Will Johor-Singapore causeway bottlenecks sway outcome of Malaysia’s state election?

Adli Hakimi knows the first obstacle in Johor’s state election is not the ballot box, but the Causeway. The 26-year-old nurse is among Johor’s workers based in the city state – often called “SGD fighters” online for earning stronger Singapore-dollar wages – who are weighing leave, shifts and border queues before polling day on July 11. For Malaysia, the challenge is keeping immigration glitches and Causeway congestion at bay so that these voters can take part in one of the country’s most closely watched state elections. “I have requested leave on that day,” Adli, who votes in Tiram and has worked in Singapore’s healthcare sector for about three years, told This Week in Asia. He now commutes daily by motorcycle after trying “all modes of transport” between Johor and Singapore. “On weekends, if you travel by public transport, you will definitely get stuck in the [traffic] jam.” He praised the state government for doing “a very good job” for Malaysians working in the city state but said the sight of workers walking along the Johor-Singapore bridge showed the need for a safer pedestrian option. “Maybe they can provide a special pedestrian walking bridge for them,” he said. “More safety, I guess.” Johor, Malaysia’s southern gateway to Singapore, goes to the polls with 2.72 million registered voters and 172 candidates contesting all 56 state seats, according to the Election Commission. Early voting is set for next Tuesday. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal allies are fighting the election on opposing tickets, with Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) both contesting all 56 seats, turning a state poll into a local referendum on jobs, wages, transport and the politics of Johor’s relationship with Singapore. State news agency Bernama reported last October that more than 1.18 million Malaysians were estimated to be working in Singapore, with 300,000 to 400,000 commuting daily across the Causeway. Local daily Sinar Harian has put the daily cross-border commuter figure even higher, at about 400,000 to 480,000 Malaysians using the Causeway and Second Link to work in Singapore. Caretaker Johor chief minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi has urged Johoreans, including those working in Singapore, to return and vote on July 11, arguing that a higher turnout would give a clearer picture of democratic participation in the state. Parti Bersama Malaysia leader Rafizi Ramli is also looking at a live online event aimed at Johor voters in Singapore, telling local media the party lacked the time and resources for a physical engagement but could use its digital reach to speak to them. Causeway ballot For Alif Abdullah, a 27-year-old content creator and marketing executive in Singapore, voting means going to the polling station in Puteri Wangsa before starting work. “Yes, I am voting even though I work on July 11. I will do a half-day. I will vote in the morning,” said Alif, who was given the flexibility by his Malaysian manager. He expects many Johoreans in Singapore to travel back on Friday night, despite the familiar crawl at the border, rather than risk the trip the next morning. “Friday night is usually very jammed, but you just accept it rather than going on Saturday morning,” he said. Many Johoreans working in Singapore still choose not to vote because they ask “what the point is”, according to Alif. “If you feel you are Johorean and have a responsibility, just go vote.” But not everyone can make the trip. Johorean voter Atiqah Mutalib, 27, who works in the food and drink industry, is unlikely to return because she rents in Pasir Ris in eastern Singapore and may not get a day off on the weekend. “It takes me at least one hour in non-peak hours by public transport to reach Johor Bahru customs through Woodlands, and three hours through Tuas,” she said. She would prefer online voting because postal voting felt complicated and time-consuming. “I do not know the process.” Postal voting was available, but the window closed early in the campaign. Applications for overseas Malaysian voters and agencies opened on June 5 and closed on June 19 – 22 days before polling day – leaving those who missed the deadline with little choice but to return in person. The Election Commission issued 24,677 postal ballot papers for the Johor election, including 1,044 for Malaysians living abroad. Postal voters must return their ballots to their respective returning officers by 5pm on polling day. In the 2022 state election, volunteers under the 1thirdmedia Movement helped collect postal votes from Malaysians in Singapore and return them to Johor, with about 5,000 such ballots gathered at the time, according to Malay Mail. The bigger worry this year is whether the border itself holds. On May 28, tens of thousands of travellers were stranded at Malaysian entry points after the national immigration system went offline for five hours, forcing manual processing and marking the second major failure in just over a month, Malay Mail reported. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said last weekend that the Home Ministry had set up a special task force to prepare for possible disruptions as Malaysia shifted to a new National Integrated Immigration System. “I want to explain that the system currently being used is still the old system because the transition to the new system is still ongoing,” he told reporters. “The current status shows that disruptions may still occur during the process. Therefore, our focus now is to ensure that on polling day, July 11, such disruptions can be avoided.” He said his ministry had prepared “action plans, including Plan A and Plan B”, to tackle any potential disruptions. Saifuddin also left open the possibility of dedicated lanes for voters travelling from Singapore. “We will make every effort if necessary, including providing routes that can make it easier for Malaysian voters in Singapore to return and fulfil their responsibility,” he said. Lee Hwok-Aun, a senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, said Johor voters living in Singapore were likely spread across Johor Bahru and its outskirts, as well as urban areas such as Kluang and Batu Pahat. “Recent election results showed these to be solidly Pakatan Harapan and anti-Barisan Nasional, and Covid-19 restrictions which limited the travel of many of them to vote in the March 2022 state election resulted in swings from PH to BN,” Lee told This Week in Asia. He said Causeway congestion or immigration glitches could affect turnout, especially because this was only a state election and might not carry the urgency of a parliamentary poll. “Some voters’ participation might depend on convenience, and burdensome travel conditions could discourage them from turning out to vote,” Lee said. The political effect would depend on individual seats, candidates and voter composition, he said, but “in general lower turnout is expected to favour Barisan Nasional”. Jobs are already central to the campaign. PH has pledged to create more high-paying jobs in Johor so residents no longer have to depend on Singapore work, while BN’s manifesto promises 200,000 quality jobs, alongside 100 million ringgit allocations each for affordable housing and youth education.

Will Johor-Singapore causeway bottlenecks sway outcome of Malaysia’s state election?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Congestion and potential immigration glitches at the border could deter some Johoreans working in Singapore from heading back to vote

Congestion and potential immigration glitches at the border could deter some Johoreans working in Singapore from heading back to vote