Bentong Constituency Study Before and After 14th General Election in Malaysia: A Preliminary Chinese News Analysis

Bentong constituency has always been the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) electoral stronghold and under the Barisan National (BN) coalition since Malaysia's independence in 1957. However, during the 14th Malaysian general election (GE14) political tsunami, the MCA has lost this parliament seat (P89 Bentong) to the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition on 9 May 2018. Besides, Bentong is the traditional constituency of the MCA leadership, such as the first Member of Parliament (MP) for Bentong (1959-1989), Tan Sri Chan Siang Sun, retired as Health Minister cum MCA Vice-President. The second MP for Bentong is Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek (1989-1999), and he retired as Human Resources Minister cum MCA Deputy President. Before GE14, Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai was the third MP for Bentong (1999-2018) and retired as Transport Minister cum MCA President. Bentong is a district located in western Pahang, Malaysia. In 2005, Bentong officially declared as Bentong Municipal Council. According to Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM, 2011), Bentong population has reached about 115,000 people with administrative covered area of 335 square miles (868 square km) including Bentong Town, Genting Highlands, Karak, Telemong, Manchis, Sungai Dua and Bukit Tinggi. While its control area covered Sungai Gapoi, Simpang Pelangai, Kampung Shafie, Jambu Rias, Janda Baik and Sungai Penjuring. Keywords: Bentong, GE14, Sinchew, Economics, Chinese