Of late much has been made of the racial origin of the DAP candidate for the May 31 Teluk Intan by-election. There is a whispering campaign that the DAP had sidelined Indian Malaysians by choosing a Malay candidate. Other critics point to the relatively youth of the candidate and perhaps the most strident voice from the BN is that Dyana is a compromise candidate to heal factional in-fighting.

As a former parliamentary candidate for the same seat in the 10th general election (GE) in 1999, and in some ways in similar circumstances, I can empathise with Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as well as the party she represents. I joined the party in mid-1998 and was unveiled as the candidate in November 1999 at the age of 40. M Kula Segaran had won the seat in the historic 1997 by-election.

Few wanted to contest the seat in 1997 as the BN candidate had won the seat by a 14,000 odd vote margin in 1995. So Kula actually did a giant killing act.

When Kula expressed interest in moving to Ipoh to contest a seat there in 1999, there were many interested parties as the Teluk Intan seat as it appeared very winnable. There were many who expressed the opinion that the candidate should be from the majority race. But the party made the decision to field me, local born, armed with a degree in Economics from UKM and burning with the desire to serve the people of Teluk Intan in the darkest days of the authoritarian Mahathir Mohamad era.

Alas, the wily Mahathir managed to instil fear in the Chinese voters hearts and I lost by a margin of 2,783 votes to this same Mah Siew Keong. There was a sizeable positive shift in support for the DAP from the Malay voters due to the ‘Anwar Ibrahim’ factor. Indian support was distinctly favourable but Chinese support deserted the DAP nationally. It was the GE where even party stalwarts Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh lost.

Ever since the 1997 by-election, P76 has been won or lost by relatively narrow margins. It is not a safe seat for either party. The DAP has made a long-term visionary stand for the nation in Dyana’s selection. The party is not spared the internal conflicts that are the bane of all political parties on this planet but to accuse the party of fielding a Malay just to solve factional friction is diabolic.

I believe, and the majority of voters In Teluk Intan have in the recent past supported, in DAP’s long-term vision of equitable progress as well as economic and social justice for every Malaysian, irrespective of race, creed, class or social and economic background. The candidate is chosen based on the ability to articulate as well as execute this vision within the parameters of a parliamentarian’s responsibilities. The racial background should not be an issue.

After defeating me, Mah went on to become a parliamentary secretary and then a deputy minister in his second term. Alas, his success in rising up the ranks of the government did not translate into any tangible benefit for Malaysians or the voters of Teluk Intan.

Getting more of the same

Instead, we got more of the same - corruption, cronyism, wastage, loss of competiveness and deterioration in racial harmony. Umno has made it a policy to hurt and alienate Malaysians who do not subscribe to its hegemony.

There is increasing racial and religious tension engineered by groups sponsored, supported and closely linked to Umno.

And Mah promises to support more of the same.

I urge the people and voters of Teluk Intan to rise above the ethnic and religious divide engineered by Umno/BN, by voting for a candidate who is best able to represent and articulate their interests in Parliament.