PONTIAN, Nov 4 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) through PKR will embark on a more aggressive campaign in reaching out to the Chinese voters, especially the youth, to return to their hometown for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election on November 16.

Johor PKR deputy chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said almost 30 per cent of Tanjung Piai’s Chinese voters were not based in the parliamentary constituency, working in Singapore, Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur and Batu Pahat.

The seat is a Malay majority one, with 30,541 voters (57.64 per cent) compared to 21,948 Chinese voters (41.42 per cent) and 479 Indian voters (0.90 per cent).

He said the challenge is to get these voters to return for the by-election, generally noting that they were usually pro-PH in their outlook.

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“The recent announcement made by Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin regarding the special route along the Johor Causeway for voters returning to Tanjung Piai is very helpful,” said Puah.

Puah said almost 30 per cent of Tanjung Piai’s Chinese voters were not based in the parliamentary constituency. — Picture by Ben Tan
Puah said almost 30 per cent of Tanjung Piai’s Chinese voters were not based in the parliamentary constituency. — Picture by Ben Tan

He said this after handing over relief to the underprivileged (asnaf) in Kampung Serkat Laut here this morning in his capacity as the Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee chairman.

Puah said PKR has always been committed to assisting PH’s election machinery in the Tanjung Piai by-election to spur the voter turnout campaign for voters who do not reside in the constituency on social media.

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“We are here to make sure they (the voters) return back home and we need to increase the social media campaign on this,” he said.

The Tanjung Piai by-election will see a six-cornered contest between PH’s Karmaine Sardini, Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia’s (Berjasa) Datuk Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz and two independent candidates Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar.

The by-election was called following the death of incumbent PH’s Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik from Parti Pribimi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) on September 21.

Election Commision (EC) has set early voting on November 12, while polling is on November 16.