YEONG (not his real name) is 67 and has always been a DAP supporter. This time around, however, he is not confident his vote can help DAP party supremo Lim Kit Siang defend his seat.

He said the chances were “50-50”.

“This is Boo Cheng Hau’s area. He won a few times, then something happened. I do not know now. PAS is also contesting the Skudai state seat (to split the votes). We will see,” he said.

Boo Cheng Hau, formerly Johor DAP chief, had a very strong connection with the grassroots, but was dropped as a candidate by his own party. He was the Skudai state assemblyman for two terms.

Former Mengkibol assemblyman Tan Hong Pin is contesting the Skudai seat in the 14th general election.

Skudai is one of the state assembly seats in the Iskandar Puteri constituency. The other is Kota Iskandar.

DAP incumbent Lim will contest the Iskandar Puteri parliamentary seat, formerly known as Gelang Patah, against Johor MCA chief Jason Teoh Sew Hock.

Tan will contest against MIC’s S. Kannan for Skudai. Umno’s Mohammad Khairi A. Malik, Amanah’s Dzulkefly Ahmad, and PAS’s Salehuddin Mohd Dahiran are contesting the Kota Iskandar seat.

Another voter, a 55-year-old woman who only wanted to be known as Chua, said she had no idea who she would pick this time. To her, the most important thing was to be able to make ends meet.

“We must make a living (cari makan dulu) before we can talk about who to vote,” she said.

Chua said it was an issue of who best represented the people.

Another voter, a mother-of-one who only wanted to be known as Priscilla, said she dared not say who she would be voting for.

“Others are not really keen on sharing either. One may say he is going to vote for so-and-so, but can you believe him? As for me, I am not telling,” she said.

The latest updated electoral roll shows 138,299 registered voters in Iskandar Puteri, with about 70,000 being Chinese voters. – April 28, 2018.