The Malaysian Insight is running a series on marginal parliamentary seats as the nation heads towards the 14th general election. In the second part of our feature on Bera, we examine how the rural economy has an effect on Malay voters who have been loyal Barisan Nasional supporters.

A SILENT protest against Barisan Nasional is simmering among Malays that could threaten the ruling coalition’s hold on Bera in Pahang, where incomes are dependent on the government.

Pakatan Harapan hopes to harness this discontent, which is fuelled by the rising cost of goods, to increase its support among Malays, who make up 59% of the more than 50,000 voters in the federal seat.

“There is a silent protest against Umno in Bera,” said Mohd Zaid Omar of the BN lynchpin party. He is the Bera coordinator for Bersatu, a component party of PH.

Former Bera parliamentary candidate Zakaria Abdul Hamid of PKR said PH needed at least a 5% increase in support among Malay voters in the state seat seats of Guai and Kemayan in order to win.

This is provided that PH retains the 83% of Bera’s Chinese who voted for the opposition in the 13th general election in 2013.

But increasing Malay support is still a tall order, as BN has won a lot of goodwill through its control of all arms of the government.

Bera’s economy is highly dependent on the government, said Mohd Zaid, a businessman, whether it is through federal agency contracts or district council services.

“Unlike the west coast of the Peninsula, there is almost no private sector here. So you have to depend on the government,” he said.

”Approvals for contracts have to go through the wakil rakyat’s office. If you want to open a business, the properties with the lowest rents are those owned by the district council.

“So, if you want to survive, you must be on good terms with the government.”

Government lifeline

Such terms are a way of life in Bera’s villages, such as Kampung Mengkarak, on Bera’s northern border with Temerloh.

Here, Abdul Muis Fauzi, runs a small food stall and sundry shop along the bustling Temerloh-Bera road, which connects to Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

Muis has been able to benefit from the uptick in lorries and construction vehicles going to Bera from Temerloh in the north. A small but burgeoning trade in patin fish in Kuala Teriang has also brought in more visitors.

He rents his stall and shop from the district council at RM34 per month. This low rate and the prime location are a blessing to petty traders like him.

A majority of his customers are those working on the Bera-Temerloh road widening project initiated by the federal government.

“I had to raise prices slightly in the restaurant to accommodate the GST (goods and services tax),” said Muis.

“But on the whole, I have not been affected too badly. Business this year is improving.”

The 29-year-old feels that BN will still win Bera in GE14, as the state assemblyman for his area, Guai’s Norol Azali Sulaiman, is regularly seen in the constituency.

The road widening project is also proof that BN paid attention to Bera despite its remoteness, he said.

A short drive from Muis’s stall, towards Kuala Teriang, is a cluster of aquaculture farms that rear patin fish in cages in Sungai Pahang.

Azmi Mat Yunan is one of the 20 villagers who earns an extra RM500 each month for every cage of patin they rear and sell.

The more cages farmers have, the more extra money they make each month.

Almost all their fish are sold to restaurants in Temerloh, Kuantan and even as far as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

“There is no more land around here to grow oil palm, rubber or vegetables. There are few business opportunities in Bera. So, it’s hard for young people like me to make extra money. We can’t just rely on our wages.”

There is little doubt which party the villagers of Kuala Teriang will be voting for in GE14.

“This is all thanks to Ismail Sabri (Bera MP Ismail Sabri Yaakob), he set this up for us, when he was Agriculture Minister.

“Otherwise it would be hard to earn extra money,” said Azmi, 44, who works for the district council.

Ismail Sabri is now rural and regional development minister.

Non-Felda Malay votes

According to GE13 data, Malays make up 59% or 30,088 of Bera’s 50,997 voters. Of the 30,088, about 21,000 are Felda settlers.

That leaves fewer than 9,000 Malay voters who are spread throughout the villages of Bera.

In GE13, BN obtained about 67% of the non-Felda rural Malay vote, said PKR’s Zakaria.

“Malay support for the opposition in GE13 was not encouraging,” said Zakaria, who lost to Ismail Sabri by 2,143 votes. 

PH activists hope to increase Malay support by winning over more Felda settlers. It also must attract more Malays who in the past supported Umno but are now feeling the squeeze because of inflation.

Zaid of Bersatu said his target was to get at least 30 protest votes from current Umno members from each of Umno’s 55 branches in Bera.

“We believe that voters below 40 are really feeling the pinch from GST and the higher cost of food.”

These are people like Mohd Nahar, who returned home six years ago after spending most of his 20s working in Putrajaya.

He now does odd jobs, such as tapping rubber, harvesting produce and clearing undergrowth.

Unlike his friend Muis the shopkeeper, Nahar, 33, does not see things getting better for him.

“There are just no good jobs here in the village. Wages are low and I feel that baby clothes and diapers are more expensive than in the city,” he said.

His income depends on the price of latex and palm oil. Because he does not own the trees that he harvests, he is at the mercy of private plantation owners, who pay him whatever they decide.

He believes that BN has only a 50-50 chance of getting votes from people like him.

“The government has to do more to help bring up the prices of palm oil and latex. I don’t know how they are going to do it, but to me, they have to if they want to win the election.” – September 30, 2017.