At a PKR fundraising dinner for the impending general elections (GE14) in Penang last night, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said she was rather shocked when the opposition - then Pakatan Rakyat - managed to wrest Penang from BN in 2008.

While the male politicians last night tried to wow the crowd with their fiery political speeches, the demure PKR president wooed them with tales of the many times she has experienced shocking events in her lifetime.

She said DAP had tried to do just that with Tanjung I and II in the 1990s but failed, and it was only during the Reformasi era - when the opposition parties united - that Penang fell into the opposition's hands.

Azizah said her life was full of shocking events, but before marrying PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, she had an ordinary life where she obtained a scholarship to study medicine overseas and then returned to work as a doctor.

Then she met Anwar (centre in photo) and married him in 1980 and two years down the road, she was shocked that her husband won the elections in Permatang Pauh under BN.

He rose up the ranks and in 1998, she was in for another shock when he was sacked from his deputy prime minister's post, sparking the Reformasi movement.

He was later jailed for abuse of power related to his sodomy charges from 1998 to 2004.

"When he was out of prison, I thought my life would be back to normal but Anwar rejoined politics and in 2015, I received another shock when he was imprisoned again.

This time, he was jailed for five years for another sodomy conviction and is expected to be released for good behaviour on June 8.

Anwar has declared he is innocent, saying these trumped up charges aimed at ending his political carrier.

"Now I want to say that I cannot be shocked anymore but I hope I will see another shocking event when we seize Putrajaya".

About 2,000 people attended the dinner at Spice Penang in Bayan Baru and heard speeches from Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, state DAP chief Chow Kon Yew, state PKR chief Mansor Othman, Amanah president Mohamed Sabu and state Bersatu chief Marzuki Yahya (photo).

During his speech, Marzuki said Harapan's most important mission during the national polls is to get rid of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his minions.

Bersatu, an Umno splinter party which recently joined Harapan is led by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamed who has become Najib's harshest critic since the latter was embroiled in money laundering allegations involving 1MDB.

'An end to Najib's rule'

"We were in Umno before and we left because we could no longer stand what is happening in the party.

"We joined Harapan not to claim any post or position but to see the end of Najib's rule," insisted Marzuki.

He was happy to see the support from the 221 tables last night but expressed hope that donors will not be hounded by the Tax Department.

"Honestly, many are scared to openly support us because the tax department will go for them tomorrow. This is Najib's job," he alleged.

But Marzuki urged Harapan's supporters not to fear such scare tactics by their opponents as the polls loom.

"The wave of change must happen here first, in the land where the call for Reformasi was first heard," Marzuki said.

"We must unite, don't just cling to your own party, whoever contests under Harapan's logo, no matter which party they are from, we will support."