AYER HITAM, May 7 — With election fever heating up in the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in Johor, incumbent three-term Member of Parliament and federal government minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong last night ratcheted things up a notch, pillorying his rival as an unfamiliar face seeking to topple a veteran of 15 years.
Wee, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and deputy president of MCA, is up against Liew Chin Tiong from DAP and Mardi Marwan of PAS in the closely watched electoral battle.
Taking a swipe at his DAP rival, Wee likened himself to an employee in a company held accountable to his bosses, who are his voters.
"Suddenly, someone wants to be interviewed for this position and tells the boss, ‘remove this employee of 15 years and let me take his position’,” Wee told a crowd of more than 500 at a rally in Ayer Hitam, referring to how Liew is new to the constituency.
"He is unfamiliar with the company and its workings… and how to improve the business,” Wee added.
"However, this candidate comes for the interview and says he wants this experienced employee booted out — ‘it’s either me or him’ — and you must make a decision. As bosses, how will you assess this? Can you accept it?”
The DAP had moved Liew, its rising star, from his Kluang parliamentary constituency to Ayer Hitam, in an effort to unseat Wee, who has been the area’s MP since 2004.
The veteran politician and one-time deputy education minister had snagged the seat with a comfortable 7,000-vote majority in the 2013 polls.
DAP is part of the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) Opposition pact which has cast its eye on taking over Johor, a stronghold state of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
MCA is a component party of BN.
Unfazed by the driving rain at Sunday’s rally, Wee devoted the initial section of his half-hour speech — delivered largely in Mandarin — at Liew.
Wee told the audience that he has "clearly accounted for” what he has done over the years as well as what he plans to do for the constituency.
This was unlike "someone who has just come to be interviewed, with no background or concept (of this area), and instead has been dishing out results from a different area, or things unrelated to this area or company, so as to justify his ability,” said Wee.
He urged the crowd to vote with their future in mind and not to be swept up in emotion, adding: "I implore you to carefully evaluate this battle.”
If the Opposition pact came to power, Dr Mahathir had pledged to review home-grown ride-hailing service Grab, which was founded in Malaysia, in an effort to protect the interests of taxi drivers and car rental services.
This earned a swift rebuttal from Najib, who slammed the former premier for disregarding the benefits of such services for users.
Wee joined in this chorus of disapproval, pointing out that while the move would help taxi drivers, many Malaysians relied on such ride-hailing services to earn a livelihood.
"Dr Mahathir’s approach tells you that Grab, which was started by young Malaysians, is no longer accepted here,” he said. "The Malaysian government… wants both Grab and taxi operators to compete in a healthy way.”
Turning to the nearby Yong Peng state seat, where fellow MCA candidate Ling Tian Soon is seeking to unseat DAP’s Chew Peck Choo, Wee noted that the party was looking at how to develop the area into an important tourism centre.
Promoting the area’s products to overseas markets, for instance, will help locals increase their income.
One possibility is to turn the district into a tourism hotspot by spreading the word beyond Malaysia’s borders.
There are plans to promote Yong Peng, known as "little Fuzhou” for its delicacies and attractions, to those abroad, including Singapore.
"I hope all the bosses in the crowd, our voters, can give us your support,” he concluded.
As the night drew to a close, the rally wrapped up with the crowd braving the rain and waving their mobile-phone torchlights to the tune of Wee’s theme song for the election campaign. — TODAY
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