TANAH RATA: The first ever debate involving candidates in Malaysian election history turned out to be a tame affair here yesterday night.
It was to be a highly anticipated debate but the reponse was lukewarm with rows and rows of empty seats.
Nevertheless, the three candidates on the stage took it with gusto to push that they were the right choice in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election on Saturday.
Independent candidate Wong Seng Yee, a farmer with a Masters’ degree , was a standout as he came in a farmer’s outfit, hat and boots and all.
Most of the voters in the higlands are from the farming community.
Besides Wong, the debate titled ‘What Changes are Needed in Cameron Highlands’ was particpated by Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M.Manogaran and another independent, Salehuddin Ab Talib. Barisan Nasional candidate Ramli Mohd Nor was a no-show.
It was organised by Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih 2.0) with the moderator being senior fellow of Institut Kajian Malaysia dan Antarabangsa (Ikmas), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Assoc Prof Dr Faisal S. Hazis.
The lukewarm response was due to two other programmes held at the same time nearby. One a PH rally featuring PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the other a joint Umno Youth and PAS one with Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and PAS Youth chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi present.
At the debate, asked what the Orang Asli community in the highlands could hope for from them, Manogaran among others said he was ready to bring the Pahang government to court if they had taken their lands for development projects.
Wong, meanwhile, said Orang Asli land would be made reserves while Sallehudin wanted to focus on their children’s education because of the high drop out rate involving the community. — Bernama
