Three new faces targetting Petaling Jaya seat

PETALING JAYA: The Petaling Jaya parliamentary seat will see three new faces going head to head in GE14.
Pakatan Harapan's Maria Chin Abdullah seems to be the more seasoned candidate due to her position as former Bersih 2.0 chairman, whereas BN's Chew Hian Tat from its component party MCA and PAS' Noraini Husain are newcomers.
Maria said her decision to run was one she has been thinking about for a long time.
"Ambiga and I have been talking about this for a long time, but we've been putting it off, our friends had a huge hand in pushing us to do so and when I saw the support I was getting, I was encouraged," she said at the candidate nomination today.
She said her agenda if she becomes an MP is to push for reforms and changes in policy-making and laws.
"At the present moment, I don't see any change, the government is not committed to bringing about change in terms of laws and policy.
"It cannot continue this way, that's why I am trying this platform ... We cannot have people staying forever in power and not having a change because change is good," she said.
She added the people's participation is key and that their voice must be heard.
"People's participation and empowering them so that their voice is heard is important, rather than just depending on the member of parliament," she said.
She added that her other big task is to increase women's participation in the national level of government to 30% from the current 9% to 10%.
BN's candidate Chew said if, given the mandate, he would address traffic and dengue issues in the area.
"I am a PJ resident, I know full well what the issues the residents here face compared to my competitors," he said.
He said whatever the result, he hopes that the winning candidate can serve the constituency well.
"There are many problems here, namely traffic, education and dengue, these are concerns that should have been addressed by the state assemblymen, but they are not doing a good job," he said.
He hopes that his BN compatriot running for the Bukit Gasing state seat Chai Ko Thing can win and address the needs of the grassroots.
Chew, 43, said it came as a surprise when the party chose him to run for the seat.
"I didn't believe I was chosen, I would like to thank BN chief Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Abdul Razak for having faith in me and I will do my best to win," he said.
PAS candidate Noraini said she intends to abolish GST because of the rising cost of living affecting the middle-income groups.
"We feel responsible to help society to ease their burden, we have a roadmap where its in three phases where we want to recover and transform Malaysia," she said.
Petaling Jaya has three state seats.
In Bukit Gasing, PH's incumbent Rajiv Rishyakaran will go up against PAS' David Sew Kah Seng and BN's Chai Ko Thing.
In Taman Medan, PAS' Ariffin Mahaiyuddin will face off with PH's Syamsul Firdaus Supri and BN's Datuk Abdul Mutalif Abdul Rahim.
In Seri Setia, PAS' Mohamad Ghazali Daud, BN's Yusoff Haniff, PH's Shaharuddin Badaruddin and S. Vigneswaran running as an independent candidate will have a four-cornered fight for the seat.