Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians cross the border daily via the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex in Johor Baru to work in Singapore. — Photos: THOMAS YONG/The Star
BREAD-and-butter issues are the main things on voters’ minds as Pulai heads to the polls on Sept 9 for the by-election.
Addressing issues such as the high cost of living, immigration clearance at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex and the economy are what constituents such as Sylvia See, 34, expect of the new MP.
The sales executive, who tra-vels across the border daily to work in Singapore, said she was glad to see improvements to the Immigration Department’s self-clearance kiosks in the past few months.
“I usually cross the border by bus, so I have to alight and use the self-clearance kiosks where I place my passport in the holder to have my information scanned.
Flag wars among parties in Kampung Sungai Perling located in the Pulai parliamentary constituency.
“The process takes about 10 seconds per person, which is quite fast and hassle-free.
“It is a huge improvement compared to previously, when we had to stand in line for long periods to have our passports manually checked at the counter.
“However, my friends who drive to Singapore daily tell a different story. They have complained that during peak hours, only half of the counters are open and this causes massive traffic jams.
“I hope the next MP will speak up on this matter, as many Pulai residents travel to Singapore for work daily,” she said.
See hopes more Immigration counters will be opened during peak hours.
Pulai is a half-hour drive to the state capital, Johor Baru.
Restaurant worker M. Manikam, 29, said he chose to work in Singapore to earn enough money to take care of his wife and toddler.
“I leave home before 5.30am daily to reach my workplace at around 8am.
“It is tough – I miss weekends and special occasions with my family. It is a sacrifice I have to make to earn enough to support my family.
“I also have to take care of my elderly parents. Jobs that pay enough are hard to come by in Johor Baru, so I started working in Singapore last year,” he said.
Manikam also hoped local employers would offer Malaysians more competitive salaries to retain the workforce.
Stagnated wages
Senior auditor Nur Amalina Azman, 31, said wages in the country had stagnated, which made it difficult for the people to cope with the high cost of living.
“More focus should be given to attracting investors and companies to Johor to open up more opportunities for local industries and create more jobs.
Manikam says he has to work in Singapore to earn enough to support his family.
“This could soften the blow of the high cost of living and also prevent losing talent to neighbouring countries,” she said.
Nur Amalina said the people’s health and wellness should be taken care of, adding that she was concerned about the lack of public parks in the Pulai constituency.
She said urban folk were prone to a lot of pent-up stress that could be addressed by increasing public facilities for recreational and sports activities, which she hoped the next MP would look into.
“A lot of the parks are either located in gated-and-guarded neighbourhoods or are not properly maintained.
“There is also a lack of public swimming pools in the city.
“We have to travel further and fork out more to swim at the private facility in Iskandar Puteri, which is quite far for many,” Nur Amalina added.
Need for a Tamil school
Voter N. Kunasekaran, 62, who runs a non-governmental organisation, said the Indian community had been requesting for a Tamil school in the Pulai constituency since 2018.
“Parents have no choice but to spend around RM150 (monthly) on bus fare to send their children to Tamil schools in Jalan Yahya Awal, Taman Daya and Taman Ungku Tun Aminah for vernacular education.
Kunasekaran says the Indian community has been asking for a Tamil school in Pulai since 2018.“I have also been sending my grandchildren to a Tamil school in Bukit Indah, which is more than 10km from where I live in Kempas and we have to spend so much on petrol and toll fees.
“Some parents simply cannot afford it and this has caused many pupils to drop out of school, which is a shame because our children need proper education to get jobs in the future.”
Kunasekaran said that besides a former Johor mentri besar, he had also raised the matter with the late Pulai MP Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, Pulai PKR division chief Jimmy Puah Wee Tse – who is also Tebrau MP, and former Iskandar Puteri MP Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang.
“We have gone through various channels to make our voices heard and even handed a letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he visited Johor Baru recently during the by-election campaign.
“We hope the next Pulai MP will fight for a Tamil school and fulfil the community’s wishes.”
Unstable prices
Chicken trader Daud Ismail, 41, wished for the country to have stable prices for raw materials.
Daud wants strong government policies to tackle the rising costs of living and raw material prices.“From January to June this year, the price of chicken was unstable, which caused a lot of stress to traders.
“Currently, the chickens here cost RM8.40 per kg and the retail ceiling price for standard processed chicken is RM9.40 per kg. We are only earning RM1 per kg.
“In the first six months of the year, the lowest margin we recorded was 40sen, forcing us to operate at a loss.”
Daud said the cost of chicken feed, which accounted for a huge chunk of the production cost, was still the biggest problem.
He hopes that the government can come up with stronger policies to tackle the issue.
Chai Chee Keong, 49, a factory machine operator, called for the government-initiated “Rahmah” initiative to be expanded to offer consumers more affordable food options.
“The price of food has been on the rise. We used to be able to get a plate of ‘economy rice’ at RM4 but these days, I have to pay at least RM7 for a simple meal of rice with two vegetable dishes.”
Chai wants the Rahmah initiative to be further expanded to offer more affordable food options.
The Kampung Baru Tampoi resident also said more should be done to promote Pulai to attract tourists and boost the local economy.
“My village, for instance, has many famous eateries such as a renowned laksa stall that has been around for decades.
“These places could be packaged and if promoted well, could showcase the local culture and character, which I believe are things that tourists would like to see,” said Chai.
The Pulai parliamentary constituency, which has 166,653 registered voters, is made up of the Perling and Kempas state seats.
According to the Election Commission, the Pulai parliamentary seat has 44.18% Malay voters, 40.46% Chinese voters and 12.31% Indian voters while 3.06% are of other ethnic groups.
While it is an urban seat, Pulai includes Orang Asli communities in Kampung Orang Asli Bakar Batu Perling and Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Temon.
The Pulai by-election was triggered by the demise of Salahuddin, who aside from being the Pulai MP, was the Simpang Jeram assemblyman and Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.
The Pulai constituency will see a three-cornered fight between Pakatan Harapan’s Suhaizan Kaiat, Perikatan Nasional’s Zulkifli Yahya and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.
In the 15th General Election, the number of registered voters in the Pulai parliamentary constituency was 165,313.
Salahuddin had defended the seat and won with a 33,174 majority against Barisan Nasional-Umno’s Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (31,726 votes) and Loh Kah Yong from Perikatan Nasional-Gerakan (20,677 votes).
