PETALING JAYA: The New Beauty Century Chinese restaurant was particularly busy on Monday afternoon as a hundred people were gathered there to hear DAP candidate Rajiv Rishyakaran speak about his run for the Bukit Gasing state seat.
“My parents are from here. I grew up here but moved to Ipoh after my father was transferred there. I may not be well aware about the issues here but I will work hard to find out,” he told the crowd.
Rajiv is involved in a four-way tussle for the Bukit Gasing state seat. He is pitted against Barisan Nasional’s Juan Sei Chang, and independents, former Petaling Jaya councillor Mak Khuin Weng and Simon Lee, who is the son of former Bukit Gasing assemblyman, Edward Lee.
Despite the stiff competition, the DAP candidate told fz.com he is confident of putting up a tough fight come May 5.
Sizing up his rivals, Rajiv sees BN’s Juan as the one to beat. “If Mak was a good councillor, why was he dropped from the candidate list?” he said.
The battle for Bukit Gasing started two years ago with the death of Edward in December 2011. Simon had expressed his interest in continuing with his father’s work in the constituency but he wanted to contest on a DAP ticket without being a member of the party. When the party turned his request down, Simon decided to jump into the fray as an independent.
Initially, the DAP wanted Kasthuri Rani Patto to contest the Bukit Gasing state seat. Kasthuri is the daughter of the late P Patto, a former Ipoh MP and DAP deputy secretary-general. He was detained under the now-defunct Internal Security Act (ISA) with DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in the late 1970s for flouting the Official Secrets Act in connection with Lim’s exposé of the purchase of SPICA-M fast strike craft by the Royal Malaysian Navy.
Kasthuri, who was a microbiologist before entering politics, earned her stripes as an assistant to caretaker Selangor state executive councillor for local government, research and development, Ronnie Liu, for two years.
A last-minute change in the DAP election negotiations saw her being fielded for the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat in Penang instead. In her place, the DAP chose Rajiv, a fairly unknown face in the area. But then looks can be deceiving.
Rajiv made his foray into local politics after he was appointed Subang Jaya municipal councillor for two terms. He was put in charge of the SS12 to SS19 areas in Subang Jaya, as well as Taman Wangsa Baiduri.
Having served as an assistant to incumbent Subang Jaya assemblywoman Hannah Yeoh also meant he was well-versed in problems plaguing urban areas and local government laws, with a focus on public transport.
Simon, of course, has his father’s legacy as political leverage, having served as the senior Lee’s personal assistant for four years.
He had reportedly said that he is a “community candidate” and is planning to champion environmental preservation and protection as well as land issues.
Rajiv also faces a worthy opponent in Mak Khuin Weng, or KW Mak, who once served on Edward’s campaign team.
Mak has extensive knowledge of local government issues, having been instrumental in lobbying the Selangor government to convert the leasehold land titles of Section 5 residents to freehold titles.
A former DAP member, Mak said he joined the fray because he was unhappy with the current Pakatan Rakyat administration.
“I don’t care about my chances. I’m only doing this because both political coalitions are not bothered about teaching the people about their rights. No one is addressing the historical facts,” he said, referring to the Section 5 land issue.
“Honestly, I feel both coalitions are not up to mark. There were clear government rules and laws that both state governments did not follow,” he added.
Bukit Gasing is a Chinese urban majority constituency with 34,662 voters, out of which 23,967 or 69% are Chinese; 5,277 or 15.2% Indians; and 4,666 or 13.5% Malays.
For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 24, 2013.