Pakatan Friends launches on July 24, targets young East M’sians
Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle
Sabah PKR leader Ronnie Klassen will soon be launching Pakatan Friends – a movement that aims to reach out to East Malaysians and unite them into a voting force ahead of the 13th General Election.
“It is the young Sabahans and Sarawakians who will hold in their hands the future of Malaysia. That’s why we are focusing all our efforts to reach them and explain to them why they must engage themselves in our struggle for democracy and justice,” Ronnie told Malaysia Chronicle.
“They should not close their eyes, that was the way of the previous generation. The next GE is a very crucial one and East Malaysians must come forward and be a part of the change. They must lead the change and not forever be the ‘fixed deposit’ for Umno and BN.”
East Malaysians working in the peninsula also targeted
Pakatan Friends will kick off in Kota Kinabalu on July 24 at the Hotel Yaho in Sembulan. About a thousand people have indicated their wish to attend. The next stop will be Kuala Lumpur in mid-August and Sarawak in mid-September.
According to Ronnie, who is Sabah PKR communications chief, there are about 300,000 East Malaysians – mostly young professionals – working in the peninsula.
“The aim of Pakatan Friends is to reach out to young East Malaysians who do not have any political affiliations or have not registered as voters yet. Apart from the home states, we also want to target those who have gone to the peninsula to work,” said Ronnie.
“In the peninsula, we will start off with Kuala Lumpur and on the list is also Johor because of its proximity to Singapore where a lot of Sabahans and Sarawakians are working. They do not have to join any of the Pakatan parties but we urge them to listen to our message of reform and spread it to their friends and families.”
