Pang, who is taking on MCA incumbent Chua Tee Yong, said even though the opposition had shaved down Tee’s majority to 353 in the previous general election and could win the seat this time, the 3,000 new voters had complicated the equation.
He told FMT that a portion of the new voters were Felda settlers.
“We are not sure who the Felda settlers were registered by, but if it was through, Umno, then we may face a very tough fight.
“Our hope is some of the 3,000 newly registered voters are young voters who are better informed about the current state of the country. There is a high chance that the young voters will vote for us.”
He said the response PH had received from Felda settlers in the area was “tremendous”. In the past, he said, they would not welcome an opposition party with open arms. Today, they were willing to talk, asking questions about what they could expect from PH and even giving suggestions on improving the area.
However, he said, one of the biggest challenges was that Barisan Nasional’s (BN) machinery was still much stronger than that of DAP.
“That is one of the factors with which we cannot compete. We can never compete with the handouts. We recently visited the Orang Asli villages, there are two here. They told us they were threatened they would be cut off from financial support.
“BN is blatantly doing this, yet the Election Commission is doing nothing,” he said, adding that Felda Tenang was the toughest settlement to penetrate.
Pang said among the local issues that had been brought to his attention was the lack of schools, including boarding schools.
“The goods and services tax has become a huge problem among the locals. Whenever we bring up the matter, the Chinese people especially are very angry.”
He said after a five-year “rest”, he had responded to the call of duty when Skudai incumbent Dr Boo Cheng Hau rejected the party’s decision to field him in Labis, despite Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong urging Boo to reconsider his refusal.
Labis is a mixed seat with 44.96% Chinese, 37.98% Malay and 14.66% Indian voters.
Click here to get live updates throughout the GE14 season