KUALA LUMPUR – Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has made a tongue-in-cheek comment to the housing and local government minister, inviting him to consider allocating funds to Muar, emphasising the area’s auspiciousness.
Responding to minister Nga Kor Ming’s recent allocation of RM5.21 million for projects in Kuala Kubu Baharu shortly before its upcoming by-election, Syed Saddiq criticised the move as being perceived as a form of election bribery.
“It’s okay, we follow the minister’s (Nga) logic. I hope the minister can come to Muar, allocate millions of ringgit because Muar has a lot of ‘ong’ (luck) and has good ‘feng shui’,” he said in a brief video posted on social media platform X today.
Pilihanraya Kecil minggu depan, Menteri umumkan gula-gula Pilihanraya RM5juta.
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) April 19, 2024
Alasan?
Sebab kawasan ada Fengshui & Ong bagus 😅
Takpa saya bersangka baik.
Mohon Menteri turun Muar & berikan peruntukan juta juta kerana “Ong & Fengshui” sini bagus juga ✌️ pic.twitter.com/D4G27ltgPi
The former president of youth party Muda said he did not know if he should feel sad or angry because parliament constituencies that are held by opposition parties have not been getting any allocations.
“Dear minister, since when is ‘feng shui’ and ‘ong’ concentrated in areas that have elections? Since when did we legalise election bribes with the argument (that the area) has ‘ong’ and ‘feng shui’?” he said in the video.
Yesterday, Nga announced various projects worth RM5.21 million for Kuala Kubu Baharu, saying that the allocation was not because of the by-election but because the area was a very lucky place.
“The ‘feng shui’ here is good. So don’t be sensitive,” he said.
Electoral watchdog Bersih condemned Nga’s announcement, saying that it violated election guidelines and the principle of “no campaigning” which links government allocations with political support.
“This action can also be considered an effort to buy votes and use the government’s undue influence on Kuala Kubu Baharu voters,” they said.
The Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election will be held on May 11, following the death of its representative, Lee Kee Hiong, who had held the seat for DAP-Pakatan Harapan since 2013. – April 19, 2024.