SEMENYIH POLLS | This is the fourth time that PSM will contest for the Semenyih state seat, but the left-wing party decided to pick a young gun, Nik Aziz Afiq, instead of fielding its veteran, S Arutchelvan, who contested the seat trice.

The by-election for the Semenyih seat, which fell vacant following the death of the Pakatan Harapan incumbent Bakthiar Mohd Nor, has been fixed for March 2.

The name “Nik Aziz” may sound familiar to most Malaysians. The 25-year-old PSM candidate was born and raised in a strongly Islamic family and his father, who was the Selangor PAS secretary in the 1990s, named him after PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

From attending an Islamic kindergarten in Bangi to the Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic College (KIAS) in Kelantan, Nik’s educational background has always been inseparable from Islam, and he therefore naturally joined PAS.

However, he sees that after the death of Tok Guru Nik Aziz, PAS has gradually become more racist and deviated from the party’s initial direction...