Perils of parachuting into KL seats

‘Parachute candidates’ who land in any of the 11 parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur could well be on a suicide mission, according to veteran MCA politician Dr Lee Chong Meng.

He should know. Even having served city folk for the last 15 years, he cannot count on being voted in automatically.

"Parachuting someone new into any seat in Kuala Lumpur is akin to political suicide. As it stands, it is difficult enough for someone like me who has served the community for 15 years to win - what more if the candidate has no track record," he said.

It won’t stop the MCA Bukit Bintang division head and ex-Senator from trying again, assuming he makes the cut, since MCA expected to turn over 45 percent of seats to new faces for the polls on March 8.

Lee, a veterinarian by training and long nicknamed ‘Dr Ayam’, refused to confirm his candidacy for the Bukit Bintang parlimentary seat.

However, he categorically denied talk that he had nominated someone else for the seat which went to DAP’s Fong Kui Lun for a second term in 2004.

"Before any election, this sort of speculation is quite common... I’ve not recommended anyone for Bukit Bintang," Lee said in an interview yesterday at the service centre he has set up in Lorong Haji Taib.

"But there are always ambitious so-called calun who want to surface as candidates without any track record. These so-called politicians who haven’t done anything want to use the space in the papers to popularise themselves."

Rumour is rife that the MCA could choose Pandan MP Ong Tee Keat ( photo ), Wangsa Maju MP Yew Teong Look, Bukit Bintang MCA secretary Frankie Gan or assistant organising secretary Lisa Teoh.

On MCA’s chances of wresting Bukit Bintang from DAP, Lee said, "Some people predict a 50-50 fight but you never know with Bukit Bintang as it’s an anti-establishment area."

The seat, a DAP stronghold, has 61,051 voters - 74 percent Chinese, 15 percent Malays and 11 percent Indians. There are also 5,888 postal voters, an increase of 1,000 since 2004.

In 2004, there was a four-corner fight for the seat and DAP scraped through with a bare majority of 304 votes.

Assessing the competition

While conceding that it will be an uphill task to dislodge the DAP, Lee expressed surprise over remarks by opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang, during a visit to the Imbi market recently.

"Lim (photo) said that Bukit Bintang had become a dark area for DAP. It is very surprising as the seat has a high concentration of Chinese voters, and they usually do well in those areas. He also alleged that more than 6,000 postal voters had moved into the seat, but this is not true."

Lee claimed that it was the DAP that had requested for reinforcements to combat crime in the constituency, leading to additional police personnel being assigned to the Dang Wangi and Brickfields stations.

Under election regulations, the voting constituencies of police and military personnel and their spouses are based on the place of work and not residential addresses.

Lee pointed out that, even with this, total postal votes will only account for 9 percent of the total number of votes.

"If they do lose Bukit Bintang, it would mean that DAP has lost touch with voters," he said.

The battle for the seat is expected to mirror the epic battles of 1995 and 1999. DAP is predicted to retain Fong (photo), but former Bukit Bintang MP and lawyer Wee Choo Keong may make a comeback.

Motivational speaker Lim Peng Soon, who goes by the name Billi Lim, is expected to stand again as an Independent.

"No disrespect to Billi or Wee, but DAP will be our biggest hurdle. Maybe, Wee will do better this year as he has been in the limelight," said Lee with a smile.

"However I don’t think it’s anything more than a marketing gimmick for Billi. Maybe, after the elections, he will write another bestseller."

Wee had represented senior lawyer VK Lingam’s brother Thirunama Karasu during the just-concluded inquiry by the royal commission on the Lingam tape.

Lim had written a motivational book ‘Dare to Fail’ losing his maiden outing in the 1995 general election.