TANJUNG KARANG, Aug 2 — "Tan Sri did so much for Tanjong Karang, and people here don’t easily forget.”

For Aini Sanusi, a 53-year-old paddy farmer in Sawah Sempadan within the Sungai Burong state seat under the former federal constituency of Tan Sri Noh Omar, the former Umno leader’s mark in the area was indelible.

Also a Tok Sidang, the customary leader for one of the villages here, Aini said Noh was a familiar face in the area who has endeared himself to residents.

"If I talk to my community here, they all would say they meet Noh here more often than not. I think visiting the kampung folks here once in a while is one of the many ways to win their hearts.

"Apart from that, when Noh was a minister, he would promote Tanjong Karang by organising events here and we received a lot of visitors,” he told Malay Mail.

Noh was a five-term MP for Tanjung Karang whose streak was only broken when he was dropped for the 15th general election last year for the division’s Wanita Umno chief, Habibah Mohd Yusof, who lost to Perikatan Nasional’s Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi.

Noh was eventually expelled from Umno after he told the party to sack him instead of suspending him as part of a crackdown of dissidents earlier in the year.

The incumbent for Sungai Burong is Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Mohd Shamsuddin Lias, a colleague of Noh’s when the latter was still in Umno.

With Shamsuddin being replaced by first-timer Mohamad Khir Ramli and with Noh firmly in the camp of the rival Perikatan Nasional coalition, BN is expected to have an uphill task retaining the constituency.

PN is also betting on Noh’s popularity extending to the neighbouring state constituency of Permatang, fielding his daughter — Nurul Syazwani Noh — to maximise its chances of winning the seat against Pakatan Harapan’s Mohd Yahya Mat Shari, who is replacing incumbent Rozana Zainal Abidin.

However, another Tok Sidang, Mohd Nadzef Mohd Saruwi from Sawah Sempadan Selatan within the Permatang seat, said this was not likely to happen.

"I live in the Permatang side of Tanjong Karang and it is near Kuala Selangor and PH has a strong base there. The MP there (Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad) is from PH. I guess we all see how Kuala Selangor is getting the attention they need from the state and federal government, making the voters in my area siding with PH,” he said.

Despite the fierce contest for support expected in the area for the August 12 state election, both Aini and Nadzef did not set high expectations for their eventual elected representatives.

Instead, both said they would be content to see the local infrastructure kept in good repair.

"Just maintain it. If there are potholes on the road, fix it. We don’t ask for mega projects to be built here. Just maintain it,” added Aini.

Same up north

In the Sungai Besar federal constituency farther north, the situation was again mirrored, with PH tipped to keep the Sekinchan seat and BN struggling to retain Sungai Panjang.

As Chinese voters made up over half the 23,660 voters in Sekinchan, incumbent Ng Suee Lim should have an easy path to a fifth consecutive term against his PN challenger, Bersatu associate member Goh Gaik Meng.

A fruit farmer, who asked to be named only as Wong, said it was not just the Chinese community who would vote for Ng, saying the latter has also endeared himself with Malay residents through his ability to speak with them in the Javanese accent common in the area.

"It has been 19 years and he did a great job taking care of us and the other Selangor residents. He’s the Speaker of the state assembly. That has sort of raised our name higher apart from our famous dishes such as ikan bakar (grilled fish) and activities such as fishing.

"We like him, there should be no reason for us, the laidback community, wanting drastic changes,” he said.

Up in Sungai Panjang, however, things appeared less promising for BN’s chances of retaining the seat it has controlled since 1974.

The incumbent is the coalition’s Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin, a first-time Umno assemblyman who won the seat in 2018.

But with the way Datuk Muslimin Yahaya retained the Sungai Besar federal seat in last year’s general election, however, the Malay nationalist party is also expected to struggle to keep Sungai Panjang.

Muslimin was an Umno member until 2018, when he joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and first won the seat as part of the PH coalition that triumphed in the 14th general election then.

He won the seat again during last year’s 15th general election, when PN rode the so-called "green wave” to sweep Perlis, Kelantan, and Terengganu as well as making inroads into PH and BN states including Selangor.

Local fisherman Mohamad Azam Shariat, 63, said Muslimin has been accessible to Sungai Panjang residents needing his aid.

"Muslimin is always around. We all know and talk about his political career. He had been with Umno for 10 years and then he joined Bersatu and won here in 2018 with PH and last year with PN (general election),” he said.

"He helped us a lot. We didn’t ask for it but he did it anyway. The jetty here always had a problem with high electricity bills and Muslimin sorted us out by installing solar-powered lamps around here. We never knew about it. He would always visit us from time to time to ask about us. It’s nice. It’s different from other politicians who came here during election season and helped us once like paying off the electricity bills and then left.

"Muslimin had always been attentive to our concerns here,” he said.

Muslimin took the Sungai Besar constituency in 2018 by just 714 votes, but the number would rise to 2,721 in 2022.

Commenting on this, Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos — who lost to Muslimin in last year’s GE15 — said PN has had a head start against his coalition.

"They are the Opposition, they have nothing to do while the unity government is busy with real work. They had more time to organise talks and upload more videos on social media,” he told Malay Mail.

"I believe that the tide will turn after we start campaigning for the state elections,” he added.

Selangor along with Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, and Terengganu will go to the polls on August 12 after all six states declined to dissolve their assemblies along with Parliament for last year’s general election.