REMBAU, Nov 9 — There is an assumption made by those outside Negri Sembilan that Rembau is a sure-win for Barisan Nasional (BN) this November 19 as the coalition’s Number Two Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is running there, replacing Khairy Jamaluddin.
But Rembau natives who have been following the political development here view this general election differently.
“Not everyone likes Tok Mat. He is popular because he was mentri besar here for a long time, so people just know him better,” said Kamaruzaman Sukur, 60.
“Actually people in Rembau like KJ. He has done a lot for Rembau when he came here.
“He built the hospital, he built the huge field here, he modernised the town. If not for this, Rembau would remain a left-behind town compared to other townships in the other states,” the retired civil servant told Malay Mail when met at a restaurant in town.
Tok Mat is the moniker for Mohamad, the Umno and BN heavyweight who is in a five-way tussle to take Rembau. He was Negri Sembilan mentri besar for three terms until the watershed 2018 general election ended BN’s iron-clad hold on the state.
Khairy, on the other hand, served Rembau for three terms as its MP. During these three terms, he was the youth and sports minister and was later appointed as health minister. He is now contesting in the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat, which is in Selangor, the next state.
Regardless of what is said about Tok Mat, Kamaruzaman and his friends said they have decided not to support BN anymore.
“We want a leader who has integrity and is really honest, who tell the people what is actually happening with the economy in the country.
“Don’t lie to the rakyat. Just look at the Felda and Tabung Haji cases. One moment you said there is no money, suddenly you managed to pay out interests. Where did they get the money from? Tell us the truth,” Kamaruzaman said.
He also compared Malaysia to Singapore, pointing out it is a much smaller country with little natural resources, but which has become far more advanced after being expelled from the federation.
“Why is Singapore so much better than us? They have no natural resources but we do. Why are we not benefiting from the returns of these natural resources?
“We are so rich, but where have our riches gone?” he asked.
Kamaruzaman said Malaysia needs a change in government for these reasons.
He said that as long as BN continues to run the country, the rakyat will continue to be fooled.
Sharing a personal experience he had with the “system”, Kamaruzaman recalled the time he was denied housing perks that came with being a government servant.
“When I applied, the first question they asked me was, who did I vote for in the general election? Because I didn’t vote for BN, I didn’t get the house,” he said.
Another Rembau native who only wanted to be known as Lee said his Malay friends have all indicated that they will not vote for BN this time around.
“They are BN supporters, but because of the state of the country now, they said these current leaders need to go and are not fit to manage the country.
“I’m not sure if they actually meant what they said, but that’s what they told me. They also told me to vote for Pakatan Harapan,” the sundry shop owner related.
He demurred when asked how he would vote, saying instead that changes can only be made if more Malays voted for PH as Rembau is a Malay-majority constituency.
A tailor in Rembau who gave his name as Yong believes the political sea-change that happened in 2018 when urban Malays voted for PH will happen again this general election.
He said another wave is possible because the rakyat have had enough of BN leadership.
“Tok Mat did help the people here when he was mentri besar, but a vote for him means a vote for Zahid Hamidi to be the next prime minister,” Yong said, referring to BN chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is seeking re-election in Bagan Datuk, Perak.
“They all have cases in court. I don’t understand why people would still want to vote for a person who has corruption cases in court to be their leader of the country.
“Something is really wrong with them,” added Yong, who is in his late 50s.
But younger Rembau natives held a contrasting view.
Those aged 30 and below whom Malay Mail spoke with said they would pick Mohamad any day.
“If you ask me, I prefer Tok Mat any day over Khairy. Tok Mat is always here for the people, Khairy just seems far away.
“We grew up knowing Tok Mat and he is a nice man. He rarely interfered with the local business owners here when he was mentri besar. Anyone was free to do their business here.
“He’s always here, even for weddings or funerals, if he can’t make it, he will send a simple token,” said one 30-year-old cafe owner who was willing to give his age and occupation but not his name.
A 24-year-old said he disliked Khairy and would give his vote to Mohamad any day.
“I’m not sure if I would go out to vote, but I will pick Tok Mat. I don’t like Khairy,” said Hazdi Izariq who also admitted that he has yet to check if his name is on the electoral roll.
Another young voter Zalina Rahman said Mohamad’s contributions are tangible even within Rembau and can be seen in the disparity of the road conditions and even the streetlights.
“I always travel to Rantau. I have friends there and you can see that there is a huge difference with the road conditions there compared to [elsewhere in] Rembau,” the 24-year-old said.
She said the moment travellers exit Rantau, “it is darkness because the street lamps are always not working in the direction of Rembau town”.
Rantau is one of four state constituencies under the greater Rembau parliamentary seat. Mohamad has been the incumbent assemblyman of this seat since 2004. The other three state constituencies under Rembau are: Paroi, Chembong, and Kota.
The Rembau parliamentary seat will see a five-way contest in GE15.
The candidates who will try to wrest the seat from BN are Pakatan Harapan's Jufitri Joha, Perikatan Nasional’s Mohd Nazree Mohd Yunus, Gerakan Tanah Air’s Datuk Ramly Awaluddin and Parti Sosialis Malaysia's Tinagaran Subramaniam.
The parliamentary constituency is made up of 66 per cent Malays and 11 per cent Chinese. The remaining 23 per cent is a mixture of other ethnicities, including Indians.
In the 2018 general election, Khairy defended the seat with a 4,368 majority, bagging 36,096 votes while his contenders PKR’s Roseli Abdul Gani got 31,732 and PAS’ Mustafa Dolan 6,028 votes.
