KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — The upcoming state elections on August 12 will be the best time to determine if there is appetite for the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) progressive candidates, said its central executive committee member Dobby Chew Chuan Yang.

In an exclusive interview with Malay Mail, Chew, 33, who will contest in the Seri Setia seat, explained that the main factor for voters to choose Muda is that Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) had betrayed their supporters after the 15th general election.

"These two coalitions (PH and PN) in the past, I think have pandered to very specific audiences. And over time, their audiences have felt betrayed by their pandering.

"If we do well in this election and especially if people from Selangor think the same way as we do, then this would be the kind of starting point (for Muda).

"This (election) is to show that if other political parties don't continue to address the people’s needs and they keep pandering to a conservative side that will never appeal to their supporters, their supporters will vote for someone else,” he told Malay Mail.

Chew said Muda provides an alternative to the voters by being a "proper Opposition” and it gives voters a small glimmer of hope to not be tied to partisanship politics.

"It's extremely critical that we need that alternative, and for places like Seri Setia, where it's more contested, it's also a place to kind of disprove the whole PH narrative and PN’s ‘Green Wave’. The kind of narrative they are is very divisive in that sense and it forces people to choose a corner.

"The two (PH and PN) are fighting against each other. One is fighting for God and country essentially and the other is against them. But having Muda as alternatives kind of carves the voters away from these things.

"Some of the voters may think Muda's policy centric direction is a better way forward. We might end up splitting someone from PH and PN, but if we do pull from both sides, that kind of shows you have a core class of people that really doesn't believe in both coalitions' narrative,” he said.

With public’s criticism of Muda being that the party is young and not ready for the state election, Chew stressed that its candidates have what it takes to be an assemblyman.

"The reason why they say Muda is not ready, it's because they think we don't have electoral experience like we haven't had experience as an Adun here (in Selangor). If you don't give Muda the chance now, when the next election comes, you're still going to say the same thing because Muda hasn't been in power at all. What is the actual point where Muda is finally ready?

"If you have a PKR, PAS or DAP candidate that came from a business or law background and they suddenly run for election,this doesn't mean they're experienced in dealing with people. They're experienced in their respective field, and they may be the most excellent people in their field, but what do they know about community service? What do they know about bringing people's voices together? What do they know about helping people strike a compromise between each other when there's disagreement?

"My experience, maybe I've been relatively short of eight years in human rights work, but that's why I deal with human rights every day negotiating through people and different agendas and different needs. It’s the bread and butter of my daily life. So it's a lot of things that I think people really have a kind of presumption that you know, you're young, you're untested, you must wait,” he said.

"I don’t think PH and PN candidates are better than me in serving the community. I’m confident in that,” he added.

With Chew facing PH’s Fahmi Ngah, PN’s Datuk Mohd Zubir Embong and independent candidate Harindran Krishnan in a four-cornered fight for Seri Setia, he described the constituency as a "mini-Malaysia”.

"The Seri Setia demographic is like Malaysia. A bit more than 50 per cent is the Malays, close to 30 per cent are the Chinese and 10 per cent are the Indians. It’s like a mini-Malaysia. So it's a very stereotypical Malaysian mix and even when we look at the wealth level or the poverty gap, it's also very reflective. It feels like home,” he said.

Chew aims to elevate the social economy of Seri Setia residents by addressing poverty issues and plans to build public health facilities in the area.