At least five Chinese lobby groups and their representatives will be heading north to highlight their respective plights in the upcoming Indera Kayangan by-election.

Chinese community issues are expected to dominate the campaign for the seat which has been held by MCA since the 1960s. MCA has fielded retired headmistress and its state Wanita chief Oui Ah Lan for the constituency, while Keadilan is expected to announce its Chinese candidate soon.

Individuals from the lobby groups — whether representing their organisations or in their personal capacity — will be in Perlis starting from nomination day on Jan 10. Polling is on Jan 19.

Topping the list is Save Our School Committee (SOS) for SJK(C) Damansara, an action group comprised of mostly parents who opposed the closure of the only Chinese primary school in their area since early last January.

The others include a group representing pig farmers who were affected by the 1999 viral outbreak in Negeri Sembilan, an ad hoc committee which opposed MCA's purchase of two Chinese dailies in May, and two mother tongue education movements.

'Non-partisan'

SOS adviser Ronnie Liu said a delegation will seek support from all candidates from the opposition and the ruling coalitions on the re-opening of the school.

"We are non-partisan and will support anyone that endorses our proposal," he said.

Liu who is also DAP publicity secretary said the delegation will speak at briefings and talks organised by any political party if invited.

When contacted, vice-president of the Nipah Virus Disaster Rescue and Liaison Committee, PC Lai, said they will go and "tell the truth" in Indera Kayangan if MCA still refuses to disburse the balance of its Japanese Encephalitis (JE) fund to the pig farmers.

"The balance of the fund amounts to millions of ringgit and we do not know who is keeping the money," he said.

Committee Against Takeover of Nanyang (CAT) president Tang Ah Chai said they will renew the call on MCA to divest its entire stake in Nanyang Press Holdings, publisher of Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press, to a third party who will not monopolise the Chinese media market.

"We will explain to the voters how the takeover has changed newspapers to the extent that even certain factions within MCA are suffering from biased coverage," he said.

Schools

Joining the other lobby groups will be the Working Committee for Chinese Primary School in Subang Jaya and USJ who is backed by some 300 volunteers from the housing areas.

Its president Gan Wah Lien said the neighbourhood has long faced shortage of Chinese schools in the area though a majority of the residents are Chinese Malaysians.

He said the residents hope that the government will convert an almost completed Vision School into a Chinese school to cater for some 4,000 students in the areas.

"The government should also expedite the construction of SJK(C) Chee Wen which was promised in 1999," he said.

Gan said their memorandum will be submitted to all candidates so that they will make a stand on it but the final decision on who to vote for lies with the electorate.

It was also learnt that some members of the influential United Chinese School Committees and Teachers Associations of Malaysia (known collectively as Dong Jiao Zong) will speak about Chinese schools in the country.

However, school committees association chief executive Bock Tai Hee told malaysiakini, "The individuals are getting involved in their personal capacity and do not represent the organisations they are working for."

Three by-elections

Since the 1999 general elections, there have been three state by-elections: Sanggang in Pahang, Lunas in Kedah, and Likas in Sabah.

Of the three, two — Sanggang and Likas — were secured by the ruling coalition while Lunas fell into the hands of Keadilan.

The Indera Kayangan state seat fell vacant after its state assembly representative Khor Liang Tee from MCA died of colon cancer on Dec 19 last year.

Khor retained the state seat in the 1999 general election after polling 3,825 votes against Keadilan's Ko Choo Liang who polled 1,851.

Chinese and Malay voters dominate the Indera Kayangan constituency at 47.9 percent and 46.4 percent respectively, followed by Indians (5.3 percent) and other ethnic groups (0.4 percent).