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Pejuang’s Nurul Ashikin returns to Ampang to fight for youths, the environment

Cool, calm and collected.

This was the first impression given by Pejuang’s Ampang candidate, Nurul Ashikin Mabahwi, during a recent interview at a food court in Lembah Jaya Selatan, Ampang, some 10km from the heart of the Malaysian capital.

While her engineer husband remains in Japan, Nurul Ashikin returned to Malaysia last year, with her now six-year-old daughter, to be a full-time politician.

“I returned to Malaysia for the sake of Pejuang. I was appointed a CEC (central executive committee) member and we decided that I need to work really hard for the party,” she said, in reference to the new political party set up by Malaysia’s former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“But on a lighter note, having a long-distance marriage actually works for a politician because we are very busy,” she joked.

Dubbed ‘Dr Banjir’ (flood doctor), the former Puteri Umno and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia member will be contesting her maiden election in Ampang – a constituency of 133,493 voters.

Malaysians will head to the polls on Nov 19 for the nation’s 15th General Election.

She faces eight other candidates – Parti Bangsa Malaysia’s Zuraida Kamaruddin, Pakatan Harapan’s Rodziah Ismail, Warisan’s Bryan Lai Wai Chong, Perikatan Nasional’s Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif, Barisan Nasional’s Ivone Low Yi Wen, and three independents – M. Raveendran, Muhammad Shafiq Izwan Mohd Yunos and Tan Hua Meng.

Nurul Ashikin, 33, has set her eyes on voters aged between 18 and 39, who represent some 60,000 voters in the constituency.

“While I know that the older people are leaning more towards voting for the older parties, I hope to convince them to vote for me based on what I have to offer,” said the former teaching assistant who was attached to Japan’s Shibaura Institute of Technology Laboratory of Planning and Regional Resilience.

Armed with a PhD in Regional Environment Systems from Shibaura Institute of Technology, and a degree in town planning from Malaysia’s Universiti Teknologi Mara, Nurul Ashikin shared her plans for Ampang with Twentytwo13.

How has campaigning been thus far?

Nurul Ashikin: So far, so good. But I have to be very honest with myself that I am a new politician, and this is my first general election. So, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and I hope I will have enough time to get voters to know me.

Tell us a bit about your early days.

Nurul Ashikin: I was born in a squatter settlement in Ampang – Kampung Berembang. When I was five, my family managed to break out of poverty, and we left the area for a better place. But we continued travelling to Kampung Berembang, as my aunt lives there. My mum is a single mum and she used to work in Bernas (Padiberas Nasional Berhad). She worked really hard to change our fortunes – from a low-income family to one much better than before.

You will be up against several heavyweights. What can you offer?

Nurul Ashikin: I have some knowledge gained while studying and working in Japan – including how to help mitigate floods and address landslides. I also plan to introduce smart township planning here.

Do you think enough is being done by the local, and government authorities to address flash floods and landslides?

Nurul Ashikin: Landslides and floods happen nationwide, including in Ampang. We have improper use of land, we have problems with our drainage system, our rivers overflow easily, we don’t have buffers along rivers, and we don’t have enough funds for flood mitigation. We are not focusing on structural measures to mitigate floods.

Officers from the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council have reached out to me, especially those in the town planning department. They have shared their reports and findings on flood mitigation. They say they look forward to me being the MP. If I win, I hope to align my plans with the local council’s plans.

What about the bread-and-butter issues?

Nurul Ashikin: It’s in my manifesto. I hope to explore new ideas and platforms to help the local economy, and create more job opportunities, especially for the youths. I would like to provide training and mentorship opportunities, and create strategic partnerships with companies to reduce the unemployment rate. This is something I would like to adapt from Japan. It’s called shukatsu (a job-hunting activity where the recruiting schedule at major corporations is set in advance annually based on a consensus among the government, businesses, and higher learning institutions). Most of the young voters I met say they do not have jobs, and I want to address this.

With a nine-cornered fight in Ampang, what lies ahead for your party?

Nurul Ashikin: Pejuang is a new party. We are small. One of the main challenges is people’s tendency to vote for the party, instead of the candidate. There are those who say they are afraid of voting for new parties. I hope people will vote for the candidate instead of merely looking at the party’s logo.

What can young politicians bring to Malaysian politics?

Nurul Ashikin: Young politicians do not have any baggage. The country needs more ideas, and the young can offer that. We need to start fresh, and it is time to let the young lead.

Pejuang is viewed as a party by the Malays, for the Malays.

Nurul Ashikin: Even though it is a Malay-based party, we will fight for all Malaysians. We are not a racist party. It’s not a party to attack other races. We want the Malays to know that they have another alternative, besides Umno. Pejuang is the cleaner version of a Malay political party. We established Pejuang for the Malays, to fight Umno.

Ampang has 40 per cent non-Malay voters. Wouldn’t being part of a Malay party be a disadvantage?

Nurul Ashikin: Realistically, a Malay cannot contest in a Chinese area. Even though they come from multiracial parties. People tend to vote for people from their own race. It’s not that we are racist, it’s just that we are not that open, yet. We don’t assimilate well with each other. It’s sad, but this is the reality. Ampang is still a Malay-majority constituency. Similarly, you cannot ask people living in a Malay kampung to vote for a Chinese candidate.

But former Barisan Nasional leader, Tan Sri Ong Tee Keat was the Ampang MP for four terms, since 1989 (then known as Ampang Jaya).

Nurul Ashikin: At that time, BN was strong. And the sentiments were different. People did not know about the faults within BN. Social media was non-existent. BN crumbled in 2018; the situation is different now.

Do you think people will pay attention to Pejuang after it suffered a huge defeat in the Johor by-election in March?

Nurul Ashikin: We were too young when we contested in Johor. People didn’t know Pejuang existed. All they knew was that it was a party (created) by Dr Mahathir. But I hope the sentiments have changed, and I hope the voters will give us a chance.

Do you think Dr Mahathir still has what it takes to be prime minister?

Nurul Ashikin: He is a legend. He is well-experienced, and is a statesman. Of course, he has what it takes to be prime minister. But I believe it is time for us to put someone else in charge. We have decided not to name our prime minister candidate. Personally, my pick is Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, but this might not be the party’s opinion.