FOUR months ago, a photograph of a banner questioning DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang’s constant absence from his parliamentary constituency of Gelang Patah went viral on social media.
Printed on the banner were the words “Where is Uncle Kit Siang? Gelang Patah Misses You”, and it stirred discussion among politicians and folk in Gelang Patah.
MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong was among those who agreed with the message in the banner.
The Johor MCA leader said it was an open secret that Lim was never around in the almost four years since he was elected as a representative in Johor.
“If constituents want a member of parliament of calibre who can serve them, they would be disappointed in Lim. You will not find him in his constituency. He is like a frog who hops from one seat to another.
“The longest he has ever stayed in one seat was probably in Ipoh Timur, but in other times, he had been hopping from one seat to another. I do not think he will want to contest in Gelang Patah after this,” he said.
Lim, 76, has been known to move from one parliamentary constituency to another, and the pattern continues today.
Just after that story was published, the DAP stalwart fuelled speculation that he is eyeing a seat in Penang when he made frequent visits to the northern state. However, he told reporters in March that Gelang Patah remains his first choice for a seat to contest in the 14th General Election (GE14).
“My first choice is still Gelang Patah. It (the seat) will still be the frontline due to its strategic location,” Lim said when asked by the press in Kangkar Pulai, near Skudai, then.
But, whether he will stick to that plan of seeking re-election in Gelang Patah remains uncertain.
In the 13th General Election, Lim beat former Johor menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Othman by a 14,762-vote majority in Gelang Patah.
At the time, the number of registered voters in the constituency was 106,726, with 52 per cent of them Chinese, 34 per cent Malay and 12 per cent Indian. This year, estimates of voters based on the latest electoral roll revealed that the number has increased to about 120,000.
Political insiders said there was a slight drop in the overall percentage of Chinese voters in Gelang Patah — about 50 per cent of voters — due to an increase in the number of Malay voters.
Barisan Nasional has confirmed it will field an MCA candidate in the parliamentary seat, which comprises the Nusajaya and Skudai state seats. MCA has identified a local who is well-received by constituents, and this person has been instructed to begin work on the ground.
If the ruling coalition plays its cards correctly, it could wrest Gelang Patah, but it has to come from consensus, or muafakat, among component parties. This fact was stressed on by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein when he opened the Gelang Patah Umno division delegates’ meeting last Saturday.
Since the parliamentary seat was created in 1995, an MCA representative has been elected to the seat for four consecutive terms before it was contested by Umno in 2013.
MCA’s Teu Si @ Chang See Ten was Gelang Patah’s wakil rakyat between 1995 and 2008 before the late Tan Ah Eng was elected for a term in 2008.
In the past decade, Gelang Patah town and nearby areas have experienced rapid development due to new residential, commercial and industrial projects.
A Johor political observer pointed out that the seat was coveted as it is home to the state government administration centre of Kota Iskandar.
The population has increased due to new housing and commercial areas, such as Horizon Hills, Medini, Afiniti, Puteri Harbour, Mutiara Rini and Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters.
It is also home to world-class facilities such as Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Legoland Malaysia, EduCity, Forest City and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
A former journalist who lives in Gelang Patah town said a lot was riding on BN’s intention to win back the seat as something needed to be done to arrest the lack of services from the incumbent DAP MP.
“Lim is seldom around, and people are frustrated as there is a need to widen roads and repair facilities in Gelang Patah due to the increase in population and vehicles. Thankfully, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin stepped in a few months ago and announced a slew of projects, including the upgrade of the Ulu Choh-Gelang Patah trunk road. Such initiatives could have come sooner if the MP had played his role in serving constituents,” said the MCA member.
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia senior lecturer Dr Md Akbal Abdullah said MCA ultimately had to take the lead in the fight in Gelang Patah.
“MCA has to play its part with the help of other BN components if it wants to wrest Gelang Patah from the opposition. This can only be done if they adhere to Johor’s way of muafakat in their election preparation,” he said.
AHMAD FAIRUZ OTHMAN is NST Johor bureau chief. When not working, he loves driving along the coastal highway and trunk roads of Johor. A lover of food, music and theatre, he recommends everyone to try Johor’s version of 'ais kacang' which is drenched in chocolate sauce.