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Stiff contests for the Chinese vote are expected in Penang, Perak and Selangor - states with sizeable Chinese populations.
The opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) has declared its intention to win big in Penang, the only Chinese-majority state in the country. The party hopes to increase its number of seats in the state legislature from one to at least 14.
Its optimism is buoyed by uneasiness within Malaysia's second-largest community over issues ranging from inflation to rising crime.
A recent independent survey also revealed that the Chinese are the most pessimistic about the economy, compared with the other races.
But such discontent is unlikely to translate into a windfall of seats for the opposition in the coming polls. Neither is the governing Barisan Nasional (BN) likely to lose its two-thirds parliamentary majority. The general discontent is also not expected to result in a change in state governments.
The DAP's general election strategist, Mr Liew Chin Tong, put it this way to The Straits Times: 'The DAP can win more votes, but not necessarily a lot more seats.'
There are several reasons for this disjunct between sentiment and seats. First, the shrinking proportion of Chinese voters and the number of Chinese-majority seats means the community has less political clout compared with the Malays, Mr Liew said.
The Chinese make up 25 per cent of the electorate - down from 35 per cent a decade ago. This is partly due to the community's low birth rate relative to other races, and partly due to emigration.
The Election Commission's redelineation exercise, carried out every decade, has also resulted in reduced proportions of Chinese voters in many constituencies.
Mr Liew said the DAP hopes to bag a few more Parliament and state constituencies, primarily in the three states mentioned, but he declined to put a figure on it.
At present, the party has 12 Members of Parliament out of a total of 219, and 20 state legislators nationwide.
The two main Chinese parties in the BN, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Gerakan, are already bracing themselves for an opposition onslaught.
They now control 31 Parliament seats and 76 state seats.
Gerakan Youth deputy head Lim Si Pin, 38, admitted that the BN would have a tough fight on its hands in urban Chinese areas.
'There are many issues that we need to work harder on. For example, the Education Minister recently promised several new Chinese schools, which is good news. But we still need more such schools,' he told The Straits Times.
Chinese education has always been an issue close to the community, and a shortage of schools using the vernacular language is a long-standing problem.
Late last month, Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein pledged to build six more such schools, in a move clearly aimed at appeasing the Chinese ahead of the polls.
'But this election is not only about Chinese schools. The community is also unhappy with the way things are going with the economy,' said Mr Tang Ah Chai, a leader of the influential Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
Rising prices of goods are taking a toll on the urban middle- class, although this can be blamed in large part on the surging global oil prices.
'But when people go to the ballot box, they may not be so rational. Some get carried away by emotion,' said Mr Tang.
A survey last December by Merdeka Centre, which periodically tracks voter sentiments, revealed that only 19 per cent of Chinese respondents were optimistic that the economy would improve in a year's time, compared with 53 per cent for the Malays and 43 per cent for the Indians.
