TANGKAK (Nov 8): Pakatan Harapan (PH) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim kicked off his campaign in Johor on Tuesday (Nov 8) with a ceramah at Pusat Jaja Taman Tangkak Jaya, receiving a rousing welcome from the people of Tangkak.

Anwar came here to campaign alongside PH’s Ledang candidate Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, who is defending his parliamentary seat. Ledang is one of the seats in northern Johor that all major coalitions are eyeing, alongside Muar, Pagoh and Segamat.

In typical Anwar fashion, while giving his ceramah, he talked about how the 15th general elections is an opportunity for the people to choose a government that is clean, takes care of all regardless of race and religion, and focuses on the well-being of small and medium enterprises.

“If you look at the Malays, look at the Malays who are poor, who needs the government to help them, not the menteris. Those are rich Malays. What do they know (about the plight of the poor Malays)?

“And not all Chinese are big towkays (business bosses), although we always call them towkays,” he said.

Syed Ibrahim won the Ledang seat in GE14 with a majority of 8,666 votes, compared with the 1,967 votes won by Barisan Nasional (BN)’s then-incumbent Hamim Samuri in the preceding general election in 2013. Hamim was a two-term incumbent back then.

In GE15, Hamim is once again contesting Ledang on a BN ticket. Other candidates in Ledang include Perikatan Nasional’s Zaidi Abdul Majid, Gerakan Tanah Air’s Rafidah Ridwan and independent candidates Zainal Bahrom A Kadir and Yunus Mustakim.

Ledang is a mixed seat with Malay voters making up around 56% of the vote base, followed by Chinese voters at 39%, Indians at 5% and others at 1%, according to statistics from 2018.

Prior to the 2022 Johor state election, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and the eighth prime minister, was the state assemblyman for the Gambir state seat within Ledang.

In GE14, all of the state seats within Ledang were won by the PH coalition. Besides Gambir, the Serom and Tangkak seats were also secured by PH candidates.

However, in the 2022 Johor state election, BN returned to secure the state seats of Serom and Gambir.

Meanwhile the Tangkak seat, where Chinese voters made up 49% of the vote base compared with Malay voters who accounted for 40%, was retained by incumbent Ee Chin Li from PH, with a much-reduced majority.

The return of BN to Ledang poses a challenge for Syed Ibrahim, the incumbent MP from PH.

Will he be able to retain Ledang for the PH coalition, or will Ledang return to BN? Or will PN stage a surprise and win here?

“During Covid-19, we have helped the entire community, so that they get the rightful assistance to weather the crisis. And God-willing, I am determined to continue my service in Ledang, and I get to continue to serve all facets of the community here,” says Syed Ibrahim during the ceramah.

“It is not just about position or power, but we want to continue to serve. Therefore, with God’s will, give us another chance to continue our service here in Ledang,” he pleaded to the voters there.

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