Now in his early 60s, Ah Ken proudly says he has attended every Bersih rally and supported Anwar for many years.
He believes his struggle for a better Malaysia led to landslide victories in the 2018 and 2022 polls. However, in the lead-up to the July 6 Sungai Bakap state seat by-election, he noticed a drastic shift in Chinese sentiment.
“The Chinese are very angry. One crumpled (Pakatan Harapan candidate) Cikgu Joohari Ariffin’s flyer and hurled it back at us, asking us to leave.
“Another closed the door when we came knocking. Most are upset because things are expensive,” he told FMT at a PKR thanksgiving event for Sungai Bakap campaign workers recently.
Ah Ken’s account seems to confirm why only 47% of Chinese voters turned up to cast their ballots for the Sungai Bakap polls, costing PH close to 2,000 votes. The ethnic group made up 22.5% of the 39,279 registered voters.
Perikatan Nasional’s Abidin Ismail won with a 4,267-vote majority. Overall turnout was at 63.4%, 13% lower than the state polls last August. PH had banked on a victory, relying on incumbency at the parliamentary and state government levels.
According to PN data, 90% of Malays backed the PAS candidate, while 10% of the Chinese voted for them. The opposition coalition secured 35% of the Indian community’s votes.
PH’s polling data showed that despite losing, the Chinese and Indians, at 90% and 65% respectively, remained their main supporters. The same data showed that only 20% of Malays backed PH.
PH sources also indicated that nearly all government school teachers in the early voting streams backed PN.
Protest against policies and indifference
Further interviews with PH campaign workers and Sungai Bakap voters revealed that the Chinese community’s surprise 10% vote for PN and their no-show at the polls was a form of protest against unpopular national policies.
Campaign workers and voters cited the unclear diesel subsidy programme and a general feeling of neglect as key concerns.
PKR’s Kelly Yeoh, who campaigned in one of the eight polling districts in Sungai Bakap, said the anger was not just limited to the Chinese but felt by all races.
“It is not that voters don’t want Cikgu Joohari. It is a case of wrong timing, given the recent hike in diesel prices. Those who voted for PN did so because they had no choice. It was a protest vote,” she said.
Sungai Bakap voter Edwin Mok, 36, said his fellow Chinese voters seemed indifferent, as the power balance in the state assembly would remain the same regardless of which party won. PH and Umno hold two-thirds power in the Penang legislature.
“It is just status quo if PN wins. Most of us feel the unity government did not deserve to win. This serves as a good reminder to the powers that be that they aren’t doing enough,” he said.
Lack of star Chinese power
DAP veteran Teoh Seang Hooi said the lack of star power in the campaign may have been the fatal mistake that cost PH the Chinese vote.
He said the oratory prowess of Lim Guan Eng, Nga Kor Ming and Lim Kit Siang could have appealed to the blue-collared Chinese electorate and got them out to vote.
But Teoh, who contested the neighbouring Jawi seat in 1999 and 2004 on the DAP ticket, but lost, said bread-and-butter issues turned the polls into a referendum on the government.
“Education is in the blood of the Chinese. The issue of non-Malays being unable to get into matriculation colleges, and the dual language programme had upset them.
“Anwar’s announcement making allowances came too late,” said Teoh, who is also chairman of the Penang and Seberang Perai city councillors association.
“Most non-Malays are also concerned about the reformasi agenda, which appears to be merely cosmetic at the moment,” he added.
Teoh said the Indians, on the other hand, are still upset over the sudden dropping of former DAP stalwart P Ramasamy from the state race last year, saying the former deputy chief minister held “a lot of sway” among the community.
Need for change in PH’s campaign strategy
Analyst James Chin of University of Tasmania said the no-show of key DAP leaders like Guan Eng and Kit Siang was a deliberate strategy to avoid “polarising the ground.”
“We heard that in one of the Chinese dinners, the audience clapped when it was announced that PH lost Sungai Bakap. So it may have been a deliberate strategy not to get the Chinese heavyweights to talk,” he said.
Chin said the Chinese supported PH in the parliamentary polls to keep PAS at bay but used the Sungai Bakap polls “to send a message to Anwar Ibrahim”, who appears more concerned with right-wing elements than fixing the economy.
“The economy is the real barometer for Anwar’s support because it would make both Malays and non-Malays happy. It is understood that in Malaysian politics, you cannot survive without Malay votes.
Maybe Anwar thinks that pandering to the right wing using Islamic and identity politics is the way to go, said Chin.
“(But) that is not the way to go, because you cannot out-Islam PAS. The only way to win the Malay vote is to deal with the economy, and the bonus is you will get the Chinese and Indian votes too.”