The fighting spirit

Optimistic: A vibrant Syed Hussien (left) with MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong on the campaign trail. MCA has called Syed Hussien ‘Sai Fu Xing’, which means ‘lucky star’. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

“UMNO will win the Mahkota by-election. Just plus the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan votes in the last Johor election, and that is roughly the votes they’ll get,” a political operative told me when we chatted about national politics way into the late hours of Friday night.

He was referring to the result of the state election in 2022. Barisan got 16,611 votes (45% of the total votes), while Pakatan received 11,445 (31%) and Perikatan Nasional 7,614 (21%).