ON a recent weekend, the road to the hamlet of Ramuan China Besar in Masjid Tanah, Malacca, was lined with Barisan Nasional flags as if a senior VIP was about to arrive.    

But the only national figure to arrive at the village some 40km from the historic city of Malacca was Muhiyiddin Yassin, the president of Pakatan Harapan party Bersatu.

Residents said the flags were put up two to three days before Muhyiddin arrived, along the road towards where Bersatu and PH were holding their weekend programme.  

The flags were not from the area’s residents, were put up by paid workers, said Masjid Tanah Amanah chief Julas Kassim.

But the flags had the intended effect of telling everyone that Masjid Tanah is a BN stronghold, just in case they forgot that the ruling coalition won it with a 16,200-vote majority in the 13th general election.

But the overwhelming odds are not daunting to Sabirin Jaafar, a former judicial commissioner who hopes to carry Pakatan Harapan’s campaign for the parliamentary seat in GE14.

This is because Masjid Tanah is a heartland Malay-Muslim seat. About 83% of its voters are Malay.

“It is a Malay heartland seat. If we can win here, we can win Malaysia,” the 54-year-old told The Malaysian Insight recently.

Politics in the blood

Politics seems to be in the DNA of Sabirin’s family. Two of his siblings have also stood as candidates in the 2004 and 2008 general elections in Malacca but lost. 

In 2004 and 2008, his elder brother Khalid contested the Bukit Katil parliamentary seat, but lost. Khalid now works with Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali as a special officer.

Sabirin’s sister Zainon, is a former Malacca PKR Wanita chief, and had stood in the Tangga Batu parliamentary constituency and the Ayer Keroh state seat.  

Sabirin’s father established the first PAS branch in Ramuan China Besar among neighbours, who were Umno supporters. His father had also brought PAS founder Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy to Masjid Tanah in the 1950s.

“Politics is in our DNA,” he said.

Sabirin graduated from the International Islamic University Malaysia in 1987, and started his legal career as magistrate before working up the rung to Sessions Court judge. He has also served as assistants to former chief justices Eusoff Chin dan Dzaiddin Abdullah.

After teaching 10 years at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), he was appointed a judicial commissioner in October 2014.

His legal experience since 1987 has helped Sabirin make the leap to politics after “seeing things his conscience could not agree with” in the country.

But, instead of following in the footsteps of his elder siblings, he chose to enter Bersatu, PKR’s partner in PH.

“The platform is different but the struggle is the same, it is for the people. After thinking it through I chose Bersatu, since Masjid Tanah is a  Malay heartland seat.”  

Stigma

The obstacles are daunting for an opposition party in Masjid Tanah. In GE13, BN’s Mas Ermieyati Samsudin defeated PAS’ Mohd Nasaie Ismail by a 16,200-vote majority. In the 2008 polls, BN won by 12,285 votes.

Masjid Tanah residents speak of the stigma attached to opposition parties.

“In the villages, those who support the opposition are made out to be like criminals,” said resident Azizan Hassan, 40, when met at the Muhyiddin ceramah in Ramuan China Besar.   

“Malays in the villages are taught to fear the opposition. You can see that here. Not many people turned out. More people come out if the ceramah is at night, but even then they will sit and hide under the trees.”

Muhyiddin’s dialogue in the village was emblematic of the challenges in this Umno stronghold. Not more than 200 people showed up in Ramuan China Besar, and a quarter of the audience was made up of party workers.”

“Villagers are scared. If they support the opposition, they fear not getting aid and their names blacklisted by the JKKK,” said a retiree in her 60s, of the village development and security committee.

Federal aid is usually disbursed through the JKKKs, and they are typically headed by local Umno branch leaders.

But Azizan is optimistic that rural Malays can be taught to change their minds about the opposition.

“We have to show them that their lives can change as a result of what they do at the ballot box.” – February 28, 2018.