SHAH ALAM, Aug 9 — Despite initially being reluctant to be nominated as Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate for the Batu Tiga state constituency, the coalition's women chief Datuk Seri Rina Harun now views the upcoming fight as a potential turning point in her political career.
Rina told Malay Mail that having faced challenges and setbacks after her defeat in the last general election in Sepang, she views Batu Tiga as a chance for redemption.
She said this was an opportunity for her to regain the trust and support of voters and re-establish herself as a viable political contender.
"However, the decision to contest is not mine but the higher-ups in my party. The main reason is they are of the opinion that I will be a better leader if I stay connected first-hand with the people as an elected rep.
"As for why Batu Tiga, this constituency was also decided by the higher-ups in the party. They actually believe that my past experience as a federal minister is going to be beneficial to raise the quality of living for Batu Tiga constituents," she said during an interview at the coalition's headquarters here.
Admitting that it will be an uphill battle to wrest Batu Tiga from Pakatan Harapan (PH), Rina, who was formerly the women, family affairs and community development minister said that PN trusts her to carry the responsibility to complete such a mammoth task.
She said her experience as a former federal minister was one of the main reasons why she was handpicked by the PN leadership to contest in the PKR stronghold.
"It is a well known fact that Batu Tiga is a PH stronghold. In order to win, the party needs someone who has the capability to break that," she added.
As the state elections are about to enter the second half of the campaigning period, Rina said that most of the constituents in Batu Tiga still remember the policies that were introduced during her tenure as a minister.
Rina also recalled one of her favourite moments in one of her walkabouts involving a blind man that she met at Pasar Seksyen 19 that recognised her voice while she was talking to the traders there.
"I still remember a blind man calling my name when I was talking to one of the traders there and I asked him how he knew it was me and he said that he could recognise my voice.
"The man told me that he still remembers the time when I was still a minister and said that he received a lot of assistance then,” she said.
Fulfilling Batu Tiga’s socioeconomic aspirations
Rina's campaign for votes is centred on improving the socio-economic conditions of the Batu Tiga constituency.
She recognises that there are significant income disparities within the area, indicating that some residents are significantly better off than others.
By addressing this income gap, Rina said she aims to uplift the socio-economic status of the less privileged residents and create a more equitable and prosperous community.
"Upon winning Batu Tiga, the plan is to raise the quality of living of my voters, using Indeks Kesejahteraan Rakyat Malaysia (IKRM) as the baseline of our plan.
"As per IKRM, we have to look at two components which are social and economic aspects that are affecting Batu Tiga. If we use something as solid as IKRM as a guide, insya-Allah all the common issues in Batu Tiga and 'not so common' issues can be solved and most importantly not overlooked," she said.
Despite being subjected to hurtful attacks, Rina refuses to be demoralised and instead chose to rise above the negativity and use it as a self-motivating force to drive her political career.
Being in the public eye as a politician, Rina said that she is no stranger to criticism and harsh judgments as one of the negative aspects of public life for many women in politics is the prevalence of body-shaming and derogatory remarks about their appearance.
"We have to judge people based on someone's values and their service.
"I'm human too, I have feelings as well but sometimes these are the challenges that we face before we can achieve our goals," she said.
In the upcoming Selangor state election, Rina will face a three-cornered fight against Selangor PH Youth chief Danial Al-Rashid Haron and Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) Saiyidah Izzati Nur Razak Maideen or known as Cheda Razak.
The seat was previously held by PKR and the incumbent state assemblyperson Rodziah Ismail has consistently improved the number of majority votes since she first won it in 2008.
Selangor is one of the six states that will go to polls on August 12.
