JOHOR BARU: Pulai voters want politicking to stop with the conclusion of the by-elections and for the newly elected MP to remember his pledges to the people.
Consultant Akira Thong, 30, hoped that Suhaizan Kayat, who won the Pulai parliamentary seat on Saturday, would look into introducing a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system here to address worsening traffic congestion.
“Johor Baru is an attractive place to live and visit, so having an LRT will make it convenient for us to move around.
“That way, we can rely on public transport like our neighbour Singapore and remove the need to buy a car,” Thong said when interviewed by The Star.
He added that Pakatan Harapan’s win in Pulai had helped the unity government retain its two-thirds majority in Parliament and hoped that there would be no more efforts to topple the Federal Government.
“Having an unstable political situation will scare off investors, which will only put our country’s development and progress at a disadvantage,” he said.
Teacher Mohd Syazwan Mosamaad Sofi hoped the new YB would prioritise his pledges to the people and address pressing issues such as the high cost of living.
“This is a responsibility given to him by the rakyat, and I hope he will produce results for us to see so that it is not just empty talk.
“If he does earnest work and listens to the people, he will last long as a leader,” the 33-year-old said.
K. Subramaniam, 67, said the new Pulai MP should look into the welfare of the B40 group, such as setting up a Tamil vernacular school in the Kempas area.
“Many in the Indian community have to send their children to vernacular schools about 10km away, which adds to their household expenses.
“We have been asking for a Tamil school since 2018 and have written to many politicians to assist us with this issue. We hope Suhaizan can help us after this,” he added.
On Saturday, Pakatan Harapan defended both the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats in the by-elections, triggered by the passing of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub.
With a total of 48,283 votes, Suhaizan secured an 18,641-vote majority over his opponents, Zulkifli Jaafar from Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu, who received 29,642 votes, and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi (465).
In Simpang Jeram, Pakatan-Amanah’s Nazri Abdul Rahman received 13,844 votes compared with Perikatan-PAS’ Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya (10,330) and Independent candidate S. Jeganathan (311).
