NIBONG TEBAL: Next Saturday, some 39,279 voters in Sungai Bakap will get a new assemblyman.
Will it be Pakatan Harapan's (PH) Dr Joohari Ariffin or Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Abidin Ismail?
PH, and by extension the unity government, is looking to wrest back the seat it lost to PN in last year's state elections which saw the latter winning with a mere 1,563-majority.
The seat has been a stronghold of Barisan Nasional since the 1974 Penang state election and thereafter PH in 2008.
A win for Joohari, a former educator, means a victory for the unity government.
PN, on the other hand, intends to retain the seat through Abidin, the special assistant to the late assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff.
Zamri's death on May 24 triggered the Sungai Bakap by-election.
Campaigning, which has been slow-paced, is beginning to pick up momentum for both candidates, who are contesting for the first time.
Joohari, who initially appeared "awkward" on the campaign trail, has since warmed up to voters.
Being a former teacher, he has the added advantage of bumping into many of his former students during the campaign trail, with many voicing their support for him.
Abidin seems more comfortable, possibly because he used to follow his late boss around in the constituency.
However, there is also little excitement among the voters, a sign of voter apathy, as it has been less than a year since they last went to the polls.
Along Joohari and Abidin's campaign trails, the complaints from voters have been somewhat similar.
Topping the list is the soaring cost of living, a national issue.
On the local front, there is the six-year-long water supply interruption issue in certain areas
in Sungai Bakap and the fly infestation problem, among others.
With another week of campaigning to go, both candidates seem to still have an equal chance of winning the state seat.
Several locals, whom the New Straits Times spoke to, said it did not matter to them who won.
For them, it is always the same thing. Once the election is over, they rarely see their elected representative around.
There are mixed sentiments on the ground.
An Umno veteran, who declined to be named, when met at Tasek Cempedak in Simpang Ampat said the mood on the ground among Umno voters was different this time around.
During the state election in August last year, it was widely known that Umno members had voted against the unity government, possibly because they could not accept the party working together with PH.
He said back then many members had shunned party meetings and activities.
However, the Umno veteran said now, the situation was different as they were returning to attend them.
"This indicates they are starting to believe in the pact.
Hopefully, that translates into votes."
In Sungai Duri, however, voters were still finding it difficult to accept PH.
A working-class voter, who also declined to be named, said the fact that the PH candidate has a doctorate degree did not matter to him.
Due to his political inclination, he added that he was fine if the government did not provide any allocation for the constituency if PN won it.
In the previous state election, PH lost to PN in the Sungai Duri polling district with a 1,940 vote-majority.