IPOH – Sincere and genuine hard work to uplift the Malay community – be it in urban, semi-urban, semi-rural or rural areas – is a must for DAP to earn the support and trust of Malaysia’s largest ethnic group, a party central executive committee said.
Howard Lee, who is Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Ipoh Timor candidate, and who is well known among the Malay community in his former Pasir Pinji state seat for his service and thick Perak accent, told The Vibes and Getaran that an elected representative should serve without expecting rewards.
“It’s not a question of ‘Apa lagi Melayu mahu?’ (What more do Malays want?),” Lee said. He was referring to the infamous headline that Utusan Malaysia had published after the 13th general election in 2013 – “Apa lagi Cina mahu?” (What more do the Chinese want?) – when Chinese voters overwhelmingly threw their support to the opposition, depriving Barisan Nasional (BN) of its customary popular-vote majority.
“(Instead), it’s a question of what more we can do for the Malay community without expecting any rewards.
“If we do our work sincerely, serve them, people will begin to see it and perhaps they will slowly swing towards us.
“And to be honest, when we do work, don’t expect any results. If we get the results, then we appreciate it. Otherwise, just continue doing our work sincerely,” said the Ipoh-born Lee, who gave this interview in fluent Bahasa Malaysia.
The former state exco has experienced the fruit of hard work first-hand – from initially getting hostile reception as a DAP candidate to being welcomed and supported today.
He spoke of one memorable event when he made his electoral debut as a candidate for the Pasir Pinji state seat in the 2013 polls.
As his convoy was traversing an area in Taman Temara, they passed an Umno Youth centre on one side of the road and a Wanita Umno centre on the opposite side.
Lee said when his car slowed down, a man came up to his vehicle carrying a DAP flag and set it on fire right in front of him.
“From there, we established a DAP branch that actively and aggressively serviced the local community, up to the point when we became the state government and back to being an opposition – up till today, our members there are loyal,” he said.
One term later, in 2018, and currently in his GE15 campaign, Lee said the Malays of Kg Sri Kinta and Kg Pasir Puteh are the ones behind his success with the community.
He credited his Malay team with the running and organisation of his service centres in Pasir Pinji.
These efforts appear to have paid off for Lee, who was observed being warmly received by local Malay traders at a walkabout at a night market in Tebing Tinggi during campaigning recently.
Now having moved to a parliamentary seat, the former DAP Youth chief will make his federal debut.
His biggest challenge in GE15, he said, is the weather.
“(Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) planned a great strategy (to have the election during) the heavy rainfall of the monsoon season.
“I’ve never campaigned like this before, where our tent collapses because of the heavy rain.
“This happened on our first day campaigning at Pasir Pinji. It began raining at 6pm and our ceramah was to begin at 7.30pm. It continued raining throughout the night.
“At around 11.30pm, when we were closing down, the rain got heavier. The next thing we knew, the tent collapsed under the weight of the water. We were so lucky that no one was there and no one got hurt,” said Lee.
The inclement weather has a positive side, however. Lee said it has shown the strength of support that DAP and PH have, as members of the general public have come out in droves to attend PH ceramahs despite rain and thunderstorms. – The Vibes, November 16, 2022
