Politics is about the personal relationship between a politician and the voters in Moyog whereas in Subang Jaya, the relationship takes on an impersonal note.

HERE’s a political tale of two hometowns. I’ve got two hometowns – Subang Jaya and Moyog.

I live in USJ 13 in the Subang Jaya state seat.

But I also consider Kampung Pogunon in the Moyog state seat as my hometown even though I visit it once a year as that is where my family home is located.

Although I’ve been living in Subang Jaya for more than a decade, I don’t vote in the Subang Jaya and Kelana Jaya parliamentary seats.

Instead, I vote in the Moyog and Penampang parliamentary seats.

I’ve refused to transfer my vote to peninsular Malaysia because my heart, as well as thousands of relatives are in Sabah.

If you asked me what’s the political difference between Moyog and Subang Jaya, I’ll tell you that in the seat where I vote, politics is personal. Politics is about the personal relationship between a politician and the voters in Moyog whereas in Subang Jaya, I feel that the relationship between a politician and the voters is impersonal.

When I describe my two hometowns, you will understand why.

In Kampung Pogunon, a village about 16km from Kota Kinabalu, I’m related to almost everybody either by blood or marriage.

In front of my parent’s concrete house are megalith structures (commemorative stones or tomb stones) built by the Kadazandusun community centuries ago.

My cousins from my mother’s side like to say that it was our family who established the village.

It is a jaga tepi kain orang (a Malay proverb meaning love to meddle in people’s affair) kind of community.

In USJ 13, except for four immediate neighbours, three colleagues and a dozen Rela members, the only connection I have with those in my neighbourhood is that we are homo sapiens.

Most of the residents were transplanted from hometowns in states outside Selangor.

They also have a “mind your own business” kind of mentality (except for that pesky grandmother who would often tell me that one day, my banyan tree may be uprooted and will hit her house).

The personal (or impersonal) ties in Kampung Pogunon and USJ 13 are reflective of the political dynamics in Moyog and Subang Jaya.

In Moyog, most voters have a personal connection with their politicians.

It is because almost everybody in the Moyog state constituency are saudara (related) – somehow connected one way or the other.

Let me show the link by naming random politicians from Moyog.

Take Datuk Donald Mojuntin, the Moyog incumbent for example.

My late father knew his late father, Datuk Peter Mojuntin who was also the former Moyog assemblyman.

My father also knew Donald’s uncle, Conrad, who replaced his brother Peter as the Moyog YB after he died in a plane crash in 1976.

Another example would be Edwin Bosi, Sabah DAP secretary.

He used to work with my sister at the veterinary department and he is a good friend of her husband.

But in Subang Jaya, I doubt if more than 10% of the voters are personally connected to their assemblymen.

Most of the Subang Jaya voters are concerned about issues.

When I used to cycle with my USJ13 bicycle patrol, they would talk about issues that affect the country.

They do not discuss the personality of their YB unless you include them making fun of their MIA (missing in action) MP.

It is different in Moyog.

Apart from how issues are addressed (Royal Commission of Inquiry on Sabah illegal immigrants, rights of Sabahans, development), a politician is judged by how many weddings or funerals he attends.

First thing I do when I attend a wedding or a funeral is to check who the VIPs are.

Attendance is (almost) compulsory (if not, send a representative) for both events as communal ties are very strong in Moyog.

For example, my 70-something mother will make sure she attends all funerals of the people she knows.

“If you don’t attend their funeral, nobody will attend your funeral when you die,” she likes to lecture me.

“But they will not attend your funeral,” I answered back, “as they are dead”.

It is different in Subang Jaya.

I’ve attended two funerals held in the row of terrace houses that I live in and I’ve not seen any politicians attending it.

I don’t think my neighbours expected the YBs to pay their last respects to the voters either.

For the Subang Jaya voters, politicians are characters that you see on TV, newspapers or over the Internet.

What they want is an elected representative to speak on their behalf in Parliament or the Selangor state assembly.

But in Moyog, the voters expect more.

They want a politician that they can drink tapai (rice wine) with. They want a personal touch.

Because everybody knows everybody in Moyog, the voters know what their politicians are doing.

They know a so-and-so politician is driving a Ninja Turtle (a luxury Toyota Land Cruiser).

They know a so-and-so politician is sleeping with an Unduk Ngadau (Harvest Festival Queen) second runner-up.

They know a so-and-so wannabe politician is worth millions because he sold land inherited from his parents.

They know a so-and-so politician making a comeback is arrogant as during a wedding reception 10 years ago, he talked down to them when he was drunk.

That’s why I’m only deciding who to vote for on Nomination Day.

I need to know who the candidates are and whether or not they attended my wedding reception.        

• New SARS-like virus can probably pass person-to-person
• Time to end race-based governance
• Mah Sing's Meridin@Medini records pre-selection of RM261m (Update)
• Malaysian billionaires’ paving the way for sons
• Malindo to begin services from SkyPark terminal in Subang by mid-June
• Are you saving the pennies with great effort only to spend the pounds on things not needed?
• Coronavirus epidemic awaits, not certain to be severe - discoverer
• Merkel says has no secrets about her communist past
• City cabs can pick up KLIA passengers from Wednesday
• Man punches granny to death