MUAR: When the Election Commission (EC) announced that a by-election would be held in Simpang Jeram, some people thought it was Simpang Renggam, as they sound somewhat similar.
However, they are two distinct places as Simpang Renggam is a parliamentary constituency in the Kluang district, while Simpang Jeram is one of three state seats within the Bakri parliamentary constituency in Muar.
Simpang Jeram was previously known as the Sungai Abong state seat before the redelineation of electoral boundaries was done in 2018.
Based on Statistics Department data in 2022, Simpang Jeram’s size is only 36 square kilometres and it had a population density of 1,857 people per sq km in 2020.
A total of 68.5 per cent of its residents are aged 18 and above, 6.3 per cent are 65 years and above, and 25.7 per cent are 14 years and below, with 52.3 per cent being Bumiputera and 45.4 per cent Chinese voters in the by-election.
Benefiting from the rapid development of the royal town of Bandar Maharani and its surrounding areas, Simpang Jeram is now equipped with various basic amenities for the benefit of its estimated 67,000 residents, including 40,379 registered voters.
The constituency boasts more than 20 primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), health clinics, rural clinics, police stations, post offices, mosques, suraus and temples, making it a conducive place to live in, especially for retirees.
“I love staying here as it has all the basic amenities, and this housing estate also has many pensioners,” said Onn Jaafar, 65, a retired Royal Malaysian Air Force personnel, while pointing to the houses of his neighbours, a former teacher and an ex-policeman, in Taman Sri Terap.
Most of the villages in this state constituency are in Mukim Bakri, such as Kampung Jeram Tepi, Kampung Batu 6 Bakri, Kampung Batu 5, Kampung Batu 3, Kampung Simpang Jeram, and there are two major business hubs - the Bakri and Sialin commercial centres.
Simpang Jeram’s fertile land makes it an agricultural centre, with oil palm being the most prominent crop covering more than 2,000 hectares, followed by smallholdings involving rubber, sugar cane, coffee, rambutan, and nurseries.
Most of the residents are self-employed, operating grocery stores, food outlets, tailor shops, barber shops, nurseries and selling cakes. Many are employed in furniture factories as well as the public sector.
When met by Bernama, residents generally complained about drainage problems and flooding although they admitted that the situation was worse many years ago.
Other issues that they want the authorities to resolve include seasonal traffic congestion along Jalan Bakri heading towards Muar town.
Nazri Abdul Rahman, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate in the Simpang Jeram by-election, said Simpang Jeram is a relatively small place and no issues are too big to be resolved.
“The flooding issue has been tackled by the local authorities and the residents’ problems are more of petty issues concerning potholes, street lighting, and electricity supply. As a former chief engineer in this constituency, I was involved in setting up a task force to undertake repair works within 24 hours,” he said.
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn (UTHM) lecturer Prof Dr Razali Hassan said the authorities should capitalise on Muar’s status as the country’s biggest furniture manufacturing centre by empowering Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the constituency.
“Build infrastructures like hostels and related training centres in Muar and Pagoh which can help local youths get involved in the furniture industry.
“This will encourage young people including those in Simpang Jeram to stay back instead of migrating to places like Singapore in search of jobs. Furthermore, the furniture industry in Muar is now dominated by foreign workers,” he said.
The Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections were triggered by the death of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub on July 23.
The two by-elections will be held simultaneously, with early voting fixed for Sept 5 and polling for Sept 9.-Bernama
