RANTAU, March 30 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr S. Streram declared today that he was the underdog in the Rantau by-election against his Barisan Nasional (BN) rival who has held the seat since 2004.
Dr Streram is banking on winning non-Malay voters’ support and will need a little bit of help from the Bumiputera and Malay voters to beat Umno acting president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
“We are underdogs as we are up against the acting Umno president,” Dr Streram told the media when asked about his winning chances in the Negri Sembilan state race.
“The onus on us winning will come down to hard work. I’ve been on the ground for a long time meeting people, talking to them and trying to serve their needs.
“Hopefully, they will see my sincerity and vote for us,” he said during a santai session with the people of Sendayan and media at a roadside cafe.
Dr Streram gave an example of how a massive storm caused many houses in Sendayan to be damaged several years ago.
He said he took it upon himself to help those whose houses were damaged by calling the district officer to help those who lost their houses and sorted the matter out within 24 hours.
“It was a Saturday and I got all repairs done within 24 hours, mainly to fix the roofs of the damaged houses, which were all from Malay families,” recalled the 60-year-old anaesthetist.
“This is just one example of how I help the people and I believe people will appreciate what I’ve done for them.”
The Rantau state constituency covers an area of 15,960.74 hectares and has 20,926 registered voters.
Out of the 20,926 voters, Malays comprise 11,283 or 55.11 per cent; Chinese 3,849 (18.80 per cent); Indians 5,336 (26.06 per cent) and others four (0.02 per cent).
Dr Streram is banking on garnering the large majority of votes from the non-Malays and a small percentage of Malay voters to win.
However, with Umno joining forces with Islamic party PAS and Indian party MIC, the odds are stacked against him.
When asked what he felt his chances were, Dr Streram said: “I don’t think that’s a big consideration I need to make.
“PH is a multi-racial coalition and we treat all races equally. Our ideology is to stand up for all the races rights.
“Being a doctor, I’ve never looked at race nor religion and I’m appealing to the people to give me a chance to be their representative,” he added.
