MALAY candidates from both sides of the political divide, especially those in marginal seats, are working hard to woo Chinese voters in the 14th general election, even posting in Mandarin on their social media platforms.

Barisan Nasional’s Titiwangsa candidate, caretaker second finance minister Johari Abdul Ghani, has his own Chinese Facebook page, even though Chinese voters in the federal seat make up 17.3%, according to Election Commission data.

But Johari, the incumbent, is taking no chances, as Titiwangsa is a marginal seat, which he wrestled from PAS in 2013 by just 866 votes. 

His Chinese Facebook page, which currently has 1,800 followers, is updated frequently with pictures of his walkabouts. The page also features the ruling coalition’s election manifesto and the candidate’s campaign programme.

Captioned in both Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin, Johari is described as an MP who listens to the people and is pro-development. Malay voters form 70.49% of the electorate and Indians 9.42%.

This time, Johari will be defending his seat in a three-cornered fight against Rina Mohd Harun (Pakatan Harapan) and Mohammad Noor Mohammad (PAS).

Meanwhile, PH’s candidate for the Paloh state seat in Johor, Sheikh Omar Ali, is also using Mandarin on his social media to reach voters. Local Chinese voters seem receptive of his efforts, as his Facebook page has 13,000 followers.

Sheikh Omar’s campaign team reportedly has Chinese writers helping him translate his messages into Mandarin. The page features plenty of photos of the 33-year-old former student activist with Chinese voters.

In GE13, Paloh was a Chinese-majority rural seat at 44% of voters, with Malays (37%) and Indians (17%).

But the ethnic composition changed after the EC’s redelineation exercise. With more than 2,000 voters added to the seat, Paloh is now 46% Malay.

Accordingly, DAP fielded a Malay candidate in the seat.

Sheikh Omar will face MCA’s Teoh Yap Kun and independent Shamugam Munisamy. Teoh defeated the DAP candidate in 2013 to win Paloh by merely 103 votes. – May 1, 2018.