Air Itam is a state constituency in Penang,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, that has been represented in the

Penang State Legislative Assembly The Penang State Legislative Assembly is the legislature of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is a unicameral institution, consisting of a total of 40 elected lawmakers representing single-member constituencies throughout Penang. The state legi ...

since 1959. It covers much of

Air Itam Ayer Itam (also spelt Air Itam or Air Hitam) is a suburb of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. Nested within the central valleys of Penang Island, it is located approximately southwest of the city centre. Ayer Itam is one of the well-known places ...

, a western suburb of George Town. The state constituency was first contested in 1959 and is mandated to return a single Assemblyman to the

under the

first-past-the-post voting system In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

. , the State Assemblyman for Air Itam is Joseph Ng Soon Seong from the

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...

(DAP), which is part of the state's ruling coalition,

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...

(PH).

Definition

Polling districts

According to the federal gazette issued on 30 March 2018, the Air Itam constituency is divided into 9 polling districts. This state seat comprises a large chunk of

, a suburb of George Town nestled in the central valleys of

Penang Island Penang Island ( ms, Pulau Pinang; zh, 檳榔嶼; ta, பினாங்கு தீவு) is part of the state of Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British Ea ...

. The 'old town', which contains the Air Itam Market and the Kek Lok Si Temple, is also situated within this constituency. Air Itam Road forms the northern limits of the Air Itam constituency, with the portion of

north of the road falling under either Air Putih or Kebun Bunga constituencies. To the south, the Air Itam seat is partly bounded along the Dondang River; the portion of

south of the river, including

Farlim Farlim, officially Bandar Baru Air Itam, is a residential neighbourhood within the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. Located within the Air Itam suburb, the neighbourhood lies southwest of the city centre and was created in the 1980s. Ov ...

, falls under the neighbouring Paya Terubong constituency. The Air Itam constituency also stretches up to Green Lane and Scotland Road to the east.

Demographics

History

The Air Itam state constituency was originally named Ayer Itam when it was formed prior to the 1959 State Elections. The seat was then given its present name in time for the 1995 State Election. Since its formation in 1959, the Air Itam seat has experienced one by-election. The 1965 Ayer Itam by-election marked the first time an opposition party captured the constituency, as Lim Kean Siew from the Labour Party became the State Assemblyman for Ayer Itam until the 1969 State Election.

Election results

The electoral results for the Air Itam state constituency in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

are as follows.

References