KULAI: Young voters have been urged to return home to cast their ballots in the July 11 Johor election, with state Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi saying they could determine the outcome of the polls.
He said the Johor government has, over the years, addressed issues affecting youths, including affordable housing and the cost of living.
“In the remaining days of campaigning, persuade young voters to come back because we have done a lot for Johor in line with the Maju Johor 2030 vision.
“We have built affordable homes, distributed food baskets, organised Jualan Kasih sales and introduced Bantuan Kasih Johor,” he said during a meet-the-people session in Taman Putri here yesterday.
The caretaker Johor Mentri Besar noted that Kulai, which comprises the Bukit Batu, Senai and Bukit Permai state seats, has a significant number of young voters.
Johor has more than 2.72 million registered voters, including 165,386 aged 18 to 20; 544,657 aged 21 to 29, and 587,888 aged 30 to 39.
Onn Hafiz also urged voters to evaluate past election promises, claiming that the opposition continued to campaign on pledges of the moon and the stars.
“Besides that, they are also hurling personal attacks at me, saying I am not tall enough, while calling me arrogant, conceited and a small child,” he said, adding that such criticism would not affect Barisan’s resolve to continue campaigning.
He also criticised Pakatan Harapan’s Puteri Wangsa candidate Dr Maszlee Malik, saying that the former education minister had confused federal and state roads during his campaign.
“He claimed Johor’s roads have many potholes, but the road he referred to is a federal road, not a state road,” said Onn Hafiz.
He was referring to videos uploaded by Maszlee on June 29, in which the latter drove from Tebrau to Ulu Tiram in Johor Baru to highlight road conditions.
When Barisan’s Puteri Wangsa candidate Teow Chia Ling bumped into Maszlee at a pasar malam walkabout after that, she pointed out to him that the road he drove on was actually a federal road under the Public Works Department.
“The road is under the Madani government so I suggest you raise the issue to the department for assistance,” she told him.
To that, Maszlee smiled and said he would give his “friend the minister” a call to look into the matter.
