New faces will deliver, says BN Youth strategist

KUALA LUMPUR: Although many Barisan Nasional candidates are first-timers, they will put on a good showing in the 13th General Election.

BN Youth strategist Neil Foo said while the high percentage of new faces fielded as candidates brought about calculated risks, he expressed confidence that they would win.

"I am cautiously optimistic about good results among our young candidates in areas of good racial mix. As for single-race centric areas such as Bukit Bintang, we are hoping to reduce the margin even if we don't win," he said.

Foo, analysing how the new candidates might fare in the coming polls, said that first-time voters made up about 25 per cent of the electorate and of this, over 40 per cent were aged 40 and below while 18 per cent were aged 30 and below.

Foo is hopeful that BN's new faces will be on the same frequency mode as these young voters.

He added that the advantage of having new faces was that there was no previous record to refer to.

"New candidates start on a clean slate. There is no past reference. It will now depend on how they can inspire and convince young voters."

He cited Bandar Tun Razak candidate Tan Kok Eng, who is contesting for the first time against Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who is Selangor menteri besar.

"Going up against a big name could pose a risk, but if the young candidate has the right approach and values, he can put up a good fight."

Foo added that young voters were also more likely to look at the individual candidate as opposed to paying too much attention to the party he or she represented, and for these seats, MCA was adopting a mixed strategy.

"Young voters want change and they are going to look for this in their candidates. We at MCA, are ready to play a supportive role and offer our candidates the help they need using the whole BN machinery."

Foo said based on a research conducted by the BN Youth Lab, Malaysian youth were mostly concerned about cost of living, safety needs as well as levels of corruption and integrity in the country.

Foo said this was already being addressed through programmes such as the Government Transformation Programme, Economic Transformation Programme and the 1Malaysia Housing programme.

Interviewed by NST's Jeniffer Gomez on 20/4/2013 Sat