PH man banks on bread and butter issues to woo Alor Setar Malay voters
ALOR SETAR: Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Alor Setar, Simon Ooi, is banking on bread and butter issues, affordable housing and educational opportunities to win over Malay voters in the general election. PH only managed to gain 25% to 30% of the Malay votes in GE14. Since it fell from power…
ALOR SETAR: Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Alor Setar, Simon Ooi, is banking on bread and butter issues, affordable housing and educational opportunities to win over Malay voters in the general election.
PH only managed to gain 25% to 30% of the Malay votes in GE14. Since it fell from power after the Sheraton Move in February 2020, it has continued to struggle to win over Malay voters in the Peninsula, manifested in a string of losses in state elections.
Ooi, of PKR, told FMT Malay voters, like everyone else, were struggling with the rising cost of living and negligible pay increases.
Hence, he said, his campaign was focused on the pledge to improve Alor Setar’s economy by reviving the tourism sector which would benefit small businesses and traders around the city.
Ooi also promised to provide better spots for hawkers and entrepreneurs so that their businesses can improve.
The two-term Bakar Arang assemblyman also said he hoped to encourage the setting up of small- and medium-sized enterprises to generate jobs.
“On education, I am proposing technical and vocational education (TVET) institutions for Alor Setar. We have old government buildings that can be converted into TVET campuses.
“By bringing in TVET students from all over the country to Alor Setar, this student community will also help the business community here to grow,” he said.
Ooi described unaffordable housing as one of the major issues plaguing Alor Setar residents, and pledged to bring in affordable housing projects.
PH’s pitch for farmers
As Alor Setar has a sizeable padi growing community in its vicinity, he said, PH could help by reforming the subsidy delivery system from being input-based to output-based to encourage growth in agricultural outputs.
PH has pledged to increase the padi pricing subsidy scheme from RM360 a tonne to RM500 in its “Kita Boleh” manifesto.
He said a PH government would commit to investing in research and development to create new varieties of high-yield padi seeds, provide financial assistance to farmers, as well as insurance schemes as cover against diseases and natural disasters.
’Let my accomplishments speak for themselves’
Ooi also debunked the narrative of his Barisan Nasional rival, Tan Chee Hiong, that PH MPs would never effectively serve the needs of Alor Setar voters as none of them hailed from the area.
Tan had said that former PH MPs like Gooi Hsiao Leung and Chan Ming Kai were not local residents as they were from Penang and Perak, respectively, and Ooi himself was from Sungai Petani.
Ooi said that despite not being a local boy, he worked with the Alor Setar community when he served as the executive councillor for Siamese and Chinese community affairs, science and technology, climate change and environment in the PH-led state government from 2018 to mid-2020.
During that tenure, he had organised community programmes with the Chinese community in the heritage districts, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programmes at the National Science Centre here, as well as environmental campaigns.
“The voters know me well. I have a proven track record. Plus, I have the ability to bring up local issues in the Dewan Rakyat, I am a quick learner,” he said.
Ooi faces Tan, Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamuddin (Perikatan Nasional), Nuhairi Rahmat (Pejuang), Fadzil Hanafi (Warisan) as well as independent candidates Nordin Yunus and Sofan Feroza Yusup in a seven-cornered fight on Saturday. — Free Malaysia Today