Sales have picked up in the last two weeks as voting day draws closer
KLUANG: Bus tickets from Singapore to Kluang have been snapped up since two weeks ago, with only a handful of seats remaining.
Checks by The Star at the Kluang bus terminal here found that ticket sales for destinations such as Kuala Lumpur and Melaka have also been selling fast.
However, ticketing staff said this was a common occurrence during weekends as many outstation residents would return to Kluang on Friday night or Saturday before heading back on Sunday for work.
A Kluang-Singapore bus service employee known as Fun said many passengers had purchased the tickets online in advance.
“We have six trips from Singapore to Kluang and another six travelling the other way on weekends. I believe the rest of the seats will be snapped up by today.
“This is quite common so I am not sure whether it is related to the Mahkota by-election happening this Saturday,” she said when interviewed on Tuesday.
The tickets are priced RM50 each way.
Baharuddin Hussin, who works at another bus company, said tickets for buses from Kluang to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore on Sunday have mostly been sold.
“Many young people from Kluang are working in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore so they could be returning to vote before heading back on Sunday,” he said.But at another company, ticket seller Nor Ain Rahmat said sales had been slower this week than the last two when there were long weekends and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“Last week, all four of our buses from Johor Baru’s Larkin terminal to Kluang were packed.
“Sales were slower for this weekend’s tickets but we will see if they will pick up in the next few days before polling on Saturday.
“It’s hard to say as some might make a last-minute dash home to vote,” she added.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and other politicians have been exhorting voters, especially those based outstation, to return to cast their votes in the Mahkota by-election.
The state constituency, which falls under the Kluang parliamentary constituency, has 66,318 registered voters. Of the total, 4,510 are army personnel and their spouses, as well as 401 police personnel.Early voting on Tuesday drew a turnout of 95.45% or 4,437 voters.
Election Commission chairman Datuk Ramlan Harun had said they were hoping the turnout rate for the by-election would exceed that of the Nenggiri polls (over 70%) in Kelantan last month.
The Mahkota by-election is a straight fight between Barisan Nasional’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan Nasional candidate Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
The by-election is being held following the death of Datuk Sharifah Syed Zain, 63, on Aug 2.
