KUALA LUMPUR – The Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat has traditionally been represented by a Chinese assemblyman and should remain that way to ensure “balance” in the Selangor state administration, former menteri besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib said today.
He hoped Malay voters in Kuala Kubu Baharu would vote for the unity government’s candidate, Pang Sock Tao from DAP, in the by-election next Saturday.
Speaking to Scoop, Muhammad, 78, who was Selangor menteri besar from 1986 to 1997, said the state seat had long been represented by politicians from MCA, the ethnic Chinese party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
He cited the names of former assemblymen, such as Chan Keong Hon, who represented the seat in the 1970s, Choo Yong Fatt (1980s), and Wong Ah Taih (early 1990s).
“This has been a seat for the Chinese community.
“Umno (then) was in the Malay state seats of Batang Kali and Hulu Bernam, while the parliament seat (Hulu Selangor) was given to the MCA.
“So the Malays in Hulu Selangor already knew that for Kuala Kubu Baharu, they would vote for a Chinese candidate. There was never a Malay candidate.
“So I call upon the Malay voters in KKB to continue supporting the current government because we want a government that is stable to rule.”
Muhammad was met at an event by the Federation of Malaysia Writers’ Associations (Gapena), which was officiated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, here today.
MCA politicians represented Kuala Kubu Baharu until 2013, when DAP won the seat for the first time, and have held onto it since then.
The seat’s voter breakdown now is about 50% Malay, 30% Chinese, and 18% Indian, with Orang Asli and other smaller groups comprising the remainder.
Kuala Kubu Baharu is the only state seat in the constituency that has not fallen to the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN), which won in neighbouring Batang Kali and Hulu Bernam in the state elections last August. The parliamentary seat, Hulu Selangor, is also currently under PN.
In the by-election next Saturday, PN is fielding local figure Khairul Azhari Saut, who is known to Malay voters in the area, having been a member of the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council, and the acting chief of the Bersatu division here.
However, Muhammad said Malay voters should not stray from the formula that has worked for the state administration.
“If the practice among Malay voters there has been to vote for the Chinese candidate from the ruling party, what is the problem that they want to change to a Malay candidate? What will be the benefit? It was set many years ago, that Kuala Kubu Baharu is a Chinese seat,” he said.
Malaysia is stable, he added, because the country is led by people of different races through the component parties (in BN) of the ruling coalition, he added.
Now, he said, with the component parties of the Pakatan Harapan-BN unity government being Umno, MCA, MIC, PKR, DAP, Amanah, he said this formula must continue.
PN’s Khairul and DAP-PH’s Pang are the main rivals in this by-election, with two others in the fray – Hafizah Zainuddin of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin – making it a four-cornered fight.
Pang was most recently press secretary to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
The seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent, Lee Kee Hiong, 58, of DAP on March 21 due to cancer. Polling is on May 11, with early voting on May 7. – May 5, 2024