Bukit Batu contest heats up, five candidates challenge Pakatan incumbent in high‑stakes battle

KULAI, June 27 — The Bukit Batu state constituency is set to see a five-way contest, turning the once quiet seat into a ‘hot seat’ for the upcoming Johor state election.

The five-cornered fight was confirmed by Bukit Batu returning officer Mohd Hafiz Aliman after the nomination process at the Taman Putri multipurpose hall here today.

The contest for Bukit Batu will see incumbent Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Arthur Chiong Sen Sern defend his seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate RK Kumaran; Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) candidate, M. Premanand; Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) candidate, G. Tamili and independent hopeful Datuk Kamaruzaman Ali.

In the last state election in 2022, Chiong won by a razor-thin majority of 137 votes with a total of 9,439 votes in a four-cornered contest for the Bukit Batu state seat.

Chiong, who is also the Kulai division chief, defeated BN’s Datuk S. Suppayah, who garnered a close 9,302 votes, followed by Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Tan Heng Choon with 4,334 votes and Parti Warisan’s Lee Ming Wen with 1,053 votes.

When met by reporters, Chiong said he has a strategy to win in Bukit Batu this time round by mobilising the entire PH machinery in the five-cornered contest.

“During the last state election, I won by only 137 votes because of the low voter turnout due to Covid-19.

“In the past four years since the last election, my team has worked very hard to serve the people of Bukit Batu.

“I am confident that PH will win big this time,” he said when met outside the nomination centre today.

In 2022, Chiong’s win was considered controversial due to the very narrow margin.

Following the results, the BN candidate from MIC demanded that the Election Commission (EC) conduct a recount, claiming that there was a leak during the vote tally process.

Suppayah then filed a police report before filing an election petition.

Shortly after that, the Election Court on June 29, 2022 ruled that Chiong’s win in the Johor state election for the Bukit Batu state seat was valid.