The Orang Asli is immune to race and religious extremism.
Since it was created in 2003, the Nenggiri seat in the rural state of Kelantan had been the fixed deposit of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) – till it was lost by just 810 votes in the August 2023 state election. The “green wave” tsunami (referring to the PAS Islamist party’s green logo), which started in the 15th General Election in November 2022, swept the state constituency away from UMNO’s grip.
Even during the disastrous May 2018 General Election, which saw the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition ending in the opposition camp after losing power for the first time since independence (1957), the Malay nationalist party could still defend Nenggiri, albeit by a small majority of 461. Therefore, it was a huge humiliation to UMNO when it failed to defend its fortress in August 2023.
But what goes up must come down. That’s Newton’s Law. After six decades in power, UMNO suffered its unthinkable defeat under the disgraced Najib Razak leadership, whose infamous 1MDB scandal brought down the Barisan Nasional ruling government in 2018. His deputy, Zahid Hamidi, took over the party presidency. But the clueless, incompetent and corrupt new leader led UMNO to a bigger defeat in 2022.
Over the weekend, thanks again to Newton Law, UMNO can afford to smile after it wrested the seat from rival Perikatan Nasional. As one of the governing partners in Prime Minister Anwar’s Unity Government, Barisan Nasional recaptured Nenggiri with a bigger majority of 3,352 votes, securing 9,091 votes or 61.35% of the total votes – defeating the rival Bersatu candidate, who garnered only 38.65% or 5,739 votes.
The turnout of about 74% – higher than 61% registered in the August 2023 state election – suggests that people wanted to send a message. More importantly, the sweet victory in the Malay-majority Nenggiri could be used by PM Anwar, whose own party PKR (People’s Justice Party) lost badly in another Malay-majority seat Sungai Bakap in Penang about six weeks ago, to brag about his Madani popularity.
If only the narcissist premier had the crystal ball to predict the by-election results, he would have gone to Nenggiri and started crowing about his own self. But even UMNO was stunned by the unexpected massive majority. Even though this is a Malay-majority seat, the real kingmaker is the 13.8% “other ethnic groups”, including a large number of the indigenous Orang Asli.
Yes, UMNO knew from the beginning which side of the bread must be buttered. The more than 2,700 Orang Asli will decide the winner and the loser. It was the same secret recipe used by the previous Barisan Nasional government to win Nenggiri in the past four consecutive elections with between 2,000 to 3,800 votes majority. The Orang Asli is immune to race and religious extremism.
That explains why UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi visited Nenggiri six times, including campaigning in all five posts of Orang Asli to solicit their support. The indigenous people were reminded not to be hoodwinked by the promise of “moon and stars” offered by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), a key member of Perikatan Nasional that has been ruling Kelantan since 1990.
When UMNO candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani won about 90% of votes in all five polling centres of Orang Asli in Tohoi, Sungai Puian, Sungai Jenera, Simpor and Sungai Wias, it was game over for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail. Even during its worst period (August 2023’s green wave), Barisan Nasional still grabbed 5,707 votes or 47% of total votes.
It was clearly a desperate move when Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin begged the indigenous Orang Asli to split their votes for both contestants. He also promised to appoint an Orang Asli officer if Bersatu wins. However, he received the “middle finger” instead. Orang Asli might not be very clever, but they know who controls the national purse strings.
Exactly why should the Orang Asli vote for Perikatan Nasional, who still can’t provide clean water for the people despite running Kelantan since 1990? UMNO might be nasty and corrupt, but at least it has access to funding at the federal level. The opposition’s attack on UMNO for allowing DAP-Chinese to “dominate the government” also has been ignored by the Orang Asli.
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s playbook – attacking the Anwar government’s lifting of a comic book authored by a former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau was seen as nothing but barking like a mad dog. The Orang Asli could not bother about Communist China, let alone about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Muhyiddin’s reliance on Malay votes alone was a strategic mistake.
But all it takes to win the Nenggiri by-election is one ATM (automated teller machine). As hilarious as it may sound, the biggest factor in winning not only the Orang Asli, but also the Malay votes is a basic facility called ATM. The villagers of Nenggiri complained they were forced to pay RM50 return taxi fare just to travel 50 km to withdraw cash from Gua Musang or Dabong towns.
It was a blessing in disguise that UMNO lost the seat in August last year. This time, the issue was promptly resolved, with an ATM installed just three days before polling day at a local market in Kampung Jerek. With the machine expected to benefit over 30,000 people, the Malays were extremely happy and grateful. Not even a promise of heaven and 72 virgins by PAS could beat the ATM.
Still, the fact that the previous Barisan Nasional ruling government had overlooked, or deliberately ignored, such a simple tool for the people in Nenggiri proves why UMNO deserves to be voted out in the first place. Only after they lost everything that they realize the importance of listening to the people, instead of being busy stealing money through corruption.
This is a classic example where a government does not need to spend millions in gimmicks such as 1Malaysia or Madanistan sloganeering. Neither do you need to terrorise Chinese-owned businesses like KK Mart over five pairs of socks to fish for Malay votes. Villagers struggling to withdraw their hard-earned money also don’t care about geopolitical conflict halfway around the globe in the Middle East.
Ordinary people care about bread-and-butter issues, including inflation, housing, transport, education, healthcare, cost of living and childcare costs. This is something which both Bersatu and PAS leaders failed to understand. Heck, Perikatan Nasional was so clueless that its by-election operations director, Annuar Musa, arrogantly dressed himself in an RM13,600 Louis Vuitton jacket while distributing Maggi noodles to the Orang Asli community.
But there’s a third crucial factor contributing to UMNO capturing six out of every 10 votes in Nenggiri – internal sabotage and backstabbing by Bersatu’s own members and supporters. The seat was declared vacant by the Kelantan state assembly speaker following the sacking of incumbent Azizi Abu Naim by his own party Bersatu, after he turned rogue and declared support for the Anwar government.
Arguing that Bersatu candidates are untrustworthy and prone to betrayal, PAS forced its partner to nominate a PAS member disguised as a Bersatu candidate – or risk facing a boycott. Without PAS’ machinery and grassroots support, Bersatu is guaranteed to lose. Therefore, the comical move of Mohd Rizwadi quitting PAS and joining Bersatu about 24 hours before being named as Perikatan Nasional’s candidate.
It was a slap in the face of Muhyiddin Yassin, who still fantasizes about becoming a prime minister for the second time after he was prematurely forced to resign in August 2021. But the traitor who betrayed the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020 had to suck it up. He still remembered how Bersatu suffered its defeat in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, losing with a 3,869-vote majority to Pang Sock Tao from DAP.
That by-election in May saw the PAS Islamist party quietly sabotaging Bersatu by attacking Pang’s academic qualification as well as Chinese vernacular schools. It motivated the Chinese community to go out in full force to vote for DAP, despite an initial plan to teach PM Anwar Ibrahim a lesson. Nenggiri provided an opportunity for vengeful Muhyiddin to return the favour.
After all, Bersatu had already lost the Nenggiri seat the moment PAS decided to parachute its own candidate. It shows the bad blood between both parties has deteriorated. Even if Mohd Rizwadi had won, his loyalty would be to the Islamist party. To make matters worse, PAS gave Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin another slap – forcing Bersatu to use the PAS logo.
By using the PAS logo, and not the Perikatan Nasional banner, it sends a message that the Islamist party has no respect whatsoever for ex-PM Muhyiddin. This has demoralized and demonized members of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party. In retaliation, angry Bersatu supporters had no choice but to betray and sabotage PAS. If Bersatu is denied Nenggiri, PAS too can’t have it. – Finance Twitter