However, the story is different in Sawarak. A Universiti Malaysia Sarawak survey, also conducted last year, placed Najib’s popularity rating at 60% in the state, the highest in the country. And it shows, at least in Kuching. Members of the public scramble to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister wherever he goes in the state capital, with some managing to get selfies taken with him.
“BN has done a lot for the state,” says Safiyyah Firas, one of the many local admirers of the Prime Minister. “The opposition hasn’t really done anything except to point fingers at the government every time something goes wrong.”
Another Najib fan, Hamidah Adnan, told FMT she was aware of negative reports about 1MDB but said she believed there was no truth in them.
“The opposition will say whatever it wants to win,” she said. “But we have to think of the fact that Najib has done a lot to help villagers like me. So my support goes to BN.”
Voter Tan Boo Kiat was a little more guarded, although he appeared pleased at the opportunity to see Najib in the flesh. “I don’t know if my support is still with Najib,” he said. “I’m on the fence, but how often do you get to see the Malaysian Prime Minister?”
These were just some of the comments FMT got from people who were at several events Najib attended in and around Kuching.
He is certainly having a ball of a time, a sea away from the harsh criticisms he often encounters in West Malaysia.
“It’s fun to campaign here,” he told a crowd of nearly one thousand Batu Kawah residents last night. “It’s extraordinary. I am very happy to be here as I can see the BN spirit. No stress. No tension.
“If you want me to come again, make sure Dr Sim wins.” He was referring to BN’s candidate for Batu Kawah, Sim Kui Hian president of the Sarawak United People’s Party.
The opposition has said it is confident of reducing BN’s majority in the state assembly and is going all out in its campaign to criticise the ruling coalition over the 1MDB scandal and the rise in the cost of living following last year’s introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
However, pundits have said that the backlash from 1MDB is not as strong in rural areas as it is in the urban centres. Some have also said that the effect of the GST on voter sentiment may be counteracted by the promise of huge development projects in exchange for BN’s victory as well as Chief Minister Adenan Satem’s efforts to reduce the cost of living.