Reports by NELSON BENJAMIN, MOHD FARHAAN SHAH, YEE XIANG YUN, VENESA DEVI and REMAR NORDIN
JOHOR BARU: With less than a week to go until the twin by-elections in Johor, political parties have been pulling out all the stops to get outstation voters to return to cast their ballots, as their turnout is one of the factors that will determine who triumphs on Sept 9.
Their efforts seem to be paying off, as several voters in the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats say they are raring to return home to cast their ballots.
However, voters working in Singapore have urged the authorities to ease traffic congestion at the border crossings as polling day also coincides with the island republic’s school holidays.
Construction site supervisor L. Arasu, who works in Kuala Lumpur, is planning to drive back to Simpang Jeram in Muar right after he finishes work this Friday so that he can cast his vote the next day.
“I work and live in the capital city, but I return to my hometown once every two or three weeks to meet my wife,” said the 57-year-old.
“It is not troublesome for me to go back to vote as Muar is not that far from Kuala Lumpur. It takes me about three hours to drive back.
“This will also be a good opportunity for me to meet my friends who are also working in other parts of the country and who will be coming back to vote,” he told The Star.
He added that his three children, who are working in Perak and Kuala Lumpur, would also be making their way back home.
Leaders from Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional have previously said that their campaign workers were investing a lot of time and resources into personally contacting and persuading outstation voters in Pulai and Simpang Jeram to return to vote, as they make up a large chunk of voters in both constituencies.
For technician Mohd Akmal Harun, there is no excuse for him not to vote in the Simpang Jeram by-election since polling day falls on a weekend.
“I work in Singapore and live in Johor Baru. Every weekend, I will go back to Muar to spend time with my family,” the 32-year-old said.
“Since the by-election falls on a Saturday, I will not have any problem going to the polling station as I do not have to ask for extra days off from the company,” he said, adding that his only concern was the congestion at the border between Johor and Singapore.
“I am just worried that there may be slow traffic at the border as polling day coincides with school holidays in Singapore. I hope that there will be some measures taken to ensure smooth traffic during polling day,” the father of two said.
Another Singapore commuter, Sylvia See, who crosses the border daily for work, said she has already applied for leave.
“I usually work on weekends, and I definitely do not want to miss out on exercising my responsibility to vote as a Malaysian citizen,” the 34-year-old sales executive said.
“I applied for a half-day leave on polling day, so I will be casting my vote early in the morning before crossing the Causeway to work after that,” added the resident from Kempas, Pulai.
Lizfiana Samerra Tony, a 19-year-old college student from Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Temun in Perling, is thankful that she is currently on her semester break, as this will be the first time she is voting.
“I am studying for a Diploma in Art and Design (Fashion Design) in Kuantan, which is quite far from Johor Baru. I would not have been able to return home to vote if my college was still in session.
“Luckily, I am on my two-month semester break and will only return to college in October. This also gives me time to consult my parents about their opinions and do some research before I make a decision on who to vote for in the Pulai parliamentary by-election.
“I am feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness as I have never voted before,” added Lizfiana Samerra.
The by-elections were triggered by the passing of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who was also the Pulai MP and Simpang Jeram assemblyman. He was 61.
Pulai is a mixed seat, with Malays making up 44.18% of the total 166,653 registered voters, followed by the Chinese (40.46%), Indians (12.31%), and other ethnicities (3.06%).
The seat comprises the Kempas and Perling state seats.
There are 40,488 registered voters in Simpang Jeram, of which 21,005 (51.87%) are Malays, 18,052 (44.58%) are Chinese, 1,027 (2.53%) are Indians and 404 (0.99%) are from other communities.
Voters will head to the polling centre on Saturday, while early voting is tomorrow.
