where Malays get preferential treatment, they turn to starting their own firms.
Chinese make up about a quarter of the population in the country and many have ended up heading some of the country’s biggest private enterprises. Tan laments the lack of job opportunities in Malaysia — he said three of his sons and a daughter now work in neighbouring Singapore, which is predominantly ethnic Chinese. —