Tambun, which is about 15 minutes from Ipoh city centre, is famous for its pomelos and limestone hills.
TAMBUN, located about 15 minutes from Ipoh city centre, is known for its juicy pomelo fruits and majestic limestone hills.
It is dominated by the Sunway City Ipoh integrated township, an ongoing development since 1996.
Teacher Ambiga Pillay, 60, who lives in Sunway City Ipoh, said traffic was a problem.
She hoped this would be solved with the ongoing road upgrades.
“I was told there will be a road diversion where motorists from Sunway City would have to drive a longer route and make a U-turn to enter the residential area.
“Roads do not seem to be repaired or upgraded properly and floods recur in the same areas,” she said.
Perak Perikatan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu is the incumbent Tambun MP, having won the seat in the 14th General Election.
The Bersatu deputy president defeated Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and Muhamad Zulkifli Mohamad Zakaria of PAS by a 5,320 majority.There are two state seats under the parliamentary constituency, namely Hulu Kinta and Manjoi.
Smoother ride: A 2.5km stretch of Jalan Tambun is currently being upgraded.–RONNIE CHIN/The Star
Tanjung Rambutan, in the Hulu Kinta seat, is a small town famous for having the oldest psychiatric hospital in the country.
The Sultan Azlan Shah Allied Health Science College is also located in the constituency.
Manjoi is said to have the largest Malay settlement in the country founded in 1900 and built on former mining land.
Manjoi comprises five villages — Kampung Manjoi, Kampung Tengku Hussein, Kampung Sungai Tapah, Kampung Dato Ahmad Said and Kampung Jelapang Baru.
The two state seats were won by Pakatan Harapan in 2018.
State PKR vice-chairman Muhammad Arafat Varisai Mahamad was the Hulu Kinta assemblyman while state Amanah chairman Datuk Asmuni Awi is the incumbent assemblyman for Manjoi.
Gardener Saiful Bahri Abdul Rahman said Ahmad Faizal was a regular visitor to the Hulu Kinta area.
Manjoi is said to be home to the largest Malay settlement in the country, comprising five villages. — Photos: RONNIE CHIN/The Star
“I see him here almost every weekend,” he said.
Saiful Bahri said the issue of illegal dumpsites had yet to be resolved.
“The elected representatives also need to look into traffic congestion as it is very bad,” he said.
Sarah Oh called for more police patrols as there had been many break-ins around Bandar Baru Tambun.
“But I am generally happy with the rubbish collection and cleanliness of the surrounding area,” she said.
Caretaker Perak mentri besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad recently said motorists using Jalan Tambun would enjoy a more comfortable drive after an upgrade of 2.5km stretch of the road.
The project, which began last year, is a collaboration between the Ipoh City Council and Sunway City Ipoh Sdn Bhd.
The upgrading works, which were scheduled for completion in September, are still ongoing.
A lot of development projects are ongoing at Sunway City Ipoh in Tambun.
Wan Zulfadhli Intizam from Taman Meru in the Manjoi state constituency said he had not seen much improvement in his area since the last general election.
“I wanted to see changes but so far, the only improvement was fixing the road with nothing really impactful done.
“I don’t have a preference for which party should govern the state, I just want an assemblyman or MP that can help the people,” said the businessman.
He said despite the newly tabled anti-hopping law, he was not very excited about voting in the 15th General Election.
“There is still a possibility that the law may be changed or revoked.
'Traffic congestion is very bad in Tambun.' -Saiful Bahri Abdul Rahman
“As a voter, I want to see fresh and young faces contesting in Manjoi. Why is it always the same faces?” he asked.
A housewife, who wished to be known only as Nana, hoped for better public transport in Manjoi.
“Getting a bus is difficult here despite Manjoi having such a big population.
“We still have to find our own transport or rent a car.
“It would be great if there is public transport as there are many B40 people living here.
“I remember one of my neighbours spent nearly RM30 on taxi fares just to go to the city centre, which is less than 10km from our area.
“You can buy a week’s worth of groceries with that money,” she said.
The parliamentary constituency of Tambun will be a hot seat in GE15 as Ahmad Faizal, who is also the incumbent Chenderiang assemblyman, will be facing Pakatan chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar who had previously said he would pick areas held by “traitors” to contest in, confirmed the decision during the Pakatan Convention in Ipoh on Oct 20.
Ahmad Faizal was labelled as such for his role in the collapse of the Pakatan state government in 2020 when he switched sides to Perikatan shortly after the Sheraton Move.
As for Barisan, Tambun Umno division chief Datuk Aminuddin Md Hanafiah will be fielded in the parliamentary constituency.
In 2018, Tambun had 107,763 registered voters but only 88,920 people had cast their ballots.
'Roads are not repaired or upgraded properly.' -Ambiga Pillay
This time round, there are nearly 160,000 votes for the candidates to fight for.
Ahmad Faizal had said that he welcomed any political leaders, including Anwar, to contest against him.
He said he would not feel threatened by whoever standing against him.
