KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Claiming to sense a shift in Chinese mindset, MCA’s Datuk Ho Yoo Ping predicts that up to half of voters from the community will give Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Tan Sri Zulhasnan Rafique the swing he needs to ecure the Setiawangsa parliamentary seat on May 9.
Ho said his party, which takes the leading role in canvassing support from some 18,000 Chinese voters in Setiawangsa, expects up to 45 per cent of them to return into BN’s fold. If true, it would be a significant achievement for ruling coalition since majority of them had consistently voted against the government in the last two general elections.
The Setiawangsa MCA division chief provided no data to support his assertion, but said feedback gathered from canvassing the area’s voters has been encouraging.
The positive response, Ho added, were mostly due to the candidate’s portfolio both as MP and minister.
“This time around we can sense something very different,” he told Malay Mail at a gathering of 27 Chinese NGOs in Sri Rampai two days ago, a predominantly poor and blue collar neighbourhood.
“I can say 45 per cent of the Chinese [in Setiawangsa] will return… because of the candidate himself. They trust him and know who he is.”
Zulhasnan rose to prominence under the Abdullah administration and was MP for Wangsa Maju in 1999 before he contested and won Setiawangsa in 2004 and 2008.
All three contests were won with huge margins. In 2004 Zulhasnan, a former Royal Air Force pilot, won the Setiawangsa seat with a 19,699-vote majority.
In 2008, the Umno leader secured a comprehensive win with a 8,134 majority votes even as his party suffered heavy losses and lost its parliamentary supermajority, a testament of his popularity there.
While some voters see the mild-mannered Zulhasnan as a bland politician, his “Mr Nice Guy” image has helped endear him among even the staunchest Opposition supporters, many of whom have come to know him personally after he was elected Wangsa Maju MP in Election 1999.
“I knew him when he still had hair,” said a 60-year-old Setiawangsa voter who gave his name as Lim. He was among those who attended the gathering on Tuesday night.
“He was always very friendly and helpful..he never says mean things about people and he always talked about helping all races.”
Zulhasnan considers himself a true Setiawangsa native, having resided there since 1991. Throughout his campaign, the Umno leader made much use of his local knowledge to reach out to voters. Ho said it has been effective in tapping the sentimentality of older and middle-aged voters.
Addressing about 1,000 Chinese families at the gathering in Sri Rampai on Tuesday night, Zulhasnan again reminded the audience that he was one of them, saying living in the neighbourhood gave him genuine insights about the aspirations and grievances of voters there.
“You all know me… last time I had more hair. Now I don’t have any and I also have grandkids already,” he joked.
“I have lived here since ‘91. Most of you here have met me so many times. At that time your kids were all still very young, now, like me, they too have grandkids,” he added.
A large number of the turnout seemed to be around his age cheered him on.
Zulhasnan has used this supposed understanding of local problems to outline four key solutions in his manifesto titled “The Soul of Setiawangsa”, which spans improvement in infrastructures and facilities to providing employment, education, security and community well-being.
Under the Abdullah administration, Zulhasnan was touted as among politicians with a promising future. He served as Federal Territories Minister from 2006 to 2009 but was later dropped from the Cabinet when Datuk Seri Najib Razak succeeded Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Najib eventually appointed Zulhasnan as the Malaysian ambassador to the US in December 2016.
Malay Mail understands that Zulhasnan has built considerable influence in Setiawangsa during his short stint as FT minister.
Now, rumours have spread that the Setiawangsa Umno division chief will be made a Cabinet member again if he helps BN win the seat, which has helped bolster his popularity among the constituents further.
But with anger over the cost of living rife among the predominantly urban poor and middle class Malay constituents, analysts believe BN will face a tough fight in Setiawangsa, especially with its traditional core supporters potentially split into three factions.
Zulhasnan is up against PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Ubaid Abd Akla of PAS this 14th general election.
Households from the bottom 40 per cent income bracket form the bulk of the seat’s 72,136 voters, with Malays comprising half the total electorate.
With the Malay votes divided, the outcome may rest on the support of the Chinese and Indians. The ethnic communities form 26 and 10 per cent of the electorate there respectively.
