TELUK INTAN, May 20 – The Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election scheduled for May 31 will be the fifth for Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong.
Teluk Intan-born Mah, 53, who is also Gerakan president, first contested for the parliamentary seat in the 1999 general election, in which he defeated DAP’s N.Rajendran in a straight fight with 2,783 vote-majority.
The former Gerakan Youth chief and Teluk Intan Gerakan chairman then retained the seat in the 2004 general election after emerging winner with almost 10,000 vote-majority in the three-corner fight against DAP’s Wu Him Ven and PKR’s N.Gobalakrishnan.
However, during the political tsunami in 2008, Mah lost the seat to DAP’s M.Manogaran who won with a majority of 1,470 votes.
In the 2013 general election, Mah failed in his attempt to win back the seat in a three-corner fight.
DAP candidate Seah Leong Peng, who is former assemblyman for Pasir Bedamar since 1999, won the seat with a 7,313 vote-majority against Mah and independent candidate K. Moralingam.
Mah, who is also former Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, holds a Bachelor of Science degree from London School of Economic, a Master’s degree from City University London, and a law degree from the University of East, London.
On Oct 26 last year, Mah was appointed as Gerakan president after defeating Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Teng Chang Yeow in the party polls. He garnered 1,086 votes to take the president’s post, while Teng secured only 577 votes.
Mah has also served as Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister from 2004 to 2006 and the chairman of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation from 2010 to 2013.
Meanwhile, DAP’s candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, 27, is a new face who gets into the picture only after being appointed as the political secretary to Gelang Patah member of Parliament Lim Kit Siang, who is also DAP adviser.
The selection of the Universiti Teknologi Mara’s law graduate as DAP’s candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election has shocked many, especially DAP hardcore supporters in Teluk Intan.
This is because 25,310 or 41.94 per cent of the 60,349 registered voters in the constituency are Chinese, while Malays only make up 38.6 per cent (23,301) of the voters, Indian 19 per cent (11,468) and the remaining percentage comprises others.
In fact, DAP has never fielded a Malay, let alone a woman, as its candidate in either general or by-elections before. Its candidates comprised only Chinese or Indian men.
As such, the move made by the party has been seen as an attempt to change public perception and to prove that DAP is not a Chinese-dominated party.
Dyana Sofya is the third of four siblings and the only girl in the family. She was born in Ipoh, Perak.
Her mother, Yammy Samat, 59, is an Umno member and former Ipoh division Umno secretary and was the first woman to hold the post.
Dyana Sofya also has a legal firm in Putrajaya.
– BERNAMA
