BY all accounts, winning the Puteri Wangsa should be a walk in the park for Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) as the seat went to the opposition in 2018.

Realistically, it is the only seat the youth-based party can expect to win among the seven it is contesting in the March 12 Johor elections.

But candidates from other parties are also attractive to the opposition-leaning electorate here.

In the 2018 general election, Pakatan Harapan (PH) wrested the 50% Chinese majority seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) by 24,959 votes via Mazlan Bujang of then newly formed Bersatu.

Mazlan, who has since quit Bersatu, is not defending the seat. It will be 27-year-old Amira Aisya Abd Aziz who will represent the opposition in a six-way contest in the March 12 polls.

If sentiments from 2018 hold, she is a favourite to win despite Muda being a new party.

The five other candidates are from BN, Perikatan Nasional (PN), Pejuang, Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and an Independent.

Amira also faces the uncertainty of 46,358 newly registered voters, following the enforcement of automatic voter registration and Undi18 laws.

Amira’s main rival is PBM’s Tebrau MP Steven Choong, who has decided to contest the seat.

Voters said Choong has been active in the constituency.

Puteri Wangsa is one of two state seats under the Tebrau federal constituency.

Warung Azhar owner Addie Azhar, 47, said Choong is always helping small businesses like his.

“He does his work here and did more than Mazlan,” said Addie during his lunch break on Tuesday.

But he said Choong has become less popular after quitting PKR.

Although Choong did not follow other PKR defectors to Bersatu, he nevertheless supported Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin for prime minister after the Sheraton Move in February 2020.

Muhyiddin and the PKR faction led by former deputy party president Mohamed Azmin Ali orchestrated the move that caused the fall of the Pakatan Harapan federal government and the governments of Johor, Kedah, Perak, and Malacca.

Robust but inexperienced

Addie and his wife Norliana Ahmad, who voted for Mazlan in 2018, were unsure about Muda or Amira even though they had allowed her to use their warung to campaign in the industrial area of Taman Mount Austin.

The couple found it odd that the young team would come to an area full of factories to canvass for votes.

Addie also noted the team’s inexperience in campaigning.

“At first, I wasn’t sure what they wanted to do when they came in just now . Were they here to canvass for votes or were they here to eat?” said Addie.

Amira and half a dozen Muda volunteers had arrived around 1.30pm and ordered lunch. They only began passing out flyers to the customers at the stall after they had eaten. By that time, most of the other customers had left the warung to return to work.

His wife Norliana had decided that she would vote for BN this time.

Asked why, the woman from Selangor said PN was a “rojak” party that was inconsistent and took in anyone while PH could not be relied on.

“You can’t carry out policies if the party is all over the place,” she said of both PN and PH.

Norliana said BN showed consistency.

“I’m tired of all the constant changes in government.”

Norliana said she didn’t feel convinced after listening to Muda leaders.

Addie also had his misgivings about PH, which he said did not seem to have direction during the 22 months it was in power.

“I don’t know why they stopped Klinik 1Malaysia. It was easier for my 76-year-old mother to go there compared to the government clinics. Klinik 1Malaysia had no queues but we now have to queue up again.”

He said that if PH had wanted to stop the Klinik 1Malaysia initiative, it should have replaced it with something better.

Seventy-year-old supervisor Mohd Johari wanted change.

“We must have a different government. It can’t be the same one for 60 years,” said Johari after lunch at Warung Azhar.  

“With BN, we already know their faults. This Muda must be better.”

But Johari will not vote in Puteri Wangsa as he resides in Kempas.

Neither will Addie nor Norliana, who will vote in Johor Jaya and Ulu Tiram, respectively. The other patrons who spoke to The Malaysian Insight said they were also not registered to vote in Puteri Wangsa either, showing that Amira was missing her target audience

Back at her own operations room in new housing estate EcoCascadia on Wednesday night, Amira held a ceramah.

And just like in all her previous public engagements, Amira showed maturity, confidence and poise beyond her 27 years of age.

She delivered the same message she shared earlier in Kota Iskandar in Skudai, pointing out the weakness of BN’s rationale for holding snap polls, and calling BN a more unstable government ithan PH.

Muda is not part of the PH coalition but has a working pact with Amanah and DAP in the Johor polls, and also with PKR in seats where they do not clash.

Although Amira made a good argument, fewer than a dozen non-party attendees were present to listen to it.

Its less-than-prime location, however, did not deter 41-year-old Mohd Suhaimi, who came on his motorcycle to hear Amira speak.

“I just wanted to see her for myself,” said the lorry driver, who has returned to work in Johor Baru after he was laid off in Singapore during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

“She’s okay,” said Suhaimi, a Puteri Wangsa voter, after listening to Amira for 10 minutes.

Having said that, Suhaimi said Muda the party did not appeal to him.

“Me and my group of friends are saying it’s either BN or PH. Nobody I know talks about PN or Muda. PBM is not even on the radar.”

But when reminded that Muda had a pact with PH, Suhaimi said: “Ah…maybe she will win after all”. – March 5, 2022.