You’re joking: Simpang Renggam voters question talk of Maszlee as Johor MB candidate

In Simpang Renggam, talk that the incumbent MP will be named as Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate for menteri besar if the coalition wins the upcoming polls in Johor has been met by disbelief by voters who say that Maszlee Malik has done nothing for them since winning the federal seat in the 2018 general election.

Maszlee, PKR’s candidate for the state seat of Layang-Layang, was a Cabinet member during PH’s 22-month tenure in Putrajaya.

But voters in his parliamentary constituency who spoke to MalaysiaNow said he had done little aside from bringing fast food giant McDonald’s to the area.

“What has he done for the past few years?” one of them who introduced himself as Firdaus said, laughing as he was told of the rumour.

“McDonald’s, that’s about the extent of his contributions.”

Maszlee was education minister during the PH administration, resigning about a month before the Sheraton Move which saw the collapse of the coalition after Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as prime minister.

One of four candidates contesting the Layang-Layang seat, he will be up against K Alagathiran of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Abdul Mutalib Abd Rahim of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Ahmad Syafiq Othaman of Pejuang.

The state seat was won by a BN candidate at the 14th general election (GE14) – Onn Hafiz Ghazi who is now contesting the seat of Machap.

In October 2020, Maszlee said he was grateful to have brought McDonald’s to Simpang Renggam, and that he hoped it would bring employment opportunities for the locals.

‘Lucky’

But Firdaus referred to other promises Maszlee had made at GE14 which he said were not yet fulfilled.

“The Simpang Renggam tol is still there,” he said, a reference to Maszlee’s pledge to abolish toll collections in the area should PH succeed in taking Putrajaya.

Maszlee had even told voters to hold him to his word if he did not make good on his promise.

He came under heavy fire on social media after his appointment as education minister, with internet users saying the promise had been a lie and accusing him of failing to keep his word.

Three of his Facebook posts on the abolishment of the toll were later believed to have been taken down.

In October 2020, MalaysiaNow revealed that Maszlee was the only former Bersatu MP to have signed a statutory declaration in support of PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister.

He joined PKR some three months before the Johor polls were announced.

Firdaus said Maszlee had been lucky at GE14 as the wave against BN had been strong enough to see even Johor falling to PH.

“Compare what he did with what Abah has done in Johor,” he said, referring to former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin, who leads the PN coalition, hails from Johor and was menteri besar there from 1986 to 1995.

Maszlee had been active in the field of education and academics and once lectured at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

He joined Bersatu which was then a PH component a month before GE14. He was nominated as PH’s candidate for Simpang Renggam where he defeated the incumbent from BN, Liang Teck Meng.

One of Firdaus’ friends who wished to be known as Alif also expressed surprise at talk that Maszlee would be named as menteri besar.

Alif, who sells fruits at the side of one of the main roads in Simpang Renggam, said he was still unsure of Maszlee’s role as MP aside from the pictures uploaded on Facebook each time the politician returned to his constituency.

“Whether he is here or not makes no difference,” he said. “It feels like nothing changes.”

Adding that Maszlee could not compare to Muhyiddin, he said the Simpang Renggam MP did not know the people of Johor.

“When politicians return to the area, we are friendly. But see what happens on polling day,” he said.

At an eatery some 50m from Alif’s stall, the owner, Reza, said he was happy with the friendliness Maszlee showed as a people’s representative.

He added that Maszlee’s presence at shops and housing areas was praiseworthy.

Nevertheless, he said this was not enough for him to be nominated as menteri besar of Johor.

“He is a good lecturer but he cannot challenge Abah,” Reza said. “They need to find someone else with more experience.”