JOHOR BARU: Tycoon Koh Chon Chai (pic) may be a political novice compared with his opponent from DAP, but he hopes to enlist his furniture industry buddies to help him win the Bakri parliamentary seat.

Koh, 50, who will be contesting under the MCA ticket, said Muar is all about furniture and he is determined to take issues related to the industry all the way to Parliament.

“We export some 6,000 containers of furniture each month and our exports have touched almost RM10bil annually. This is big business but not many people know it,” the chairman of Muar Furniture Association and Federation of Johor Furniture Manufacturers and Traders Associations said.

Though a big name after 20 years in the industry, Koh is less known in the political arena. He does not hold any MCA position unlike other MCA candidates statewide, and has only been an ordinary member in the Bakri MCA division since 2003.

Koh will be up against Johor-born Yeo Bee Yin, 35, DAP’s first-term assemblyman and the Damansara Utama incumbent in Selangor.

He admitted to being a “political underdog” compared with Yeo but said he would bank on his credentials as a local Muar boy to win votes.

“I never expected to be in mainstream politics but I think it’s time for Bakri to have a change in leadership,” the father-of-four said.

He added that Bakri, which has been under DAP for the past 10 years, has seen little improvement and development.

Koh said the Muar Furniture Association is now working with Johor Corporation in developing a 404ha Muar Furniture Park in Bakri.

“It’s good that our Prime Minister has now recognised Muar as the furniture city of Malaysia,” he said.

-The STAR-