CALONKINI | As a teenager in Johor Bahru, Naim Jusri dreamt of owning his own business one day, selling cars or car accessories.

But everything changed in 1998, when then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, the man Naim had grown up watching table the federal budget yearly, was sacked by his boss Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The country was thrown into turmoil, and information from abroad fanned flames in Naim's heart. He was only 15 years old.

"We were in Johor Bahru, so we got BBC radio, and Channel News Asia, the information coming from Singapore was eye-opening.

"My family and I went to Dataran Merdeka to join the protest... I still remember it, the sea of people at Masjid Negara, the chants of 'Reformasi' and 'Undur Mahathir' (step down Mahathir)," Naim told Malaysiakini in an interview in Muar on March 16.

It was a life-changing moment for the Muar native, who joined Anwar's party PKR 10 years later in 2008 following the political tsunami.

He had worked with PKR's Batu Tiga assemblyperson Rodziah Ismail, and from 2014 to 2015 was a Shah Alam city councillor.

Now at the age of 35 with four children, Naim is set to be PKR's candidate for the Sungai Balang state assembly seat, the last bastion of support for BN in Muar at both the state and parliament levels....