KUALA LUMPUR — The Chinese film Dear You has moved many moviegoers to become the top grossing Chinese-language movie in Malaysia in 2026, with box takings of at least RM15 million (S$4.8 million).

Political parties are now seeking to capitalise on its popularity to win the support of Chinese voters, ahead of the Johor state election on July 11.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition fired the opening salvo with a full-page advertisement in the local Chinese-language daily Sin Chew Daily on July 5. It featured a white-haired grandmother writing to her granddaughter who is based outside of Johor for work, to urge her to return to her hometown to vote.

The letter read: “Dear child, please come home on July 11 to visit me and cast your sacred ballot. Malaysia is heading towards a brighter future. I hope you will hold Grandma’s hand as we walk that path together. Love, Ah Ma.”

Alongside the letter was an old photo of the granddaughter as a child playing with other children.

For PH, Johorean voters based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are seen to be crucial to its electoral prospects, hence the appeal to them to return to vote.

At the 2022 Johor state election, voter turnout fell to 55 per cent as a result of Covid-19 travel curbs. The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition secured 40 out of 56 seats for a two-thirds majority in the state assembly. PH won only 12 seats. The 2022 voter turnout was a far cry from the turnout of above 80 per cent in Johor for the 2013 and 2018 general elections.

In response to PH’s Dear You campaign, Kuso Alliance, a group that supports BN, posted on Facebook on July 5 a spoof of the PH poster, targeting the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a key component party of PH.

The altered versi...