The 2018 general elections will largely be determined by the intensity of the opposition coalition’s campaign, the public’s reaction to the ruling coalition’s electoral pledges and, of course, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
At the same time, the quality of individual candidates and the races they run will be central to the opposition coalition’s chances of retaining Selangor. With this in mind, here are nine candidates to watch in gauging which way and how hard the electoral winds are blowing in Selangor.
Ong Kian Ming is a DAP leader who is stress-tested with the capacity to make any crisis seem manageable. This was evident when he was tasked with winning the seat of Serdang as a first term politician. Serdang was one of the largest constituencies in GE13, numbering 133,139 voters. Instead of imploding, his nerves held firm and in May 2013 he won the seat with a majority of 42, 206 votes.
We are familiar with politicians with unstable characters hidden behind unshakeable beliefs. Ong Kian Ming emerges from every account as solid. His staff and political colleagues readily testify to his confidence, intelligence and tolerance. Yet, initially he never considered entering politics. “I did not join a political party until 2012. There was a period of 14 years in between, from the start of my political awakening at the dawn of the Reformasi movement in 1998 to 2010, when I returned to Malaysia after completing my studies. By then, I was approached by some friends in DAP to help out in the party and that’s how I got involved in politics.”
“I joined DAP because it is a multi-racial party and DAP has been consistent in speaking up on issues regardless of race and religion.”
You could call him the classic definition of a leader. He is a rooted pragmatist. His opinions are drawn from a series of statistical data, rather than any explicable ideological narrative. For an electorate looking for substance, he is a breath of fresh air. By being unfazed, with his ability and confidence, it may well carry him to a successful re-election in the newly drawn electoral seat of Bangi (formerly known as Serdang) with a sizable increase of voters to 178,790, making it the largest constituency in the country.
“It is not unsurmountable. I think this time around, Pakatan Harapan has tried very hard to come out with the larger narrative and show that we have a game plan for the national level but of course local representatives should have a good grasp of the local issues. In my constituency, one important thing is to observe how the MRT Line 1 usage rate is and understand what are the factors preventing some people from using the MRT. The other thing affecting my constituency is the tolls where any increase in the price of tolls will affect my constituents because my constituency is surrounded by tolls.”
Despite the negative perception of his political affiliation, it is clear that Ong Kian Ming wants to bridge the divide with his Malay constituents who make up 49% of the electorate. To better empathise with his large Malay voting population, he has undertaken to fast during Ramadhan as a mark of respect. This is the authentic side of Ong Kian Ming’s character and not the one the public knows.
If his track record in public is anything to go by it is his ability to bring national issues to the forefront that has been the basis of his appeal. However, he hopes that in the coming elections his constituents will vote for him because, “I hope to inspire more young people to get involved in politics and understand that politics is not necessarily dirty and you don’t have to engage in mud-slinging to get your point across. You can have a different approach that is rooted in facts.”
