UP till last night, it was hard to call the race in Muar between three-term incumbent Razali Ibrahim and his main challenger from Pakatan Harapan, young Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

While the greenhorn has attracted a strong crowd at ceramah where he shared the stage with big-name speakers, such as Muhyiddin Yassin, Yeo Bee Yin and Salahudin Ayub, he has struggled to penetrate the Barisan Nasional stronghold on his own.

In the Muar parliamentary seat, more than half of its 33 polling stations are in Malay-majority areas, with Parit Nawee having the highest composition of Malay voters (99.15%). The lowest composition of Malay voters is still a sizeable 48.3%, in Parit Bakar Darat.

The re-delineation exercise has not helped Syed Saddiq’s cause. A polling station with 2,000 voters has been moved from Bakri to Muar, increasing the area’s Malay composition from 62% to 66%.

In the last elections, Umno’s Razali won the 48,208-voter constituency with a slim majority of 1,646 votes, or 4%.

The 25-year-old Syed Saddiq has found it hard to make a strong impact on Malay voters. Some of his programmes over the past week had to be cancelled due to “obstructions”.

But that may have changed last night, at the “debate that never was”, when the former International Islamic University part-time law lecturer took to the podium to debate an absent Razali at the Muar Traders Hotel.

Without his opponent, the Bersatu Youth chief had the stage to himself, where he talked about a new brand of politics under PH that will not tolerate corruption.

The crowd of nearly 1,000 was roughly equal in its number of Malay and non-Malay attendees.

Syed Saddiq promised no discrimination against those who support a different party. He talked about a new Muar that would see the return of young Muarians, who now work elsewhere.

Although these were essentially just election promises, he sounded convincing, befitting his title as Asia’s top debater. And more than that, the former Royal Military College graduate sounded hopeful.

And, it was hope that the crowd was looking for.

However, Syed Saddiq truly shone during the question-and-answer session.

Faced with questions on whether PH would free the media, resolve Muar’s economic impasse and whether the bloc could lead the nation despite being cobbled together from different parties, he displayed maturity by answering with confidence.

“I was not sure of him before tonight,” said 50-year-old Ishak Ali, a government worker, yesterday.

“But, he showed that he can be a leader for the youth, and it would be a shame if he doesn’t win.”

Ishak’s wife, Shamsiah, agreed, saying it would be a loss for Johor and Muar if Syed Saddiq does not win.

At a function a week earlier, Razali addressed a crowd of Rukun Tetangga and village leaders.

He told them how Malaysia would be in dire straits if BN lost the elections. He said Malaysia could become another Libya if PH wins Putrajaya. He chided those who criticise caretaker prime minister Najib Razak, but are unable to take care of their own villages.

In short, the 47-year-old caretaker minister instilled fear in the grassroots leaders.

In two days, Malaysians will vote for their choice of representatives and the next government, which will rule for five years.

In Muar, the choice is between the new hope brought by a young candidate, and the mantra of fear by a ruling party scared of losing power. – May 7, 2018.