GEORGE TOWN, Aug 10 — With the state election days away, first-time Barisan Nasional candidate Ahmad Zaki Shah Shah Headan is gathering groups of youths in Telok Bahang in casual dialogue sessions to gain their trust and support.
Needing to go beyond racial and religious politics to gain the support of the youth, the 34-year-old was going the tried-and-tested way of speaking to them directly.
“They are largely influenced by sentiments spread by Perikatan Nasional (PN), so I have to meet them personally, listen to them and let them know I am here to represent the youth,” he said when met during one of his walkabouts in Sungai Rusa in Balik Pulau.
He said the Telok Bahang constituency has a total 17,927 registered voters, but about half of them are below 40 years’ old.
Although his rival from PN, Muhamad Kasim, is 62 years’ old, Ahmad Zaki said young voters still leaned towards the coalition due to sentiments spread by PAS and social media influence.
“If BN were to field someone older, it would be harder to reach out to the youths, but since I am young, it is easier to reach out to them,” he said.
His strategy was to meet the youths through village heads and always in small groups of 10 to 15.
Personally reaching out to voters in the largely rural state seat has been a challenging task for Ahmad Zaki, not only because of the terrain but also its size, spanning from the south-west of the island in Balik Pulau to the northwest in Telok Bahang.
The sole hilly and winding road connecting Balik Pulau to Telok Bahang on the western side of the island is currently partially closed to all except for light vehicles due to soil erosion.
“I have to travel between Balik Pulau and Telok Bahang on a motorcycle and the trip takes an hour to and fro,” he said.
With polling on Saturday, he is hopeful of being able to make enough of an impression with voters to retain the seat for the Pakatan Harapan-BN unity coalition.
The Balik Pulau Umno Youth chief is no stranger in the constituency; his father, Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah, was the Telok Bahang assemblyman between 2013 and 2018.
The seat was previously a BN stronghold before Shah Headan lost the seat in 2018 to PH.
“When I started campaigning, everyone knew me as Shah Headan’s son, but as we enter the second week, everyone now knows me as Zaki,” Ahmad Zaki said when asked whether he was overshadowed by his father who is still a well-known leader in the constituency.
Shah Headan, who is now the Balik Pulau Umno division chief, is also on the ground to help with his son’s campaign.
The 60-year-old, who happened to join his son for a walkabout around Sungai Rusa, said it was the age demographics of the constituency that led to their decision to field a young candidate.
“We want to field young blood to appeal to the majority of the voters, it is time for the veterans to step down so that the young can work to attract young supporters,” he said.
Although the seat was traditionally a BN seat, he said it does not mean they could easily win it this time, even with PH supporters.
Ahmad Zaki said the PH machinery, from PKR, has been very helpful during the whole campaign.
“We immediately get along very well as if we have been friends for a long time,” he said.
When asked about his confidence in winning the seat, he said they are confident in getting 90 per cent of the non-Malay votes, which was about 32 per cent of all registered voters.
As for the remaining Malay voters, he hoped that they could win over at least half of them in order to win the seat.
BN is contesting in six seats in Penang out of the 40 under the PH-BN unity coalition.
Telok Bahang is the sole state seat on the island that BN is contesting in while the remaining five are Penaga, Bertam, Permatang Berangan, Sungai Dua and Sungai Acheh.
