PETALING JAYA: It’s a classic story of friends-turned-foes in the tussle for Taman Medan, the Malay heartland in Petaling Jaya, a prime growth area in Selangor.
Pakatan Harapan’s Ahmad Akhir Pawan Chik is locking horns with Perikatan Nasional’s Dr Afif Bahardin for the seat, which has a 68% Malay majority.
Both were comrades in PKR before Dr Afif left to join Bersatu in June 2020.
Ahmad Akhir said he was raised in Taman Medan from the age of two and had served as a councillor in the Petaling Jaya City Council for 12 years.
“I know this place like the back of my hand. As a councillor, I helped many people, especially with their business permits. For me, the people’s problems always take priority.
“I may not be with the council anymore, but I know how things get done and which buttons to push,” he said.
Ahmad Akhir added that this part of Taman Medan, off Jalan Kelang Lama here, is in need of better amenities, job opportunities, education facilities and more business permits.
He promised that the electorate would always have easy access to him if he triumphed in the polls on Saturday.
“The fact that I represent the party of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim means that matters such as allocations will not be much of a problem,” he said.Anwar himself made an appearance at Taman Medan on Sunday night in a spirited event that was preceded by a performance by the band Blues Gang.
His presence at Taman Medan was significant: Anwar’s series of reformasi rallies following his arrest in 1998 had started here too, when it was known as Kampung Medan.
Taman Medan was also the scene of ugly riots between the Malay and Indian communities there about 22 years ago.
On Sunday, Anwar asked the crowd: “Who said we have sidelined the Malays and Islam?”
“In the past eight months, we have been working to take care of all races. In Penang the other day, a youth asked about the quota for Malays.
He also acknowledged that the people in Taman Medan were largely from the lower-income group.
“To develop places like this, there must be political stability,” he added.
As for Dr Afif, the medical doctor is unfazed by his opponent’s “local boy” advantage.
He brushed aside talk about his limitations as a “parachute candidate”.
“I was born in Assunta Hospital (which is a stone’s throw away),” he said.
“If my opponent claims his experience as an MBPJ councillor can help the people, my question is: ‘What can you do as an elected representative that you could not solve as a council member?’” said Dr Afif, who lost in the Shah Alam parliamentary seat in the general election last year.
He was Seberang Jaya assemblyman in Penang from 2013 until he and three others were removed by the state assembly in March this year under the state’s anti-hopping law.
Dr Afif said Taman Medan was quite similar to Seberang Jaya in that it was a mainly urban constituency with a Malay majority.
“Due to development and the densely populated areas, there seems to be no place for youth and senior citizens for recreational purposes.”
As such, he said he hoped to introduce “pocket parks” that would have jogging paths, among others.
He also spoke about concerns of business owners at the wet market here who were facing drastic rental hikes.
Ultimately though, Dr Afif said social ills were a big problem in parts of Taman Medan.
“It’s time this place gets away from its history of racial riots.”
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