PKR's candidate for the Bukit Selambau by-election may be an inexperienced politician, a fact that probably did not go down well with some of the party's patriarchs.

However, S Manikumar says he is the epitome of Bangsa Malaysia.

Asked about the qualities that would make him the ideal people's representative, the young entrepreneur said: "I have three characters – I am an Indian by origin, I am a businessman with the Chinese-style of thinking while the Malay culture is part of me as I was brought up in a Malay village in Alor Setar."

bukit selambau by election pkr candidate s manikumar 020409 "In a nutshell, I am what people would say a member of the Bangsa Malaysia that Pakatan is trying to establish," said a gruff-voiced Manikumar ( right ), the result of a sore throat due to campaigning.

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini , Manikumar, 35, spoke of some of the hurdles he faces in the 15-way challenge but confidently believes that there is nothing hard work and sincerity cannot fix.

"I am the real member of PKR and I have been given the party's mandate to carry out the party’s aspiration and to bring the message to the people that we are struggling for a Bangsa Malaysia ," he said.

Manikumar, who is battling it out with seven Indian (including BN's S Ganesan), six Malay and one Chinese candidate, said that his biggest challenge would be to garner the Malay vote.

"But through our campaign, I believe we can capture back this stronghold because when I go down to the Malay-dominated areas and I feel that I am one of them," he said.

He said that he was not too worried about the Chinese voters as he felt they will give their unfaltering support to Pakatan Rakyat.

Bukit Selambau on the Net

The 35-year-old, who has towering plans for the people of Bukit Selambau, said if he bags enough votes and lands a state executive councillor position as promised by the PAS-led Kedah government, he intends to make the 22 village heads in the area technology-savvy.

bukit selambau by election pkr candidate s manikumar doing tai chi 010409 "I have my own vision [...] mostly they are long-term plans which may take a couple of years to become a reality; and for these plans to become a reality, I have to several missions in the shape of short-term projections," he said.

He said that every four months he would launch a programme to help locals deal with their pressing problems which would help towards fulfilling the objectives of the longer-term plans.

"Short-term missions will focus on human capital development, for example, we will be creating blogs or a website, something like bukitselambau.com, to get the village heads to come together with us on how we can integrate better," he said.

bukit selambau by election pkr candidate s manikumar campaign 300309 06 "We want to bring awareness for the people on how they can develop themselves as well as bring technological advancement. Through the village heads we will also know what are the grassroots problems such as people with no identification cards or birth certificates.

"These are some of the issues that can be put on the website from where we can coordinate matters. We don't have to go down to the villages too often because time is very limited.

"We will be handicapped without technology and it is best for us to adapt to it to be on par with developed countries, he added.

"That is why young people are needed and they have to come forward with dynamic ideas together with the right calibre and performance," said Manikumar.

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