Tan, a member of PKR, told FMT voters in the area were too concerned with economic issues to care about the racial background of candidates.
“Wangsa Maju voters want solutions to their problems,” he said. “They want jobs and a lower cost of living. Currently, even a couple with a combined salary of RM5,000 can barely make ends meet.”
Tan noted that PKR had promised to abolish the the goods and services tax and to stabilise fuel prices, which are now being reviewed every Wednesday.
In the last election, Tan’s only rival was Umno’s Mohd Shafei Abdullah, whom he beat by 5,511 votes. The constituency had 67,775 voters, half of them Malay. Chinese voters made up 40% of the total. The other 10% were made up of Indians and other groups.
Tan said Shafei would have won if race was an issue.
He said he was confident that PAS, if it decided to place a candidate in Wangsa Maju, would lose because most of its members there had quit to join PPBM.
“There are now more PPBM members than PAS members in Wangsa Maju,” he said.
He also said he would not be concerned if electoral borders were to be redrawn before the election to increase the number of Malay voters in Wangsa Maju.
In the event of a redelineation, voters in Malay-majority areas like Kampung Padang Balang and Kampung Changkat, which are currently inside the Batu constituency, will cast their ballots in Wangsa Maju.
Tan said that would result in the addition of 10,000 Malay voters in his constituency.
He said he was not worried because urban voters were disillusioned with Barisan Nasional.
“There is a difference between urban and rural voters,” he added. “In urban areas, people will vote for those who can reduce the cost of living.”