PADANG SERAI: It was an emotional moment when Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) candidate for the Padang Serai parliament seat Hamzah Abdul Rahman cast his ballot paper at the SK Bukit Selarong polling centre here today.
The 59-year-old Padang Serai local almost shed a tear as memories of his time spent at his childhood school came flowing back to him as he arrived at the school.
"I lived here during my childhood and spent many years learning here as a school student.
"I feel a great sense of pride coming here as a candidate decades later, and I want to serve the people here," he told reporters after casting his vote.
Hamzah said he hoped voters would show solidarity for local candidates such as himself and independant candidate Sreanandha Rao instead of voting for Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan candidates who were not from Padang Serai.
"It really does not matter anymore, a government has been formed and this (PN or PH winning) would not change anything.
"I am a local man and the independent candidate is also a local man but the other two candidates (PN and PH) are not from here. So show your support here," he added.
He also hoped voters in the constituency would sympathise with Pejuang's disastrous election performance and show respect towards former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's contribution to the country.
"Tun has contributed so much to the country for more than two decades as Prime Minister.
"I don't think it is fair that voters chose to snub him to the point that Pejuang candidates had to burn their election deposits. So, I urge voters to show their sympathy here," he added.
The Padang Serai parliamentary seat was previously held by PH's M. Karupaiya when he secured a 8,813 vote-majority win, beating MCA candidate Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong and Mohammad Sobri Osman from Pas in the previous general election.
Karupaiya, 69, was nominated again by PH on Nov 5 to defend the seat. However, he died on Nov 16, two days after being admitted to Kulim Hospital due to a heart attack while campaigning.
Following his death, the Election Commission postponed the Padang Serai polls to Dec 7.
Padang Serai has 133,767 eligible voters, with 81,230 of the voters in Lunas state constituency while the remaining 52,546 voters in Merbau Pulas constituency.