TANJUNG PIAI POLLS | MCA held its first ceramah for the upcoming Tanjung Piai by-election at its Pekan Nanas operations centre last night.

A crowd of about 300, mostly middle-aged local Chinese, showed up and pledged to support their preferred candidate, Wee Jeck Seng. Around a third of third were clad in MCA's party t-shirt.

These supporters described Wee, who was also a former MP of Tanjung Piai, as a very dedicated and generous Chinese leader.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Tan Chai Huat, 56, said that it was rare to see an MCA ceramah having a crowd of this size.

“It was hard to see a crowd of this size, especially during the last general election. Previously, DAP used to shame MCA and that’s why the attendance was smaller,” the MCA member said.

While admitting that he voted for Pakatan Harapan during the last general election, Tan said DAP has been controlled by Bersatu on recent issues, and he is very disappointed by that.

However, for this by-election, he decided to give his vote to MCA without any doubts, and he will urge his family and friends to vote for MCA as well.

This is because if MCA can win with a big majority, it will give a signal to Harapan to govern the country properly. Likewise, Umno will also know that they cannot win the election without support from non-Malay.

Meanwhile, 54-years-old Phuan Ai Bon is full of praise for Wee’s past service records in Tanjung Piai and hopes the latter can get back to Parliament as soon as possible.

Even though he was not an MCA member previously, Phuan told that he and his family are strong supporters for Wee and MCA now.

“Wee is a very kind person. Once you tell him of your difficulties, he will definitely help you out.

“He used to give us free rice, cooking oil and other forms of aid every three months. But now, we receive nothing (from Harapan),” Phuan, who suffers from high uric acid level, sighed.

Two other MCA female members also said that Wee was a very friendly BN leader and offered perfect services to the people.

“If you called him and he did not answer, he surely will call back,” 66-years-old Phua Siew Yok said.

Wu Mei Lan, 69, stressed that she really wanted Wee to be elected as the MP again and to continue his service to the town.

Meanwhile, during the ceramah, Wee (photo) lamented that he was very sad after failing to defend his seat during GE14.

However, he swears that he is still committed to Tanjung Piai and comes back once per month.

“I still received calls and complaints from the people. Even though I am sad, I will still do my best to address my help to the people.

“And now, I have to depend on all of you to win this by-election [...] Please give me your support!” he urged to the crowd and received thunderous cheers.

The Tanjung Piai by-election will see a six-way fight.

The two main candidates are Bersatu's Karmaine Sardini and MCA's Wee Jeck Seng.

The other candidates are Berjasa's Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, Gerakan's Wendy Subramaniam, and independent candidates Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abd Ghaffar.

During the last general election, Bersatu's Mohd Farid Mohd Rafik garnered 21,255 votes against MCA's Wee who received 20,731 votes, winning by a 524-vote margin.

Mohd Farid passed away from a heart attack in September, triggering this by-election.

Campaigning for the Tanjung Piai by-election officially begins today, and voters will go to the polls on Nov 16.