"No Wonder You're Working At 7-Eleven": DAP Johor Staff Mocks Night-Shift Worker For Voting BN — But BN Won

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A social media post by a staff member of the Perling state assemblyman’s office has gone viral after the individual appeared to link a convenience store worker’s employment to her voting choice during the recent Johor state election.

The post, published on Instagram by an account identified as terrence_tzyyy, read: “At 1 am this morning I went to 7e to buy Maggi Mee. The staff there working the night shift told me she voted for Pannir. No wonder you’re working at 7e.”

The account allegedly belongs to someone listed as a Pegawai Pejabat ADUN Perling on the official website of Liew Chin Tong — current Deputy Minister of Finance, former Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, DAP’s National Strategic Director and Deputy Secretary-General, MP for Iskandar Puteri Hitam, and the former Perling assemblyman himself, who had stepped aside at this election to make way for new talent.

Screenshots had by then circulated widely across social media.

A Democratic Country, A Night-Shift Worker, and One Deleted Post

Public reaction was swift and largely critical.

Neow Choo Seong, a verified commenter, wrote: “Sombong dan angkuhnyer” (“So arrogant and haughty”).

One commenter, Isaura Ismail, wrote: “Bodoh piang mamat ni” (“This guy is really stupid”).

Another, Ammar Hasif, urged: “Respect each other’s views.“

Commenter Syidiq Rodzian wrote: “Sy dulu pernah kerja banquet, waiter, Marrybrown, buruh kasar tanam paip tepi jalan. We should be happy with current politics.”

Former DAP assemblyperson for Skudai, Marina Ibrahim, who first surfaced the screenshot publicly, wrote: “Negara ni negara demokrasi. Apa pilihan pengundi untuk sokong mana parti politik sekalipun, tu hak mereka.” (“This is a democratic country. Whatever choice a voter makes to support any political party, that is their right.”)

She added: “Bukan salah pekerja 7e. Bukan tak habis salah pengundi, pengundi, pengundi.” (“It is not the 7-Eleven worker’s fault. Stop endlessly blaming the voters.”)

The Seat That Wasn’t Supposed to Fall

The victory is all the more striking given that Perling had been a DAP stronghold since 2018, making it one of the last seats BN expected to flip in the 2026 Johor state election.

Pannir, a first-time state candidate but a veteran Johor Bahru city councillor, ran a hyperlocal campaign built on daily “pocket talks” — neighbourhood sessions focused on bread-and-butter issues like traffic, parking, and drainage rather than national politics.

His multiracial ground operation was unusually well-rounded: his father, former five-term assemblyman Datuk K.S. Balakrishnan, anchored support in Indian-majority areas, while his wife campaigned in Mandarin to reach Chinese voters directly.

When votes were tallied, Pannir secured 33,468 votes against DAP’s Alan Tee Boon Tsong’s 31,857 — a majority of just 1,611 votes in a non-Malay majority seat.

That slim margin, however, was made possible in part by Parti Bersama Malaysia’s candidate Boo Wei Han, who siphoned 2,996 votes away from the opposition in a three-cornered fight — enough to swing the result, even as Boo himself lost his election deposit.

Political analysts now point to Perling as a landmark warning for PH: if a seat held comfortably since 2018 can fall to a first-time MIC candidate running on parking complaints, no urban mixed constituency should be considered safe.

TRP has reached out to Liew’s office for comment on the post and on Tey’s current employment status. This article will be updated upon receiving a response.

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