Many voters working in Singapore unaware of Mahkota by-election
She urged the public to help spread information about the Mahkota by-election to family members and close friends working in Singapore, encouraging them to return and fulfil their responsibilities as Malaysian citizens.
KLUANG – Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi claims that many Mahkota State Legislative Assembly (DUN) voters, who work in Singapore, are still unaware of the upcoming by-election despite just two days left before polling on Saturday.
She said this was because developments in Malaysia did not often appear on social media for those who rarely keep up with news about the country.
"Many who work in Singapore have no idea about the by-election. Why? Who is to blame? Even when they check Facebook, there’s no news about it.
"This is due to Facebook’s algorithm which prioritises content from Singapore, meaning they don’t read Malaysian news, so they are unaware of the by-election," she said during a talk here on Wednesday.
She urged the public to help spread information about the Mahkota by-election to family members and close friends working in Singapore, encouraging them to return and fulfil their responsibilities as Malaysian citizens.
"Without your help in spreading this message, they won’t return to vote.
"In fact, they are willing to return if our ringgit strengthens. One day, they will return permanently to Malaysia and we want our children to come back and be offered jobs with attractive salaries," she said.
In the same speech, she emphasised that the Mahkota by-election was not just about voting for Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah, but also about supporting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"This by-election is not just about electing an Adun (assemblyman), but investors are also monitoring this by-election. They want to see if the unity government’s candidate can win, as it signals political and governmental stability for those investing billions of ringgit," she added.
Meanwhile, DAP Socialist Youth chief Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen said his team, along with the unity machinery, actively worked to gain support from Chinese voters in Mahkota by sending messages and convincing voters that Syed Hussien was the best candidate to lead the state constituency.
"We will focus on showcasing our candidate (Syed Hussien) as a suitable representative for voters in Mahkota.
"We will make every effort to convey the message to Chinese voters in particular, demonstrating how he (Syed Hussien) will serve the voters well, regardless of race and ethnicity in Mahkota," he said.
The by-election was called following the death of its incumbent Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, 64, on Aug 2.
It will see a straight fight between Syed Hussien, who is also the Kluang Umno Youth chief and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Mohamad Haizan Jaafar, a former Johor football player.
In the 2022 state election, Sharifah Azizah won with a majority of 5,166 votes in a four-cornered fight involving candidates from Pakatan Harapan (PH), PN and Warisan.
