Terletak di selatan Seberang Perai, bandar kecil dengan penduduk berjumlah hampir 50,000 orang ini berada di hujung negeri ini di bahagian tanah besar.
Di sinilah sempadan antara negeri Pulau Pinang dan Perak.
Mungkin kerana jaraknya yang jauh dengan George Town menyebabkan tidak ramai yang mahu ke sini kecuali mereka yang berminat untuk makan bubur ketam Teochew yang terkenal, anak sotong rebus dan kari udang.
Jauh dari laut, mungkin agak aneh jika bandar ini terkenal dengan "makanan laut" namun meletakkan Sungai Krian yang merentasi bandar ini, ketam lumpur dan udang air tawar boleh didapati dengan mudah.
Jawi adalah bandar yang tersibuk di parlimen ini dimana kedai-kedai, medan selera, pasar, restoran dan pasar runcit serta pejabat kerajaan berada di situ.
Nibong Tebal terbahagi kepada tiga kawasan dewan undangan negeri (DUN) - Jawi, Sungai Acheh dan Sungai Bakap.
Nibong Tebal terdiri dari 55 peratus yang bukan Melayu, dan 45 peratus terdiri daripada Melayu, yang kebanyakannya berada di Sungai Acheh, iaitu pertanian sebagai punca industrinya.Kerana itu parlimen ini dianggap sengit dengan kedua-dua parti perlu memuaskan hati kedua-dua kaum Melayu dan Cina.
Sebelum ini, Nibong Tebal dan ketiga-tiga kerusi DUN; Jawi, Sungai Acheh dan Sungai Bakap adalah kerusi untuk Barisan Nasional (BN).
Dalam pilihan raya 2004, pendatang baru Umno (BN) Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman memenangi kerusi parlimen ini dengan majoriti 6,005 undi dan tiga kerusi DUN namun pada tahun 2008, BN cuma dapat mempertahankan DUN Sungai Acheh dengan majoriti tipis 250 undi.Dalam pilihan raya akan datang, Zainal dikatakan salah seorang calon untuk memenangi kerusi itu semula walaupun ahli parlimen sekarang, Tan Tee Beng yang memenangi kerusi ini dengan tiket PKR, kini merupakan ahli parlimen bebas.
Zainal sebelum ini merupakan setiausaha parlimen untuk kementerian luar negeri semasa beliau menjadi ahli parlimen Nibong Tebal pada tahun 2004.
Sebagai seorang anak tempatan, Zainal terkenal di kalangan penduduk kampung, tetapi tidak dikenali di kalangan masyarakat Cina.
Beliau sering dilihat bersama dalam majlis yang dihadiri oleh bekas Adun Jawi yang akan bertanding kembali, untuk menunjukkan perpaduan dalam BN.
Sejak akhir-akhir ini Nibong Tebal telah "diserang" oleh BN dalam percubaan untuk memenangi dua kerusi Dun dan parlimen dalam pilihan raya kali ini.Tahun ini, perdana menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak mengumumkan peruntukan bernilai RM8.5 juta untuk Nibong Tebal. Peruntukan ini untuk projek membina dewan serbaguna di Nibong Tebal (RM 3 juta), mengecat semula perumahan orang Cina di India (RM2 juta) dan Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Amin (RM1.8 juta).
Beberapa bulan yang lalu, Tan telah menyerahkan peralatan dapur bernilai RM160,000 kepada golongan ibu tunggal dan mereka yang berpendapatan rendah di bawah program 1Azam.
MCA juga melancarkan kempen "Jom Masuk Kampung" dalam siri jelajah di Pulau Pinang dengan pemimpin tertinggi MCA melawat di seluruh kampung di kawasan tersebut.
Baru-baru ini, BN menambah RM3 juta, RM1 juta lebih tinggi dari sebelumnya, untuk membina SMJK Jit Sin II yang terletak dalam parlimen tersebut. Sekolah itu juga sedang mengumpulkan RM30 juta bagi tujuan pembinaan.Walaupun tumpuan yang diberikan BN terhadap kawasan parlimen ini, tetapi orang ramai tidak berpuas hati. "Kami bukan budak kecil yang hanya boleh senyap jika diberikan gula-gula.
Mereka ingat kami ni bodoh?" kata seorang penduduk bila ditanya apa perasaannya jika BN memberi sumbangan di dalam kawasan mereka.Selepas berbual dengan penduduk kampung, adalah jelas sentimen meluat, kecewa dan benci terhadap BN dan pemimpinnya.
"Mereka ingat kami orang kampung tidak tahu menggunakan Internet untuk mendapatkan cerita rasuah dan keburukan mereka? Mereka membelanjakan wang kita seperti wang mereka sendiri, dan bila pilihan raya tiba, mereka memberikan barangan seperti itu adalah wang dari poket mereka," kata penduduk Jawi tersebut.
Ramai yang berkata tidak akan memberi BN peluang untuk menipu mereka lagi. "Jika saya nampak mereka, saya akan pergi dari sini. Saya merasakan inilah masanya kita menukar kerajaan persekutuan, bukan negeri dan ahli parlimen sahaja," kata seorang lagi penduduk yang membaca berita politik dari Internet.
Beliau berkata, dia tidak kisah tentang siapa calon, tetapi lebih kepada BN menentang Pakatan Rakyat. "Jika PR meletakkan PAS sebagai calon, saya pasti PR akan tetap menang," katanya lagi.
Dia menambah taktik menakut-nakutkan orang ramai tentang hudud tidak menakutkan orang bukan Melayu untuk mengundi PR tetapi membuatkan orang menyampah dengan BN. "Mereka ingat kami bodoh. Kami semua tahu hudud hanya untuk orang Islam, jadi kenapa kita perlu takut terhadap sesuatu yang tidak ada kaitan dengan kita?"
Zainal dijangka akan berhadapan dengan Timbalan Ketua Menteri II Datuk Mansor Othman, pengerusi PKR negeri, yang merupakan ahli DUN Penanti dan beliau dilihat untuk ke posisi yang lebih besar, untuk posisi Kabinet sekiranya PR berjaya menawan Putrajaya.Seorang ahli PKR berkata penduduk Nibong Tebal masih lagi marah dengan Tee Beng meninggalkan parti dan menjadi ahli bebas yang mesra BN. "Hakikatnya, pengundi merasakan ini adalah kerja jahat BN dan kemarahan mereka bakal memberikan undi yang lebih kepada PKR," katanya lagi.
Mansor dipilih untuk bertanding di kawasan ini kerana beliau adalah pengerusi PKR negeri dan Timbalan Ketua Menteri II. "Jika beliau bertanding, pengalaman beliau menjadi kelebihan bagi PKR," katanya lagi.
Ada cakap-cakap mengatakan Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim akan mengambil kerusi ini tetapi beliau telah mengesahkan untuk bertanding di Permatang Pauh. Terdapat juga spekulasi mengatakan anak kedua Anwar, Nurul Nuha akan bertanding di Nibong Tebal.
Mansor mengesahkan nama Nurul Nuha juga disenaraikan dalam menjadi calon di Nibong Tebal.
Jadi apakah Nurul Nuha atau Mansor akan menjadi calon? Mengikut pengundi, tidak mengapa walau siapapun menjadi calon.
"Asalkan calon Pakatan Rakyat, kami akan pilih, tetapi kami tidak mahu katak seperti dahulu jadi letakkan mereka yang betul-betul berkaliber di sini," katanya lagi. Walaupun terdapat reaksi positif di sini, ahli akar umbi parti masih lagi berkata ia akan menjadi pertarungan yang sengit.
"Kami tidak begitu risau dengan pengundi Cina, tetapi memenangi undi Melayu agak sukar, jadi ia akan menjadi sengit," kata beliau lagi.-opalyn mok, malaysian insider.
The busiest part of the Nibong Tebal constituency is Jawi town
The battle for Nibong Tebal...
The next general election is expected to be the closest fight to form the new government. And several seats across the nation are likely to see heated battles with the victor winning by the slimmest of majorities. The Malaysian Insider takes a look at some of these hot seats in what will be an intense election for control of Malaysia.Located on the southern part of Seberang Perai, this small township of about 50,000 people is almost like the last frontier of mainland Penang.
That's because there is a spot in this quiet little town where you just need to take one step forward and you would have left Penang and stepped right into Perak.
Perhaps it is due to its distance from the busy city of George Town but not many Penang folk would venture here except for foodies intent on trying out the town's famed Teochew crab porridge, boiled baby octopus and curried freshwater prawns.
Far from the sea, it may seem strange that this mainland township's fame is tied to "seafood" but considering the Krian River runs through it, the mud crabs and freshwater prawns are obviously local catches.
Jawi is the busiest part of the whole constituency where there is a concentration of shoplots, food courts, wet markets, restaurants, supermarkets and government offices.
Nibong Tebal is spread out over three state constituencies — Jawi, Sungai Acheh and Sungai Bakap — with different racial groups in different villages.
The whole of Nibong Tebal is made up of about 55 per cent non-Malays and about 45 per cent Malays, with a majority of the Malays located in the Sungai Acheh area where agriculture is the main industry.
That's why choosing a candidate to contest the parliamentary seat can be tricky as the contesting parties will need to satisfy the needs of both the Malays and non-Malays.Previously, the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat and its three state seats, Sungai Acheh, Sungai Bakap and Jawi, were all Barisan Nasional (BN) seats.
In the 2004 general election, Umno (BN) newcomer Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman won the parliamentary seat with a 6,005-vote majority while the three state seats also saw BN winning with huge majorities but in 2008, BN only managed to retain the Sungai Acheh state seat with a slim majority of 250 votes and lost the rest.
This coming election, Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the one to try to win the seat back for BN even though the current MP, Tan Tee Beng, who won the seat on the PKR ticket, is now an independent MP.
Zainal Abidin was previously a parliamentary secretary in the Foreign Ministry when he was the Nibong Tebal MP in 2004. A local boy, Zainal Abidin's family home is located in one of the villages here but other than to his fellow villagers, he is not that well-known in the non-Malay community.Instead, he often appears at BN functions with Nibong Tebal BN co-ordinator Tan Cheng Liang, who is also former Jawi state assemblyman and tipped to contest the Jawi state seat, purportedly to show a united BN front.
It is obvious that Nibong Tebal has been "under attack" by BN which is intent on winning the two state seats and the parliamentary one back this time around.
This year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a RM8.5 million allocation for Nibong Tebal for development projects such as construction of a multi-purpose hall in Nibong Tebal (RM3 million), repainting of apartments (RM2 million), repairing of houses in Indian and Chinese villages (RM2 million) and rebuilding of Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Amin (RM1.8 million).
A few months ago, Tan handed out cooking utensils and equipment worth about RM160,000 to single mothers and low-income families under the 1Azam programme.There was also a "promotional blitz" of sorts when the MCA launched its Jom Masuk Kampung (Let's Enter The Villages) roadshow in Penang at Nibong Tebal with all of the top MCA leadership spending the day at various villages in the constituency.
More recently, BN allocated a further RM3 million, on top of the RM1 million it had earlier allocated, to the building fund of SMJK Jit Sin II which is located in the constituency. The school is in the midst of raising RM30 million for its building fund.
But all this attention by BN does not seem to impress many of the constituents. "We are not small children who can be pleased by offerings of sweets and candies. Do they think us stupid?" a resident said when asked if they feel indebted to BN for all the goodies it has been handing out to the constituency.
After speaking to the villagers, it is clear that the general sentiment seems to be one of disgust, disappointment and even hatred for BN and its leaders.
"They think we are slow-thinking villagers who do not know how to access the Internet to get the real story behind their corruption and excesses? There they are spending our money like their own and then when elections come, they pretend to give us little titbits as if it is from their own pocket," one Jawi resident said.
Many of them said they would not give BN another chance to "cheat" and "lie" to them. "If I see any of them, I turn around and walk away. I feel it is really time that we changed the whole federal government, not only change our state assemblymen and MP," said an elderly resident who's been following the political scene closely through the news and the Internet.
He said it was not really about the individual component parties any more but more about BN versus Pakatan Rakyat (PR). "Even if PR were to put a PAS candidate for the parliamentary seat, I am certain PR will still win the seat," he said.He added that the scare tactics by BN about hudud did not turn the non-Malays off PR but instead make them even more disgusted with BN. "Again, they seem to think we are fools.
We all know hudud is only for Muslims so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us?"
Zainal Abidin is expected to go head to head with Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman, the Penang PKR chief. Mansor is the incumbent Penanti state assemblyman and it seems he's destined for bigger things, such as a Cabinet position if PR succeeds in its bid to win Putrajaya.
A PKR member said voters in Nibong Tebal were not in the least bit angry with PKR over Tan Tee Beng leaving the party and becoming a BN-friendly independent MP. "In fact, voters may construe this as another dirty trick by BN and this may just anger them more so this could mean more votes for PKR," he said.
He said this may be why Mansor may be chosen to contest this seat as he is the PKR state chief and the current deputy chief minister. "Having someone more 'established' and experienced will be an advantage to PKR," he said.
Earlier there was talk that Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wanted to take this seat but he has confirmed that he will continue to stand in Permatang Pauh.
There is also talk of Anwar's second daughter, Nurul Nuha, being proposed as a candidate for Nibong Tebal.
Mansor also reportedly confirmed that Nurul Nuha's name was listed as a possible candidate for Nibong Tebal. So, will it be the relatively new Nurul Nuha or will it be Mansor? According to a voter, it doesn't really matter.
"As long as it is Pakatan Rakyat, we will vote for the candidate but we do not want another frog so the party better put someone reliable there," said the PKR member. Despite the positive reactions PR has been getting from voters there, a grassroots member said it would still be a tough fight.
"We are not so worried about the non-Malay votes but winning the Malay votes can be tough so it will be a close call," he predicted.- opalyn mok,malaysian insider.
cheers.
