GE14 | Chinese constituents interviewed have expressed the desire for caretaker health minister and MIC president Dr S Subramaniam (above) to defend his Segamat parliamentary seat in the 14th general election on May 9.

If these constituents can be regarded as being representative of the community in Segamat, it would be smooth sailing for Subramaniam, 65, to retain the seat that he has held for three terms now.

Trader Yong Hong, 57, said Subramaniam had implemented the promises he had made and brought much change to the constituency, especially Segamat town, in terms of economic, infrastructural and social development.

He said the caretaker health minister had increased the number of medical specialists at the Segamat Hospital, thus enabling the people to receive better medical and health services.

“The people in Segamat no longer have to travel to Muar, Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur to see medical specialists,” he told Bernama.

Yong Hong said he had a great deal of confidence in Subramaniam and would vote for Barisan Nasional again in the coming election.

He said he hoped that the BN government would also give priority to developing the tourism sector in Segamat because of the district’s strategic and geographical location between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

“Many tourists travelling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur complain of the lack of tourist attractions in Segamat. They say they only make a brief stopover in Segamat during their journey north and do not spend much time in the town,” he said.

This sentiment was shared by Ng Siok Kian, 58, who runs a tailoring business there.

She also said that Subramaniam was an amiable political leader who always had the interest of his constituents at heart.

“Practically every weekend, he will come down to look into the problems of the constituents despite his busy schedule as a minister,” she said.

The owner of a tailor shop said she would continue to support the BN because the opposition was only good at making promises that could not be fulfilled.

A former teacher, Lee Yim, said she would also vote for Subramaniam.

“We are not sure if other leaders can emulate what Subramaniam has been doing for the Segamat parliamentary constituency during his three terms as the MP,” she said.

She also expressed the hope that the BN government would give greater focus to the Chinese community because many young Chinese were unhappy with the attention they were being given.

“As a veteran who is loyal to the BN and MCA, I understand that the government has not forgotten to attend to the Chinese but the younger generation feels that there is a lack of attention,” she said.

– Bernama