KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Former PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang has reportedly agreed to meet party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim privately at an unspecified time and location before polling day.
Chua, who is popularly known as Tian Chua, was supposed to meet Anwar at a public rally Pakatan Harapan (PH) organised for its Batu candidate P. Prabakaran but was advised by authorities to avoid a public meeting with the Opposition leader for fear of triggering clashes between supporters, his lawyer Gurmukh Singh told the New Straits Times.
Because of that, Gurmukh reportedly said he advised Chua to meet Anwar privately instead.
Chua is using a distinctive yellow colour for his banners along with the simple symbol of a chair for ballot papers.
He was previously automatically sacked for going against the party’s choice of Prabakaran for the Batu seat and is running there as an independent candidate.
He served as Batu MP for 10 years, from March 2008 to May 2018.
He is counting on voters’ recognition of him as compared to other candidates.
"I think among all of them, I’m the familiar face, I’ve been here almost 20 years. From 2004 after I lost the election, I stayed, I maintained a service centre continuously, even after GE14 when I didn’t win, I still maintain a service centre here,” he said during an interview with Malay Mail.
The three main thrusts of his manifesto for the constituency are championing climate policies, promoting good governance and fighting for local council elections.
Chua is up against nine other contenders in Batu, the most number of candidates ever to fight for a single seat.
The contenders include: Barisan Nasional’s Datuk A. Kohilan Pillay from MIC, Perikatan Nasional’s Azhar Yahya from PAS, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air’s Wan Azliana Wan Adnan, Parti Warisan Sabah’s P. Naganathan who will be using the name "Nathan Batu” in ballot papers and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Zulkifli Abd Fatah.
The rest are independent candidates: lawyer and activist Siti Kasim, who is using the symbol of a pair of spectacles, influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana, who is better known as Cleopatra or "Cleo” and uses the symbol of a tree, and Too Cheng Huat, under the name "Too Gao Lan” for the ballot paper who is using the symbol of a key.
