By Muhammad Saufee Rosman
PONTIAN: Keep your campaign promises. This seems to be the message of voters to the Tanjung Piai Member of Parliament who will be elected this Saturday.
Voters both young and old interviewed by Bernama said the Tanjung Piai by-election should not be a ground for the candidates to make sweet promises just to fish for votes.
Muhamad Huszaidi Hussin, 44, who runs a restaurant near the Kukup International Ferry Terminal, hoped that the new MP would fulfill the promises made during the campaign.
“It doesn’t matter which party the candidate is from, government, opposition or Independent; I hope the new representative for Tanjung Piai would not break his or her promises.
“If you did not fulfill your promises, we voters would regret and be disappointed. Help us all in various aspects in terms of development, income, economy, job opportunities and the like,” said Muhamad Huszaidi, who will be voting at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sri Kukup in Kukup on Nov 16.
For Cheng Wee Sing, 58, it is important for the prospective MP to ‘walk the talk’ to ensure that the needs of Tanjung Piai residents, especially senior citizens, would be taken care of.
“We are already old; even our bodies are getting weaker. So, we hope that the pledge to provide facilities to senior citizens will be fulfilled,” said Cheng, who has been living in Permas, Kukup, since the 60s.
A student of a public institution of higher learning, Ahmad Fazrin Othman, 23, also expressed a similar sentiment, saying the new MP should create job opportunities in the constituency, as has been promised by all the candidates.
“I notice it is quite difficult for residents especially the youths here to get jobs. So, I hope the prospective MP would pay serious attention to this matter and fulfill his promise so that voters would not regret voting him,” said Ahmad Fazrin, who lives in Pekan Nanas.
Sofea Basok, 29, is looking forward to the launching of more entrepreneurship programmes to encourage the participation of women in small- and medium-scale industries.
“When there are many programmes like sewing classes, women would be able to generate their own income without being too dependent on their husbands,” said Sofea, who works at a restaurant in Sungai Rambah.
Food stall operator Jamiah Jaman, 77, urged the new MP to give additional aid to less fortunate women and differently-abled people (OKU).
“If possible, I just want to have (the basic necessities) what others have. Maybe can give us some financial aid or daily needs,” said Jamiah, who lives with her OKU son near Kampung Rimba Terjun.
Tanjung Piai, which has 52,986 voters, sees a six-cornered fight between Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Karmaine Sardini, BN’s Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Berjasa’s Datuk Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, and two independent candidates, Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar.
The by-election was triggered by the death of PH’s Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, 42, on Sept 21 due to heart complications. – Bernama
