SG BESAR POLLS | INTERVIEW He may be an “outsider” in Sungai Besar but PAS candidate Dr Abdul Rani Osman is ready to dedicate his time for some 26,000 voters in the coastal town, northeast of Selangor.

The Meru assemblyperson is already practising juggling his time between family commitments, religious obligations during Ramadan and campaigning in the by-election against Barisan Nasional’s Budiman Mohd Zohdi and Parti Amanah Negara’s Azhar Abdul Shukur.

Rani’s interview with the media has mostly been conducted after the party’s press conferences at its operation centre in Simpang Lima, Sungai Besar.

“Sometimes some of you send me a list of questions and expects me to answer immediately. I am sorry I can’t do that,” said the soft-spoken man.

If he wins on June 18, Rani said that the operation centre would also be his service centre for the people.

“I promise to be here once a week, not twice a month,” he quipped at a joint interview yesterday.

Rani jokingly referred to Azhar’s recent remarks, which had been taken out of context.

“I am an outsider but I will still be here,” said Rani.

At a ceramah in Sekinchan, Azhar had told voters he promised to see them twice a month, referring to the exact location instead of the entire Sungai Besar parliamentary constituency as reported by certain media.

While born in Sungai Besar, Azhar had only recently moved back to the area after living in Temerloh.

Rani himself is based in Kapar, Klang.

“My wife is at home alone. I’ve been here (in Sungai Besar) five days before nominations,” he said.

His wife, Afidah Anum Moghi, is an English teacher at SMK (P) Kapar.

The 58-year-old, meanwhile, used to run his own private clinic before being elected as an assemblyperson in 2008.

Nothing to fear from Hadi’s bill

In the first week of campaigning, Rani was away for at least one day as he received an invitation to break fast with the Selangor sultan.

Tomorrow, Rani said he also needs to take time off to go home and see his children. He has two daughters and two sons, one who is still in boarding school and the other in Cairo, Egypt.

Campaigning during the month of Ramadan also posed an extra challenge for not only Rani but all three candidates.

To beat the heat, Rani said he makes sure to drink enough water and eats dates for energy during the pre-dawn meal.

“I am now older so I can’t take spicy food...,” he quipped.

Rani is fluent in Malay, English, Arabic and also speaks the local Javanese dialect.

During his campaign trail to meet Chinese voters, he peppered his greetings with Chinese terms and is often introduced as “koyok” - the local Javanese word for doctor.

His main message to them is that there is nothing to fear over PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s proposed amendments to increase the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.

While hinting that there will be more to come if he wins, Rani has made several pledges for the people.

Aside from problems facing the fisherfolk and farming community, Rani also promised to provide assistance for education.

“InsyaAllah, I will also play my role to criticise any weaknesses in the government’s administration.

“This will include our campaigns to abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA),” he stressed.

Nik Aziz’s advice

The former PAS Selangor commissioner, meanwhile, also recalled his times with the late PAS spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Asked how much time he needs to rest every night, Rani said he would only sleep for a few hours, following Nik Aziz’s advice.

“I would … wake up at 3am or 4am and remain awake. That was his (Nik Aziz’s) advice.

“He said, ‘If you have any problem with the rakyat, don’t tell it to the people’,” Rani said, adding that he then developed a habit of performing night prayers.

That has been one of his secrets to success, he says.

“As a YB we might face of five or six problems a day. But when we do night prayers, we can get 10 to 12 solutions,” adds the former PAS Kapar division chief, a post he held for several terms until the 2015 party polls.

Rani also said that Nik Aziz may appear to be stern but he had a sense of humour.

“When he sees me he would joke, ‘Mu (you) ni bila nak tinggi? Tak tinggi lagi’,” he recalled with a smile.

Among the three Sungai Besar candidates, Rani happens to be the shortest.

Rani often pokes fun at his own stature, saying it is proof that he is a humble man (rendah diri).

After the interview, Rani steals some time to read the Al-Quran before leaving for the next itinerary in his hectic schedule that would continue until polling day, June 18.

He is in the running against Azhar and BN’s Budiman Mohd Zohdi. The Sungai Besar seat fell vacant after the recent death of its incumbent Noriah Kasnon in the Sarawak helicopter tragedy.