Malaysia GE2022: Influencer-turned-independent-candidate tackles gender, grassroots issues in bid for keenly contested KL seat

KUALA LUMPUR — Before she entered the political fray, many in Malaysia would have already known of Ms Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharuddin as Cleopatra, an influencer with almost 250,000 followers on social media. 

Now the 28-year-old is gaining even wider attention for her ambitious tilt at one of the nation's most hotly contested seats, Batu, on the northern outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

She is doing so on a platform including gender equality, fighting drug addiction and grassroots issues such as fixing roads — all without any party political affiliation.

Running as an independent, Ms Nur Fathiah is one of 10 candidates, including two other women, contesting Batu at the Nov 19 general election (GE). The incumbent is Mr P Prabakaran, the official candidate for the Pakatan Harapan coalition led by Mr Anwar Ibrahim.

If Ms Nur Fathiah were to win the seat, her vote could be crucial to the formation of a governing coalition given that polls are suggesting that GE2022 could be one of the closest contests in Malaysian history.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday (Nov 16) at a roadside stall in the electorate, Ms Nur Fathiah voiced strong opinions on gender equality and the various challenges facing voters in Batu.

At the same time, she offered a glimpse of her personal struggles as a single mother of two young children.

Ms Nur Fathiah admitted it has not been easy juggling career, political campaigning and being the sole breadwinner to a wider family of seven.

“But I have somehow managed to get through these struggles and I intend to put in the same (hard work) for my constituents, and help them through their own struggles,” she said.

REPRESENTING WOMEN'S VOICES IN PARLIAMENT

On Nov 9, a coalition of women non-governmental organisations (NGOs) called out local mainstream media for focusing on the physical attributes of women contesting GE2022.

“Disproportionate and unfair focus was also placed on justifying responses to negative public comments about these candidates’ so-called reliance on their appearance to get votes,” said the Pantau PRU15 coalition, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today.

Weighing in on the issue, Ms Nur Fathiah said that such views were “absolutely wrong”, stressing that the candidate’s appearance should not be on people’s minds when voting on Nov 19.

Just before starting her media interview, her 10-minute meal break at the roadside stall was interrupted by a group of young men asking her for a selfie. She readily obliged. 

“Sure, (a person's looks) might be a bonus to draw attention. But after getting the attention, then it’s the individual’s capabilities that determine if they can be a good leader,” she said.

Ms Nur Fathiah added that she was proud of seeing women making up 13.5 per cent of candidates in Malaysia’s 15th GE, before stressing that women’s representation in parliament should be improved.

Men, too, need to be better allies, she said.

“I don’t call myself a feminist, but women understand women problems better than men,” she said.

“It takes a real man to value a woman, support and encourage her ambitions. Men should be doing that, instead of discouraging or putting down women,” she said passionately.

She pointed out that women's issues was something she had long fought for, having founded Hetero Action Women Alliance (Hawa), an NGO focusing on helping women.

She hoped that as an elected representative in Parliament, she could tackle a wider scope of issues than her current role in the NGO permits.

EVEN THE ‘SMALL, SMALL THINGS’ MATTER

In a biography she published on social media, Ms Nur Fathiah listed a diploma in teaching as her education qualification, while she holds director positions in two security companies.

When asked by TODAY about this, she began sharing about how her previous marriage had disrupted her education.

She said she was pursuing her final year of a degree programme when she got married and was “instructed… to stop studying, become a full-time housewife”.

Calling the marriage “the biggest mistake of my life”, Ms Nur Fathiah cautioned women against thinking that marriage would be a solution to their financial security, adding that they might end up with a partner who “looks down on you” if they made the wrong choice.

After her divorce in 2019, she returned to her mother’s home and became the sole breadwinner to her children, her mother, her grandmother and two brothers.

She said she had applied for whichever job she could and ended up in the security and defence industry as her employers had given her a chance to prove herself. She said she will be pursuing further studies in law.

More employers need to be like that, she said, saying that youths fresh out of school have a hard time seeking employment as all companies prefer experienced workers.

Ms Nur Fathiah said that her personal struggles have made her more relatable to voters, with many women she came across pouring their hearts out to her, though she insisted that she has never played up her own struggles to them in an effort to get them to open up.

She said the nature of the residents' complaints over bread and butter as well as municipal issues may be seen as “small, small things” compared to national issues. 

“But a good leader will tend to such ‘small, small things’ because these are what will impact their lives,” she said.

“Other candidates might go to the ground, but I don’t think they witness as many tears as I do. And I really truly believe that.”

ON WINNING OVER PARTY SUPPORTERS

When asked about her plans for Batu, she said that a laundry list of objectives has already been published in her manifesto, though tending to municipal and infrastructure issues as well as job opportunities would be among her top priorities.

She cited examples of elderly people dying alone at home, unnoticed by the authorities, and the way that broken lifts, roads and other amenities can go unfixed for years. 

Ms Nur Fathiah is measured when asked about her chances on Saturday, saying that she has put in the hard work and is leaving the rest to God.

She also sidestepped questions from the media on which candidate she would support to be the Prime Minister, only saying that “it takes a lot” to hold that position, and it was not in her position to pass judgement.

“But I just want a leader with a good heart. Go and take a look at the struggles faced by these (low-cost) flat dwellers first, before you vie for the PM position,” she said.

Through TODAY’s conversations with about a dozen voters in the Batu constituency, most shared their preference to support candidates affiliated to political parties. This is because they believe party candidates have more clout and stronger support in Parliament than independent ones.

When asked about this, Ms Nur Fathiah told TODAY that there was nothing wrong with being a party’s candidate and it was a matter of personal choice, though she also asked these about party members in Parliament:

“Looking at the past Parliaments, did (party members) speak like how they ought to have spoken on your behalf? Did they represent you well?”

She added that, inevitably, party members act according to the “party’s agenda”.

“For me, even if I were to have any agenda, it would be an agenda for my constituents,” she said.