KOTA TINGGI: Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin has assured constituents here that he will make time for them if he has to take on a Federal post should Barisan Nasional win the 15th General Election (GE15).
The Umno vice-president, however, said that any Federal position was up to the party to decide.
"I will divide my time between Kota Tinggi and whatever role I need to play.
"Providing efficient service does not mean I have to be here all day long, every day," he said when met during a walkabout here on Wednesday (Nov 16).
In the 2018 General Election, Mohamed Khaled lost both the Pasir Gudang parliamentary and Permas state seats.
Asked about the perception that he was moving away from the urban Pasir Gudang seat to Kota Tinggi – which is deemed as safer – he said people would say all sorts of things, especially his opponents.
He also said this was Barisan's strategy to win the seat back.
"The seat has more than 200,000 voters with 75,000 young voters. It is almost impossible to meet everyone before polling.
"So between a candidate who is 30 and the other who is 60, I am sure the young voters will vote for the younger candidate," he said, referring to Barisan's candidate Noor Azleen Ambros.
Mohamed Khaled, who has been commuting between both constituencies, said Noor Azleen was a young, dynamic and bold person who was suitable to serve the people there.
He admitted that both constituencies had their own issues as Kota Tinggi was a 90% Malay majority seat with 12 Felda settlements.
"They say the cost of living in Kota Tinggi is higher than other places. When I checked, I found out that the 8,000 settlers here earn between RM6,000 to RM8,000 from oil palm. There are many rich people here," he said, adding that out of the 61,000 voters here, about half were from Felda.
He also said that the youth wanted more sports and recreational facilities in Kota Tinggi.
"At the moment, these facilities are in the Tenggara constituency. We need to have some here," he said, adding that he was also looking at providing more jobs by tapping on Felda's strengths.
"Many of the young here are actually working in Pasir Gudang.
"So if we enhance the programmes within Felda such as industries like food, livestock and agriculture, we will not just be creating more entrepreneurs but also provide more jobs for people here," he added.
He said that Felda could also become an important player in terms of food security for Malaysia.
He added that he would also encourage people to venture into tourism here by having more chalets or homestays and even offer fishing trips or lessons for visitors, especially Singaporeans.
Asked about previous rumblings within Umno when its former minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique was dropped, he just said that it all was part of politics.
Mohamed Khaled is facing a three-cornered fight in Kota Tinggi against Onn Jaafar from Pakatan and Mohamad Ridhwan Rasman from Perikatan Nasional.
