Nibong Tebal voters starved of good choices
NIBONG TEBAL: An incumbent MP who triggered the 2020 change of government, two “parachute” politicians and a “party-less” community leader: these are the only candidates Nibong Tebal voters can choose from.
Faced with these choices, many voters here are ruing the lack of “star candidates”.
One of them is motorcycle repairman Soo Leng Hai, 47. This will be his second time voting.
“I didn’t bother with voting previously. I registered myself in 2017 to follow the ‘ubah’ (change) wave. This round, I don’t like any of the candidates for Nibong Tebal,” he grumbled yesterday.
He said he does not plan on voting for incumbent Datuk Mansor Othman, 72, because he switched parties (from PKR to Bersatu).
Soo said he did not know the candidates of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional because they “came from outside” and he had no confidence in the Independent Goh Kheng Huat, 60, even though he had heard of him.
“I still haven’t decided. Will the Pakatan candidate come back to help us after she is elected? I heard she is from Selangor,” he said.
Pakatan’s Fadhlina Sidek, 44, is indeed a Selangorian, though she was made a senator in the Dewan Negara last year to represent the Penang state assembly.
The lawyer was elected as Wanita PKR chief in the party elections earlier this year. Her father is the late academician Datuk Dr Siddiq Fadzil, known to be a good friend of PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Siddiq replaced Anwar as president of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) in the early 1980s after Anwar resigned to join Umno.
Not far from Soo’s workshop, a pasembur seller who only wanted to be called Sidek, 34, expressed a similar sentiment.
“I don’t want a frog (referring to Mansor, who was sacked from PKR after being party to the Sheraton Move before joining Bersatu). I will decide later who to vote for.
“Pakatan has been in Penang so long. Isn’t there anyone from Nibong Tebal who can be its candidate?” he said.
Standing on Barisan’s ticket is Datuk Seri RS Thanenthiran, 59, who is president of the Barisan-friendly Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party.
Mansor, the Deputy Environment and Water Minister, said he was aware of the label “pengkhianat” (traitor) slapped on him, but added that “it does not matter”.
He said he and 10 other PKR MPS shifted allegiance in 2020 “to save the country”.
“I am not a traitor. After Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as prime minister, we had no government. So we had to go in and save the country from a crisis.
“After the Sheraton Move, I was purged from the party – I did not lompat (jump),” said the former PKR vice-president.
Mansor, who is defending his Nibong Tebal seat under Perikatan Nasional, said he felt dejected after the 2018 election.
“We were left out of many ministerial positions and this made me doubt the leadership that I had supported and defended for half my life,” he said.
Meanwhile, as Mansor strives to woo voters, Fadhlina and Thanenthiran send out daily updates of their campaign events to the press, showing that they both visit eight to 10 locations a day.
But Goh might prove to be the surprise contender.
A former DAP member who was a Nibong Tebal MP from 1999 to 2004, he founded the South Seberang Prai Haemodialysis Organisation in 1998 to provide free dialysis treatment for kidney disease patients and it is still running today.
He said during the pandemic, the organisation helped the underprivileged get rations and loaned for free 36 oxygen concentrators to patients with breathing difficulties.
“As an Independent, I can make decisions based on the voice of voters. I can work with whichever party gives the best solution to the people,” he said.
As of mid-september, Nibong Tebal has 100,130 voters, with Malays making up 46.72%, Chinese 34.75% and Indians 17.86%.
Nibong Tebal is one of 13 parliamentary seats in Penang.