‘In Isa we trust’

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

PORT DICKSON, Oct 5 — Even though he voted DAP’s Tan Kok Wai in the last general election, he would back Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad if he has the chance to vote in Bagan Pinang.

“I am from Lukut so I am more familiar with Isa, I don’t know about other people,” said a Chinese shopkeeper as he arranged cans of what appears to be China-made, “fake” European beer at his shop in a commercial centre situated some 10km from here.

He has been a Cheras voter all his adult life, and had only recently applied to be transferred to the constituency so he is most likely not able to vote on Oct 11.

For him, Isa is a nice man who has brought a lot of development to his small former mining town when he was the mentri besar.

“I am not sure what PAS is up to these days,” said his wife, referring to the recent actions of the Islamist party in Selangor in attempting to ban the sale of beer in convenience stores.

About 4km away in an all-Malay village called Kampung Baru Si Rusa, PAS almost has no presence.

“There are some PAS supporters here, but they are the minority,” said teacher Suhaili Ahmad, who also runs a stall in the evening selling what she calls Soup Power, along the village’s main road.

“When I got married in the year 2000, Tan Sri Isa attended our wedding,” she added.

Isa talking to teachers at SK Telok Kemang. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

The mother of two is hoping for Isa to win big this time, as she is in need of government assistance to expand her business which she jointly manages with her husband.

“We applied for a Tekun loan and received RM20,000, which I have used to enlarge the shop,” she said, referring to the micro-credit scheme run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry.

Suhaili took out her camera to show us what the stall used to look like; a humble wooden structure only one-fourth of its current size.

“The highway was built during Isa’s time, it helps to ease congestion in the village; before that during Chinese New Year there was no way we could drive out of this place,” she said.

The Port Dickson Highway, opened in 1997, which was meant to shorten the travel period between the state capital and this coastal town, also opened accessibility to the village.

Suhaili now uses the highway almost every day to get to the primary school in Lukut town, where she teaches English.

Isa’s influence runs deep in the whole of the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency, within which Bagan Pinang is situated.

Suhaili runs the Soup Power stall.

At a dialogue session with local teachers just before nomination, the former Umno vice-president was seen as a problem solver.

“I hope the declaration of Port Dickson as an Army town will bring business opportunities to my husband,” said a teacher from Sekolah Kebangsaan Teluk Kemang, who is married to a retired soldier and has settled in the town.

“My housing area needs more street humps,” said another teacher.

When giving his speech, while promising to solve the teachers’ problems, he gave a list of projects planned for Port Dickson — some of them mooted during his administration, like the flood prevention system.

“I remember all of them, like a teacher who remembers whole textbooks,” said Isa.

And to the Indian community, Isa promised to revive the six-year-old low-cost housing project at Siliau Estate.

“If you vote for me that will be a very easy thing for me to solve,” said Isa.