KLUANG: Barisan Nasional's Syed Hussein Syed Abdullah's command of Mandarin will give him the edge in the Mahkota by-election, says an Umno vice-president.
Datuk Seri Johari Ghani said this was because nearly half of the seat's 66,000 constituents are Chinese.
"Mandarin is used internationally…I envy him, I should have learned Mandarin when I was younger," he said at the nomination centre for the by-election here.
Johari said Syed Hussein's multilingual prowess was not his only advantage.
"He has experience as a Kluang municipal council member," he said, adding Syed Hussein has also held leadership positions in Umno Youth.
Johari said Umno always chose candidates with a proven track record of serving the people.
Syed Hussein will take on Perikatan Nasional's Mohammad Haizan Jaafar in a straight fight for the Johor state seat.
The by-election was triggered by the passing of the seat's incumbent, Umno's Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain on Aug 2.
In the 2022 state polls, Sharifah won the Mahkota state seat for BN in a four-cornered fight with a 5,166 vote-majority.