CALONKINI | Through her volunteer work, 27-year-old Nurainie Haziqah Shafii has met with many underprivileged and marginalised groups – single mothers, the urban poor, stateless children, as well as refugee communities.

Now a practising lawyer, Nurainie developed a keen interest in policymaking and its implementation by elected representatives.

So much so that she decided to take the plunge as a potential PKR candidate in the coming 14th general elections, despite personal reservations about attacks often directed at young women in politics.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Nurainie who is the Selangor PKR Srikandi chief – the party’s young women’s wing – credited her parents and husband as being her pillars of strength.

In fact, Nurainie recalled how her interest in politics was sparked after she followed her parents, along with her three other siblings, to various ceramah and demonstrations during the Reformasi in 1998.

 “We may not have understood what it was about, but we were chanting whatever our parents chanted. I remembered there were a lot of people. Those was some of my best memories,” she said.

Due to what she described as her parents confidence and faith in their children, Nurainie said all her siblings have pursued their own paths – her elder brother working as an IT engineer, her younger brother a doctor to be, while her youngest sister is studying psychology.

In 2013, Nurainie was in her final year in Universiti Teknologi Mara when the election rolled around, and said it was a natural choice for her to volunteer for PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (photo), who was then being fielded to contest in Seri Setia.

Upon graduation, Nurainie said she formally joined PKR as a party member, and worked for Youth deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin, while at the same time continuing to pursue her various volunteering efforts.

Among others, she set-up the Chow Kit Kid's Project for street children in the area, as well as the MyWelfare centre for Rohingya refugees in Selayang.

While Selangor PKR is only expected to announce its full line of candidates tomorrow,  Nurainie has been heavily tipped to make her political debut in a state seat.

Here is Nurainie's story in her own words:

ONE THING THAT INFLUENCED ME A LOT WAS MY FAMILY. We talk about politics every day. Especially during dinner, like all the time. Maybe unlike other families, that would be the time for us to argue and exchange views.

That is actually what influenced me and my other siblings to have an interest in politics. But none of my immediate family members are from any political parties.

ONE THING THAT GAVE ME STRENGTH is my parents’ reaction when I told them I was joining politics. Right away my dad said, I will support you, no questions asked.

My parents is gave us that kind of liberty, and that liberty gives me and my siblings the opportunity to pursue our dreams.

I FOLLOWED MY DAD to nomination days in 2004 and 2008. So I was already exposed to politics, and I am a very firm believer in what I believe in. I had no doubt about choosing the path I wanted to go down.

BEING IN UiTM WAS NOT AN OBSTACLE. When I was in the UiTM law faculty, I know I wanted to do something. But I didn’t know what at that point of time.

I started off with the law society and I was there for two terms. There, I actually built an interest in event management and social activities.

I LEARNT WHAT KIND OF COMMUNITIES I WANT TO WORK WITH. And then when I came out I actually started my own programme, called the Chow Kit Kid’s Project.

That’s where I learned about statelessness, single mothers, the urban poor and their problems. Later on I also worked with Rohingya communities. That started off as MyWelfare, which became Human Aid.

ALL THIS WORK THAT I DO IS A PUSH FOR ME to know what the problems are on the ground. And then when I am in politics I will know what it takes to solve it through policy changes and amendments to the law.

WHEN I STARTED TO PRACTISE AS A LAWYER, I was doing family law matters. So my everyday job is handling divorce and custody cases, and then domestic violence cases. I worked with a few NGOs. So that’s how my passion towards women issues developed.

WE HAVE THE LAWS BUT HOW DOES THESE ACTUALLY HELP? I handle a lot of stateless cases. I know a lot of children out there who are stateless.

I can say that most of them are born in Malaysia, but are denied their basic rights like going to school, healthcare and others. I experienced this on a daily basis. I see these clients every day and I know their struggles.

THE REASON WHY I AM IN POLITICS is because of policymaking. If I wasn’t in politics, I could still do all this volunteer work. In fact, I could probably do an even better job.

But I think when I go through all this community problems, it really goes back to the laws and policies that we have. Whether it is sufficient to help the community or not.

I do all this ground work, but with refugee cases, for example, the work has to stop at one point, because we don’t have the right laws.

START TALKING ABOUT THE PROBLEMS. As elected representatives you are serving the people! If you don’t know the problems of the rakyat, and you only do this and that when the election comes around, why are you even here?

I WANT THE MINDSET TO CHANGE. Don't see people as objects or commodities for politicians to sell themselves. I know this will take time, but I want politicians and lawmakers to think about how they can upgrade people's lives.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE MORE YOUNG CANDIDATES. Because these people are those who really want to contribute back to the community without even thinking or involving themselves in politicking.

I ALWAYS TRUST PKR’S LEADERSHIP. They know what is best, and obviously every single person wants to win seats and ensure we keep on winning the state.

I put my trust in the leaders that we have in PKR of course, and I believe that they will choose whoever is best for any constituency, whether they are seniors or juniors. If you are good enough to fill in that constituency, then they should field you.

AS A YOUNG MALAY WOMAN CANDIDATE, THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF OBSTACLES. I think my biggest support would be my parents and also my husband.

But people do question whether you can be trusted or not. My motivation is always going back to how my parents and husband believe in me and how they really trust me, telling me, “You can do this.”

THE THINKING THAT WOMEN SHOULD BE IN THE KITCHEN, NOT IN POLITICS. I get so angry with such stereotypes. We are still fighting for at least 30 percent women in politics. Why are we still fighting for this after over 60 years?

Imagine the feeling, people and leaders thinking that women don’t have the power to be at least on par with men. I am very, very angry obviously.

IT IS HIGH TIME FOR THE RAKYAT, and for leaders, to see that we have really capable young women to actually go out and be outstanding.

I don’t like it when people see young women as objects. It’s only a bonus if you’re a young pretty woman in politics. I want people to think, “Why are young women in politics?” It is not easy.

I KNOW THERE WILL BE BACKLASH. Compared to being in a social advocacy environment, where you will get all these nice things, people telling you good things about they how they will support you.

In politics, you mostly get people saying bad things about you.

BUT WE HAVE TO FIGHT BACK. People will keep on talking about you regardless. But if you back out, they will be happier and say “See? I told you so.”

For me I believe that the more people talk about you, the more you have to prove that “I don’t care, this is my aim, and I will achieve it."

YOUNG WOMEN IN POLITICS SHOULD NOT STOP. Whether the attacks are true or not, young women especially must continue to tell the people, firmly, that this gutter politics and discrimination must stop.

Look at me, not as an object, but as an asset to the country. Look at how I can contribute to the country.

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

These interviews are not an endorsement by Malaysiakini.

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