IPOH – While major coalitions have promised a multitude of proposed solutions if they were to win this election, PSM’s Bawani KS has always put her money where her mouth is.
Being the sole candidate for PSM in Perak, Bawani is contesting the state seat of Ayer Kuning in hopes of bringing the voice of the marginalised to the state assembly.
A well-known lawyer in Perak, she has fought on the side of local farmers in land disputes with private entities and state-owned agencies as well as being the go-to labour lawyer fighting for workers’ rights.
With most of her legal work done pro-bono, her clientele mostly consists of hospital cleaners, security guards, lorry drivers, and other workers from poor communities.
She often deals with cases of unlawful termination, breach of contract, non-compliance by employers on EPF or Socso issues, payment of wages which are not in accordance with the law, and even public interest criminal cases, often involving the arrest of activists.
An Ayer Kuning resident with a legal practice based in Kampar, Bawani said she is in tune with the numerous socio-economic challenges facing the people of the state.
“If we have a voice in the state assembly, we can press on land (dispute) issues, underemployment, and environmental issues such as illegal logging and rare earth mining, to name a few.
“We could also press on unnecessary government expenses – something that is rarely talked about.
“So it is important for us to bring these issues affecting marginalised communities and for PSM to challenge policies not in favour of the people,” she said during a recent interview with The Vibes.
Since opening her legal practice in 2016, Bawani said she has dealt with over 30 cases of land disputes between local farmers, private companies and state entities.
While many cases pending in courts, Bawani expressed concern over how these lands, which were cultivated for generations by certain families, are simply alienated by the state government to private firms.
This ultimately leaves these families in a lurch as they are then evicted from these lands.
Bawani explained that many of these farmers were descendants of those resettling in new villages constructed during the Malayan Emergency.
Having previously worked in mines and other small industries, these families were then encouraged to raise crops near settlements under Tun Abdul Razak’s Green Book plan that was launched in 1974.
“These farmers had brought value to these lands and even produced food to feed the people of the state and even other parts of the country.
Yet they still do not have a say in these land deals or even been given an opportunity to own the land after generations of cultivating it,” she said.
As a remedy, Bawani had suggested an independent state-level committee to oversee these land deals to provide a safety net to local farmers and secure food security for the state.
Apart from land rights, Bawani has also pushed for better access to public health, especially for the elderly.
During her campaign run, she even pledged to bring a full-time doctor to service the Ayer Kuning rural clinic as opposed to seeking care in Kampar Hospital, which is 15km away.
Why not PKR or DAP?
Staying true to her socialist roots, Bawani said she finds PSM’s struggle to be more in tune with her belief of “fighting for the sake of the people”.
Bawani said she has been with PSM since 2006 in the midst of her student activism days at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Despite the allure of other political parties, Bawani always said that PSM is unique compared to the rest and has always remained true to its grassroots approach.
Similarly, Bawani said she prefers to transform the current system, pushing for drastic changes rather than “cosmetic” reforms.
“We need to change the system, not cosmetic reforms.
“Though PSM is considered a small party, we are the only party that is doing a lot of grassroots work, working every day with ordinary people.
“People who don’t understand us often associate socialism with communism, but that is inaccurate. Socialism means equal opportunities for all,” she said.
Free education for all
Apart from her legal credentials, Bawani garnered national attention back in 2012 after a video of her advocating free education during a forum went viral.
In the video, Bawani, who was still a student then, was repeatedly told to “listen, listen, listen” by Sharifah Zohra Jabeen, the president of Suara Wanita 1Malaysia.
Looking back at the incident, Bawani simply laughed it off, but acknowledged that the video has been making rounds recently following her candidacy in the election.
Despite the online attention that creates numerous memes and perceptions, Bawani said she had no ill will towards Sharifah.
“But I still maintained that the government can provide free education, and I have been speaking about the matter for the past 10 years.
“I still hold the belief that you shouldn’t profit from education, and people should be given proper access to education to uplift themselves. This is very doable as the government can leverage enough revenue to sustain this.
“It is ultimately a matter of political will,’’ she said. – The Vibes, November 14, 2022
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