EIGHT out of 10 Tg Piai voters listed cost of living as their top concern, said Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE).

The political survey outfit, which conducted a survey from October 18 to 20, found 85% polled said dealing with living costs is their primary concern.

Another 53% are concerned about job opportunities or unemployment, while 52% list race relations as worrying.

Among the 1,517 respondents, 37% cite poverty issues as their main worry while 21% are unhappy with the sales and services tax, said IDE chief executive Mohammad Redzuan Othman today.

On local issues, 38% list infrastructure issues such as road conditions as their main concern, while another 26% are worried about the crime rate. Third on the list at 20% is trash collection.

Other concerns are public transportation (18%), the lack of street lighting (17%) and lack of public amenities such as petrol stations, ATMs and broadband Internet (14%).

Redzuan said the survey shows older voters prefer to toe party lines instead of the candidates.

“Some 78% of those above age 61, and 74% of those between ages 51 and 60 say they will vote for the party instead of the candidate.

“Those below the age of 50 tend to choose candidate over party. Overall, the majority of those surveyed, at 67%, say they go with the party.”

When asked how Tg Piai voters viewed the popularity of the state versus the federal government, Redzuan said: “There are a lot of undecided responses.”

“This shows voters haven’t formed a firm opinion of the state government’s performance,” he said of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Johor government.

The opinion survey involved 1,518 Tg Piai voters from 27 voting districts.

Corresponding with the constituency’s racial profile, the respondents comprised 58% Malay, 41% Chinese and 1% Indian voters.

IDE said the margin of error is around 4%.

The Tg Piai by-election, which begins tomorrow with the filing of nominations, will see PH attempting to defend the seat with former Pontian candidate Karmaine Sardini of Bersatu.

Barisan Nasional (BN), meanwhile, will field former two-time Tg Piai MP Wee Jack Seng, who is also Tg Piai MCA division chief.

Former BN component party Gerakan is fielding its deputy secretary-general Wendy Subramaniam in the party’s first post GE14 by-election.

Two other candidates are expected to come from Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa) and taxi lobby group, Gabungan Teksi Se-Malaysia.

The by-election was necessitated by the death of Md Farid Md Rafik, of Bersatu, on September 21 of heart complications. He was 42.

Farid, who was a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and an anaesthesiologist by profession, captured the seat in the 14th general election in May 2018.

He polled 21,255 votes to beat Wee (BN-MCA) and Nordin Othman (PAS) by 524 votes. Wee had garnered 20,731 votes and Nordin, 2,962 votes.

According to the Election Commission, there are 52,986 registered voters consisting of 52,698 ordinary voters, 280 early and eight overseas voters. – November 1, 2019.