Perai, one of the state under Parliament Batu Kawan might see a 4 corner fight. BN, DAP, PCM & HRP. Im also excited on who will the candidate be. Born & have been living in Perai the last 32 years, i believe the Rakyat wants the best to be nominated. There are few individuals who are interested in contesting in Perai, L. Krishnan (Coordinator for Perai), Muthaiyah (Batu Kawan MIC Chairman), Dhina (Penang MIC Youth Leader), Muniswaran ( Penang Secretary - Special Implementation Task Force, Cabinet Committee For Indians ) & Devavijayan ( Batu Kawan MIC Youth Leader ). As from DAP, Prof Ramasamy might be asked to defend his seat. PCM is yet to finalize on its candidate and im not sure on HRP's stand.
From my point of view, the youths should be given an opportunity. That brings down the list to 3. Who is the most eligible? Will MIC take into account what the locals really want? Will MIC elect those who have the heart for serving and contributing for the locals? Will MIC select those who has a vision to uplift the living standard, particularly the youth? There are many questions that can be put in written now. This general Election is not as those previous one's. Candidate choice is important.
Total voters so far is around 14,800 and the percentage by race Malay 10.86% ( 1607 ), Chinese 51.82% ( 7669 ), Indian 36.62% ( 5419 ) & Others 0.7% (100). Recently i did a study by short listing all the candidates and by point base to see the most eligible one. I calculated base on each individual of their -
- Age
- Availability of fund for donation / activities / ground work
- Family Reputation,
- Local & Grass root leader
- Team leader with a good team members comprising locals
- Ground work / Charity
- Education
- Personal record of current and past
- Ground support
From my perspective, I believe MIC has the capability of giving a strong fight for the seat. BN can expect an 75-80% ( 1285 ) from Malay votes, 45-55% ( 2980 ) of Indian votes and about 30% ( 2300 ) of Chinese votes. A estimated of 6565 votes. Other than DAP, thevotes will go for HRP, PCM and some spoil votes. But not to forget, PCM has good grass root support from all races. Huan Cheng Guan has a good rep o with the locals here.
Perai which is considered 'Kawasan Hitam' can be retained or at least the majority reduced if a candidate base on above factor is nominated. Support from ground for a local who has good family reputation will be the main factor. Since there are a few eligible candidiate, i would love to see a debate among the wannabe candidate on their vision, future plans, ideas to improve the living standard of the people, preserving history and heritage of Perai, reducing crime rates among youths and etc.
How is the ground support for BN currently? I think i will just put aside that q. On the 14th Apr ( Saturday ) the Penang State MIC Youth had launched its Election Machinery. How many locals and voters were there? Why did the MIC Division Chairman opted not to attend the event? A Deputy Minister had arrived much earlier and had to wait for the local top leaders. The program location was surrounded with Kampung Manis, Taman Inderawasih, Pangsapuri Kelisa, Inderawasih low cost flat. Kampung Main Road & Prima Perai is about 2-3km away. But how many who had turn up for the launching of the machinery were locals and members of the public not affiliated to any political party?
Anyway, lets wait and see on how MIC will be choosing its candidate and who it will be. As for PCM, will it place its candidate? Will Prof Ramasamy remain here or opt to other seat? But my vote, families, friends, team members & supporters will be base not on party alone, but the candidate it self. This election, many will vote by taking into consideration not base on party alone but also the candidate.