JELEBU: Barisan Nasional's Siow Kong Choon (pic) has taken his Chennah campaign into the constituency's Orang Asli villages, appealing for a strong turnout from a small but contested bloc of voters.
"I appeal to our friends from the Orang Asli villages in Chennah to make the right choice this time and choose Barisan, which can bring well-being, stability and prosperity to every level of society," he said.
Siow, who is Negri Sembilan MCA Youth chief, was speaking at Kampung Tohor, an Orang Asli village in the constituency.
He said the Aug 1 vote would decide the future of the state and of the villages themselves over the next five years.
"Come out and vote so that we can together build a state government that is more stable and stronger, one that can take Chennah towards a better future," he said.
Orang Asli voters make up about 5.9% of the Chennah electorate, or roughly 850 of the 14,554 voters on the roll at the last state election.
The bloc is small, but both sides are working to entice support from the community in the straight fight between Siow and incumbent Anthony Loke.
Loke, who is DAP secretary-general and Transport Minister, said on nomination day that his party could no longer depend on Chinese support alone and had to reach out to Malay and Orang Asli voters as well.
He has held Chennah since 2013 and retained it in 2023 with a 2,200-vote majority over Perikatan Nasional's Rosmadi Arif, at a time when Pakatan Harapan and Barisan were contesting under an electoral pact.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was at the Kampung Tohor event, along with Jelebu MP Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias, who is state Umno chief and Barisan's candidate for Pertang.
