BUKIT MERTAJAM, MALAYSIA: The Chinese community in Permatang Pasir's Kampung Cross Street near Tanah Liat here is tired of the empty promises and lip service of politicians.

They want a state representative who will always be there for them and attend to their problems and needs.

Voter Tan Ah Heng, 64, said the people in the village no longer wanted a politician who only showed his face when he needed votes to win an election.

"We want an assemblyman who we can see every now and then here at our village ... someone who shows that he cares about the people and is genuine about it.

"Otherwise, this person can forget about getting votes from here again," said the retiree, who was born and brought up in the farming village.

Asked whether he was familiar with the candidates running for the Permatang Pasir state seat, Barisan Nasional's Rohaizat Othman and Pas' Mohd Salleh Man, Tan said he had only recently heard of them.

He said in any election, voters could only hope they had cast their votes for the right person.

"As the saying goes, it does not matter whether the cat is white or black. It is a good cat as long as it catches the mice," he said at the village, where Rohaizat also made an appearance to introduce himself to the community.

Another elderly voter, Ng Chin Huat, 68, said the previous assemblyman, the late Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman, had visited the village several times but was unable to address the people's problems, especially regarding infrastructure.

"Our most obvious problem is with the many potholes in our village roads. Never once did the authorities come to re-tar them.

"We have had to fork out our own money to get them repaired over the years," he said.