Gerakan candidate says she definitely needs to do more
PONTIAN: Being of Indian and Chinese heritage, Wendy Subramaniam grew up celebrating all races in Malaysia and to her, racism does not exist in her vocabulary. As the Gerakan candidate for the Tanjung Piai by-election, Wendy is confident that she will win the hearts of all races in this by-election. She spoke to Arfa Yunus, Hana Naz Harun and Rizalman Hammim on her plans for the constituency.
Question: What did the Gerakan leadership say when they told you that you will be the Tanjung Piai candidate?
Answer: Actually, they didn’t give me an explanation but I believe they made the decision because I have a double degree and I’m also one of the young leaders that they want to groom (to lead the party in the future). Q: How do you feel about being a candidate since you were not born nor do you live in Tanjung Piai. Do you feel there is pressure or that you need to do more compared with other candidates?
A:
I definitely need to do more but I don’t feel there is pressure. Although I may not know the area well, all I need is time. Nobody knows everything instantly, right? Just give me time and I will know my way around. Q: What is your campaigning style? Will you do more ceramah or are you planning on going door-to-door?
A:
It is a mixture of both. I’ve been going door-to-door in the morning and also meeting voters at places they frequent, such as the morning market and coffee shops. The ceramah starts tonight (Monday). We are planning ahead because of the rules given by the Election Commission that require us to provide them with our plans and agenda at least two days in advance. We have filed in about 55 forms to the EC officer in charge up to Monday. Q: What do you think of your chances of winning this seat?
A: I leave it to the rakyat. We (Gerakan) feel confident of winning because otherwise, we wouldn’t waste time contesting. Fourteen days is a long time and I’m already missing my children. We are also spending a lot of money, time and a lot of our supporters are here. So Gerakan definitely wants to win and we are trying really hard. Q: Where are your children right now?
A:
At home in Kulai with my husband. I have two girls. One is 5 and the other is a year old. I haven’t seen them for two days. From seeing and hugging their mummy every day to nothing at all. This is a big change for them, but we are doing this for the rakyat. Q: We understand that your manifesto will be out soon. Can you share with us some of the contents?
A:
Firstly, our manifesto will be looking at the healthcare service because the Pakatan Harapan government had given an allocation to upgrade the current hospital. I’ve heard that the hospital was not running very well even since Barisan Nasional’s time. It is only a district hospital and the nearest general hospital is in Johor Baru, which is about one-and-a-half hours away.
So, it is time to upgrade it to a bigger hospital since we are looking at people from two state constituencies, which means there are a lot of people. Travelling down to Johor Baru is not difficult but to travel for an emergency is very difficult. Since the allocation is already announced, I am hoping that if I’m elected, I can help make sure that the funds will be used for this purpose.
Aside from that, we are looking at the economy in this area, on tourism and manufacturing industries, for example. We need more factories here to increase job opportunities. When I spoke to the voters, their main concern was their salaries, which are not up to par. They are being paid around RM1,000 to RM1,100 a month. The price of houses here is high. There is no low-cost housing and with that kind of salary, the people can’t afford to buy even a RM150,000 house.
The minimum salary they need (to buy a house) is around RM4,000 to RM5,000, otherwise they will forever be renting instead of owning a house. Q: What sparked your interest in politics?
A:
I joined Gerakan in 2007. One of my father’s friends asked me to join Gerakan because he is a member. He said, ‘get to know Gerakan’, and we did. After I finished my studies, got married and had children, my father’s friend came to see me again and asked me to be more involved in Gerakan. I wasn’t pleased at the time because Gerakan was still in Barisan Nasional but I did get involved because I was able to help people on a daily basis. Q: What is your message to your voters?
A:
I hope Tanjung Piai voters will give me a chance. I want them to know that they do have a choice aside from Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional. If we want a clean and progressive government, firstly we need a system of checks and balances and secondly, we need to have different parties representing the different voices because only then can we achieve balance in the political scene.