She has no election machinery, party workers or an operations centre. Most importantly, Maimun Yusof has no money.

Maimun Yusof nenek calon bebas 02 Her modest wooden house at Kampung Mengadang Akar - where the widow lives alone - bears testimony to her humble existence.

Armed with only a bicycle, the 89-year-old grandmother, however, is on track for a head on collision with not one, but two heavyweights, in the coming elections.

Maimun is the independent candidate embroiled in a three-cornered race for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat with Umno and PAS.

Her candidacy tickled Malaysians far and wide, but the mother of one and grandmother of seven told Malaysiakini that running in the elections has been a 20-year dream.

In the past, she said the Election Commission (EC) always rejected her nomination papers but this time around the green light was given and she has chosen the ‘key’ as her symbol.

Maimun is also a recipient of a monthly RM200 aid from the Terengganu Welfare Department. She said officers from the department tried to coax her into withdrawing from the contest but she refused.

"Once I am in, I will not pull out," she said, citing a Malay proverb ‘Alang-alang mandi biar basah, alang-alang mengharung air biar sampai’ (to slug it out till the end).

"Even if I lose it’s okay, but I hope to win," she added.

Save the state

Maimun Yusof nenek calon bebas 04 Maimun’s manifesto does not contain statistics or arguments on social ills, crime or economic issues. She simply wants to save the state from falling into the hands of outsiders.

Curiously, she is worried that PAS will sell Terengganu to the Japanese. The party’s flag, she added, resembles the Japanese flag.

"There are people who want to sell our state to outsiders. Tok (grandmother) does not want them to sell it off," she stressed.

Maimun also does not want Terengganu to become a "Chinese state" like Singapore or Penang.

"On the other hand, BN wants to sell the state to outsiders and that is why they build tall buildings in order to attract the outsiders," she argued.

Up till yesterday, there was not a single poster of Maimum in sight but the candidate said she has ordered 1,000 copies which will be printed soon.

She has also yet to hold any ceramah or house-to-house campaigns.

"I don’t know how to ceramah but I feel like holding one before the campaigning period ends. I want to tell the people the real reason why I am contesting," she said.

"I am contesting because I want to voice out my opinions in Parliament on what is happening in this state. I see people making mistakes, and it is a sin not to speak up about it.

"If we speak about this by the side of the road, nothing will happen," she said, adding the she will help everyone if elected.

According to Maimum, the Election Commission officials allow her to pay only RM10,000 instead of RM15,000 as required by all parliamentary candidates - RM10,000 as deposit for the seat while RM5,000 as deposit for putting up posters.

She claimed that the money was from her savings from years of selling traditional Malay costumes for weddings and other official functions.