In Terengganu, Muda to provide 'new alternative' for Chinese voters wary of PAS, PH-BN?

At a small eatery in the capital of Terengganu, Heng is hard at work, serving customers and making sure that everything is shipshape. 

The state election is just around the corner, but politics and votes are far from his mind. 

With the cost of goods on the rise and economic challenges aplenty, he is more concerned about how his business, which he has run for decades, will survive. 

"Whatever the story, whoever the candidates are – our lives are the same," he told MalaysiaNow at his shop in Kampung Cina. 

"Business is hard these days. Things are becoming more expensive and customers are on the decline."

And while Heng has stuck it out in Terengganu, he says many of the younger generation have left in search of greener pastures elsewhere. 

"I have three children but none of them are here anymore," he said. 

"One is in Kuala Lumpur, one is in Singapore, and the other is in Australia. Only the old people are still here. The young have all moved away."  

Kampung Cina, a Chinese-majority area, falls under the Bandar state constituency alongside Hiliran, Losong and Pulau Kambing where the Malays form the majority. 

There are just over 20,260 registered voters in the constituency, of which 64% are Malay and 35% are Chinese. 

The state election on Aug 12 will see a three-way fight among PAS, representing Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN) and youth-based party Muda. 

The incumbent from PAS, Ahmad Shah Muhamed, will square off against BN's Armi Irzan Mohd and Luqman Long of Muda. 

This is the first time that Muda, which is seen as a progressive party seeking to bring about change in the country's political landscape, is fielding a candidate in Terengganu, a conservative state. 

Its decision to contest in Terengganu was questioned by some such as Ying, a PKR member who said Muda would interfere in the votes for the seat. 

"I am really curious why Muda wants to run in Bandar," she said. "Why Bandar, and why not other seats in the state?"

Ying theorised that Muda's strategy was to gun for the votes of the Chinese, given Pakatan Harapan's (PH) decision to make way for BN in the seat. 

"So the Chinese vote will be split, because this entire time they have generally supported PH candidates," she said. 

"At the last general election, more than 80% of the Chinese voters supported PH in Bandar. We lost the parliamentary seat of Terengganu but managed to get the support of the Chinese here." 

Voting pattern

Ying nevertheless said that this strategy would not work as voters in the area traditionally threw their support behind BN or PAS. 

She said if Muda was eyeing the youth, its target demographic, this would not work either as the majority of them had moved elsewhere. 

"PKR has been based here for a long time but even we have had difficulty persuading the young people from Kampung Cina to return home to vote," she said. 

"I don't see how Muda can succeed." 

PKR won the Bandar state seat at the 13th general election through Azan Ismail who defeated three-term incumbent Toh Chin Yaw of MCA with a margin of 2,159 votes. 

But it failed to defend the seat at the 14th general election in 2018, after PAS exited the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. 

Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Toh said that while Muda's odds of winning were slim, it would eventually decide which party claims victory in his old seat as it would receive the protest votes of those dissatisfied with BN, PH and PAS. 

He added that the Chinese voters in the area were said to be unhappy as no non-Malay candidates had been nominated for the race. 

"The Chinese voters believe that there should be one non-Malay representative in Bandar, in line with the racial composition of the seat," the Terengganu MCA executive adviser said. 

"And they are not inclined towards PAS as they view the party's policies as too Islamic."

Toh said that Muda might also win protest votes from the Chinese voters who were unhappy with the performance of the federal government, led by PH and BN. 

But for him, the most interesting aspect was the fact that Muda would present voters with an alternative other than BN-PH and PN.

"Not just for the Chinese voters, but for the youth and the Malays who are on the fence," he said. 

"So Muda will make a difference in atmosphere, but of course, on paper, the chances of BN and PAS are higher." 

Muda's candidate Luqman meanwhile brushed off the notion that he was only there to split the vote. 

On the contrary, the Terengganu local said his aim was to win. 

He told MalaysiaNow he was confident that Muda could pull off a shock victory if it could champion the issues near and dear to voters, especially the youth, such as job opportunities and decent wages. 

He, too, agreed that his big challenge would be to convince the young outstation voters to come home to vote as his campaign was primarily dependent on social media. 

"I'm in this to win, because I have big hopes of lifting up the voice of the Terengganu youth who have been marginalised for so long," he said. 

"Even though people may think that Muda is only contesting to split the vote, I believe that in this election, we are here to provide a new alternative."