PKR candidate for the Kajang by-election Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is looking at the big picture, raising national issues like her husband Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction and others.

However, her challenger, MCA's Chew Mei Fun, is focussing on the small picture, such as the former PKR Kajang assemblyperson’s dismal performance and unresolved local issues.

While issues like Anwar's conviction and other national matters may strike a chord with voters in the mixed constituency, local residents, however, are also seething over poor road conditions and uncollected garbage.

        

MCA leaders have been constantly reminding the voters that the former PKR rep Lee Chin Cheh failed to perform, and unlike PKR, Chew parked herself in Kajang the next day after being named as the candidate to prove her determination to serve.

On the same note, it also appears that PKR has altered its strategy after Wan Azizah was named as the candidate after her husband was convicted.

Her newly launched manifesto also touches on local issues such as improving traffic congestion and enhancing urban management.

Pouncing on this, MCA termed the manifesto as a slap for the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government.

However, PKR continues to hold on to its “Kajang Move”, with Wan Azizah repeatedly mentioning that the constituency will pave the way for the opposition to capture Putrajaya and serve as a referendum against injustice.

Good vs evil

In the flyers distributed by its campaign team, the party continues to slam premier Najib Abdul Razak for being unresponsive towards the rise in racial and religious extremism as well as highlighting issues like price hikes, MCA’s eagerness to rejoin the Cabinet, kangkung flash mob and non-Muslim students eating in a shower room.

According to a PKR campaign strategist, who requested anonymity, with Anwar's conviction happening few days before nomination day, the party is aiming at reuniting the middle-aged voters who went through the first Reformasi era, by using the Kajang election as a platform.

On the campaign trail, Wan Azizah personifies the “good against evil” narrative by calling for "hope" and "bravery" instead of "pity".

She also just as eloquently counters MCA's attacks that a manifesto to improve local government services is an attack on the PKR-led state.

"We are Pakatan. We are not 'yes men'. We can criticise one another for improvement. If it means helping the people of Kajang then why not?" she asked at a ceramah last night.

A vox pop conducted by Malaysiakini recently showed that most of the voters admitted poor management by the local council, but were willing to tolerate and compromise due to the "big picture".