CALONKINI | It was a combination of faith, idealism and calculated risk that eventually led former PAS youth activist Sheikh Omar Ali to his current position as Johor DAP assistant publicity secretary.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, he candidly addressed the perception that Malays in the DAP were mere "vases on display" to hide its Chinese-centric image.

"I hope to be the plant that grows in a vase and eventually be a shade for the people," he quipped.

Unlike his six other siblings who chose to follow their father’s and grandmother’s footsteps as school teachers, Sheikh Omar believed that a role in politics would allow him to reach and teach a larger group of people.

With a background in religious education, the Universiti Malaya usuluddin graduate formally joined PAS in 2008 after years of involvement in student groups, that also served as the party's proxies on campus.

At the same time, he also briefly served as an assistant to PKR’s Batu MP Tian Chua, before being contracted to be a government administration and diplomatic officer.

With only a month left on his two-year contract, he was faced with a major decision on whether to accept an offer to join an Umno Youth-linked organisation, or face possible sanction due to his political leanings.

He rejected the offer and faced the consequences.

Still a PAS member at that point, Sheikh Omar went on to work with the Pakatan Rakyat secretariat, leading to his initial encounters with current Johor DAP chairperson Liew Chin Tong, then the Bukit Bendera MP.

He also served as the media officer to then PAS youth chief Suhaizan Kayat, and remained with the party until its leadership crisis in 2015, which eventually saw the ‘professionals’ being ousted by the camp of ‘conservatives.'

Once again, Sheikh Omar took a different path, choosing not to follow the exodus to Amanah, but joined DAP instead.

Amid speculation that DAP and Pakatan Harapan would field its big guns in Johor, just last week, the Kluang-born 33-year-old was formally announced as the party’s candidate for the Paloh state seat.

He is also the party’s first Malay candidate to be announced as part of the 14th general election lineup for Johor.

This is his story in his own words:

MY FAMILY HAS ALWAYS LEANED TOWARDS THE OPPOSITION. I have an older brother who was already involved with PAS.

MY WIFE WHO WORKED AS A NURSE IN RIYADH came back last October, when she was eight months pregnant with our third child. After giving birth, she resigned so I could focus on GE14.

She also sacrificed another nursing job offer in Mecca and told me, "Sheikh, you have to win."

BOTH MY PARENTS ARE VERY SUPPORTIVE. The day I was announced as a candidate, my father had chest pains.

I took him to the hospital in the morning, but he refused to rest and insisted that he would come along for the event.

My mother, my elder brother and sister, as well as their families, were also present.

DURING REFORMASI, I was still in Form One. At that time I went with my elder brother to several major demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur.

At the time, however, I did not really understand what was going on.

AS A ‘HOT BLOODED’ YOUTH who joined PAS and saw with my own eyes how the religious party was split apart, I know I no longer wanted to be with a similarly branded party.

I am among the youths who saw impact of the split of an Islamist party.

I hope, through my participation with the DAP, it would further enforce the view that it is not a Chinese party.

SOME PEOPLE CALLED ME ‘THE DEVIL’ WITHIN PAS. And another popular term at the time was the ‘parasite’.

But I take that as only a small challenge compared to my bigger ambitions to push for change. After all, what doesn’t kill you make you stronger.

IN TERMS OF IDEAS, in my own view, the opposition at the time was pushing for reforms in the country.

But at the same time, I also believe that if the opposition is pushing for national reforms, then there should also be reforms within our own ranks.

We must set aside politics based on race and narrow religious views.

THERE HAVE BEEN NO MAJOR PROBLEMS SINCE I JOINED DAP. Maybe there are a few issues here and there, due to historical factors. But in principle I don't think there is any problem in me joining DAP.

Language is not really an issue, while in terms of cultural differences, I have seen how Chinese and Malays learn from each other.

I SEE DAP'S STRENGTH IN ITS GRASSROOTS. I got to know the party through Liew as one of its top leaders, and through my work in Kluang and Paloh, I believe it is reason enough for me to remain with DAP.

I have seen there are good leaders at the top and loyal supporters on the ground.

AS A MALAY IN THE DAP, my view is that any issues we raise must take into account the interest of all the races.

Otherwise, we will continue to be trapped in this hegemony of race, religion and culture, without actually solving any problems. There would be continuous simmering prejudice among us.

I WAS NOT SURPRISED WHEN I WAS FIELDED IN PALOH. Paloh is still in Kluang, about 25km away, although it is under a different parliamentary constituency.

For the past five years I worked in Kluang, but in the last five months I have been in Paloh.

In Paloh there are several main issues. For example there is a Tamil school that requested for allocation to fix its leaking roof. Indians make up 17 percent of voters there.

Also there are issues related to land encroachment. For example, local Malay palm oil planters complained of how they lost their income because of the problem.

IT IS NOT RIGHT TO SAY THE GE13 LOSS IN PALOH WAS DUE TO AN INDIAN CANDIDATE. We lost by 103 votes, and from our postmortem we found there were technical errors from our polling and counting agents.

We lost with a Chinese candidate before, and we lost with an Indian candidate.

So this time around, the local machinery said maybe we should try to field a Malay candidate instead.

ONE INTERESTING CHALLENGE FOR GE14 is a Felda being moved into Paloh. Felda Kahang Barat, with approximately 2,500 voters, was taken out of Kahang.

This is also a 'challenging' time for the Malay voters. They will be choosing between a Chinese BN candidate and a DAP candidate who is "Sheikh Omar from Arab."

WITH LIMITED RESOURCES, we have opened up Kafe Harapan Paloh at the site of a burnt building.

We want to make Paloh a liveable city. So that not everyone wants to migrate to larger towns or Kuala Lumpur. There will be those who do due to economic or other factors, but we want most to remain in Paloh.

CALONKINI introduces new faces from all sides of the political divide who are potential candidates for the 14th general election.

The interviews are not an endorsement by Malaysiakini.

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