JELEBU: Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Umry Abdul Khois is using his fluency in Mandarin as part of his strategy to wrest the Pertang seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Negeri Sembilan state election.
The candidate from PKR said he would continue to approach and woo Malay voters, who comprise 65.5% of the electorate in Pertang.
Nonetheless, he said his proficiency in Mandarin would make it easier for him to canvass for votes among the Chinese community, which makes up 20.1% of the electorate in the Umno stronghold.
“Thankfully, I have the advantage of being fluent in Mandarin, having studied at SJKC Pertang. I also live in Pertang and my entire family is from here,” he told FMT.
Pertang, which has been held by Umno since 1964, is being vied for by Umry, state BN chief Jalaluddin Alias and Bersatu candidate Faizal Fadli Idrus.
While Umry has to contend with a heavyweight in Jalaluddin, the PKR man said his focus is on convincing voters to back PH for its track record.
Jalaluddin is seeking a third term as assemblyman for the seat, which falls under the Jelebu parliamentary constituency which BN has represented since 2018.
He won the seat in a straight fight with Perikatan Nasional by a majority of 2,790 votes in 2023, when PH and BN contested as allies.
This time around, BN is cooperating with PN while PH is going solo in all 36 seats.
