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ELECTION 2008: Are Penang folk looking for new direction?
20-Feb-2008, News Straits Times

Penang has become a hot spot, with the opposition hoping to exploit what they see as growing discontent, especially in Chinese-majority areas. But will this dissatisfaction translate into votes? LEE SIEW LIAN and MELISSA DARLYNE CHOW write.

REVEREND Koe Choon Huan is happy with the performance of his member of parliament and state assemblyman. But, when he casts his vote in March, he will consider more than just how they have taken care of their constituencies.

"It is not important whether Gerakan wins Penang in this election, state or federal," said the 50-year-old pastor. "Good governance plays a key role," said the six-time voter registered in the Air Putih state seat and the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat. He said he would also weigh the treatment of issues, such as the environment, social problems, transparency of government projects and corruption.

"It is their responsibility to represent me in addressing the ills of the nation." One in three voters in Penang are, like Koe, putting issues ahead of parties and candidates in deciding how to vote, according to a Merdeka Center survey of the state last month. The survey findings indicate an absence of major issues likely to cause a swing against incumbent parties, said Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian.

Penang has become a hot spot, with the opposition, the DAP in particular, hoping to exploit what they see as growing discontent in the Chinese- majority areas. The opposition won only two of the 40 state seats, and five of the 13 parliamentary seats in the last election. It will have to fight hard for support among non-Malay voters, despite what appear to be hot-button issues, said Ibrahim. Historically, most Malays in the state have voted for BN, which seems unlikely to change this round.

"In seats where Malays make up 50 per cent or less of voters, the quality of the candidates will matter a lot more," said Ibrahim. The Merdeka Center interviewed more than 1,200 registered voters in a representative sample, along the lines of parliamentary districts, ethnicity, gender and age. Responses on a slew of issues, national hot-button issues in particular, seem to be in keeping with perceptions that Penang voters are disgruntled.

The majority also appear dissatisfied with local and state government performance on neighbourhood issues, such as traffic and crime. But they also indicate high levels of satisfaction with the way things are going in Penang, which is led by the Chinese-dominated Gerakan. "Across ethnic groups, national issues appear not to have had a serious impact on the public in the state." A quarter of the voters have decided which party they are voting for, according to the findings, while a third say they are looking at the issues and the remaining third, the candidates.

Despite concern over countrywide issues, such as inflation, crime rates and corruption, seven in 10 voters feel Penang is doing well. Significantly, there is no single burning local issue. One in three voters say they have no issues and see no problems in the constituencies where they live, bolstering the impression that they are happy with the way things are. Crime and public safety, a long-running issue, is second, with one in five voters citing it as their top issue.

Congestion and public transport come in a distant third, with only nine per cent saying it is their top issue. Public transport, for a long time an intractable matter, has improved since the launch of the RapidPenang bus network. This has greatly improved perceptions among voters, with approval ratings for public transport rising from a low point of 36 per cent last March to 53 per cent now.

Voters, especially non-Malays, remain pessimistic about two national issues: racial equality and corruption. Half of all voters said they were unhappy over how their race was treated by the government. Almost three quarters of Indian voters surveyed said they were unhappy, which Ibrahim said followed in the wake of the Hindu Rights Action Force demonstrations in November.

In proportion to their presence in the state, about 17 per cent were unhappy over the unequal treatment. Among Chinese voters, it was 59 per cent, making up two-thirds of those unhappy over the unequal treatment. Among Malays, it was about a quarter, translating to about 17 per cent of those who were unhappy. Corruption scored even worse, with about two thirds of those surveyed saying they were pessimistic about the issue.

Despite this, they generally gave MPs and state assemblymen high marks for their performance, with Barisan Nasional seat Nibong Tebal doing the best with 78 per cent. Bolstering this was their optimism over the national education system, where the perception of creeping Islamisation has, in the past, created controversy.