KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — Nallan Dhanabalan, who is running for the Bukit Gasing seat in this Saturday’s Selangor state election, disagrees with the “green wave” label referring to the surge of support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Instead, the Gerakan man prefers that it be called the “rakyat’s wave”, as he told Malay Mail it is to convey a message from voters to the “unity government” that its leaders are not doing their job.
“When I go to the ground, the Chinese have been talking about the ‘green wave’ and they said that they like me but are scared to vote for PN because they are afraid that their lifestyle will be affected such as they cannot wear shorts.
“They called it the ‘green wave’ but it is not. It is the ‘rakyat’s wave’. It is a referendum of the people, telling the federal government that what they are doing is wrong. That’s it,” he said in a recent interview.
The long-time aide to former minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin also defended its PN ally PAS, which has come under intense scrutiny for its controversial remarks against non-Malays and non-Muslims in the past few months.
He said the Islamist party had never interfered with the practices of non-Muslims when it was a part of the Selangor government.
“We cannot compare Kelantan with Selangor. In 2008, Pakatan Rakyat was the government and PAS was part of it alongside PKR and DAP. They didn’t ask for everything to be closed and we can see that pubs were still running in Petaling Jaya during that time.
“In Kelantan, it is because the majority are the Malays, and the state government listens to the voice of the rakyat that they didn’t want any pubs to be opened.
“In the 17 months that PN was the federal government, PAS was part of it and nothing happened. So why worry? So Selangor voters, please look at the history where PAS was here as part of the state government.
“When people talk on social media about the ‘green wave’, I would say it is bullshit,” he said.
Nallan said PN is not racist, instead, accusing the DAP of playing up issues concerning race, religion and royalty — dubbed the 3Rs.
“I believe my opposition, especially DAP, had been using the 3Rs to scare the Indians and Chinese voters with the idea that if PAS is in control, you cannot wear shorts and cannot do this and that.
“Perikatan is not a racist party. Of course there is some conflict like the Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai incident in Penang but that is an internal issue. Stop hearing from the wrong people. If Selangor residents, especially in Bukit Gasing, want further explanations on this, call me and I’ll do that,” he said.
Nallan believes that his ability to speak four languages — Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English — enables him to serve the Bukit Gasing community better.
“As a Malaysian living in a multi-racial country, communicating in their language will definitely help me in understanding their concerns and issues. They will feel more comfortable in explaining to me what is wrong and how I can help them,” he said.
Nallan is challenging two-term incumbent Rajiv Rishyakaran from DAP and another candidate, VKK Rajasekaran Teagarajan from Malaysian United Democratic Alliance, for the urban seat.
Polling for the Selangor state election is this Saturday.
