The Raja and the ‘princess’ take gloves off
(ST) – While Raja Nong Chik is able to tap the government’s largesse for the constituency, she is not so lucky. “I have to use all my pay and husband’s money to set up free clinics here.”
He is an entrepreneur-turned-politician from Negeri Sembilan royalty, a top student back in school and a shabby golfer. She is a crowd magnet, a daddy’s girl and the youngest member of Malaysia’s Parliament.
Umno’s Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin and the “princess of reform” Nurul Izzah Anwar of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) are battling to win the hearts and minds of 72,533 voters in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, a hot seat in the country’s watershed 13th General Election.
“Which type of MP do you want? If it’s based on perception or sentiment, I’m on the losing end,” admitted Raja Nong Chik, 60. “But if you want someone who has proven to get things done, I’m the one,” he said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
The opponents have been trading barbs daily since nomination kicked off a week ago. Raja Nong Chik has accused Ms Nurul of stoking voter sentiment against him while doing very little for her ward.
The relentless attacks are furious, even when couched in humour. Ms Nurul, PKR’s vice-president and daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, recalled how she developed an allergic rash after walking over a leaking septic tank in Kuala Lumpur on a campaign walkabout.
“You know lah,” she deadpanned, “I’m a princess.”
It was a dig at the sloppy work of KL’s city hall; her challenger, as Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister, is boss of the local council.
In 2008, Ms Nurul, running for the first time, pipped Umno’s Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil by 2,895 votes. Pundits say the fight now is too close to call as the 32-year-old is up against, in her own words, another Goliath.
“He is, after all, the de facto king of the local city hall,” she said, in an interview with The Sunday Times.
“It’s very challenging; we’ve had rocks thrown and eggs pelted at us. My posters are defaced. We are dealing with a bully,” she lamented.
She is crying foul over almost 5,000 “dubious voters” in the electoral rolls. He has challenged her to expose the names of these voters.
The animosity is visible. “For her, Lembah Pantai is just a platform to bring up issues about her father (Anwar Ibrahim),” Raja Nong Chik said. “For me, my reason to contest is to serve.”
It is a tired line, countered Ms Nurul. “They used the same accusation in 2008,” she shot back. “I’m not my father. It’s my name on the ballot paper and it’s my decision to fight to retain the seat.”
