- 22 hours ago
- #thefutureisfemale
Among the candidates contesting in Johor this election is a new generation of first-time contenders stepping into electoral politics for the very first time. On this episode of #TheFutureIsFemale Melisa Idris speaks with Rashifa Aljunied, MUDA Candidate for Puteri Wangsa, and Ainie Haziqah Shafi’i, Secretary-General of MUDA and candidate for Simpang Jeram.
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00:18Hello and good evening. I'm Melissa Idris. I'm here reporting from Johor where the state is
00:23gearing up for elections on the 11th of July and today I find myself at the Muda State
00:30Election Command Centre in JB where I'm joined by Rashifa Aljunid who is the Muda candidate for
00:37Putri Wangsa where she's up against four other candidates. So Rashifa thank you so much for
00:43taking time out of the campaign period to talk to us but maybe we start by you maybe quickly
00:49introducing yourself to our audience today. I'm 26 year old and I'm running as the youngest
00:54candidate in Putri Wangsa, one of the youngest candidate for the Johor elections. I have worked
00:59in Putri Wangsa for the past four years. If I know anything is that I know Putri Wangsa. A lot
01:04of
01:04people have been calling me inexperienced but I want to prove myself with the work that I've done
01:07in Putri Wangsa. So you said you've been working in Putri Wangsa for the last four years. How exactly
01:13have you been working? So I am the chief of staff to YBM UR which is the president of Muda
01:18and also
01:18the former Adon of Putri Wangsa. So you've been essentially shadowing her operationally while
01:26she was the assembly person for Putri Wangsa. What have you learned about the constituency?
01:31When I entered politics I thought politics was all about like the political parties and the big
01:36powers but for me the most important thing I learned about politics was the act of listening. When I entered
01:41politics I was 22 years old. When I was 22 I was also the office manager for the constituency office.
01:47The
01:47first Adon constituency office for Muda. So we started off with almost zero. We didn't understand the
01:53systems but I found myself listening to a lot of people on the ground. A lot of people from Putri
01:58Wangsa
01:58from the PPRs, from the kampung, from the communities that know and breathe and live in Putri Wangsa. So I
02:04found myself listening and for me that was the most impactful thing that I learned so far in the four
02:09years of politics in Putri Wangsa. So listening, before kind of being in active politics you were
02:16student activist. I was a student activist. But then activism and being an elected representative,
02:23two very different things. Can you talk to me a little bit about how you see some of the skills
02:29and
02:29passions from activism translating into elected office and what translates what doesn't quite
02:36translate? I found myself my entry to politics was from a point of frustration and anger. During the
02:43Azam Baki protest in 2022, I found myself getting questioned by the police. I was not involved with
02:49politics at all but I was questioned by the police and I felt that was one of the few moments
02:53in my life
02:54where I felt this was extremely unfair and unjust to not just me but almost the 50 people that was
03:00called to the police for a very peaceful protest. So my entry of politics was from a frustration and
03:05anger point of view and then I found myself volunteering for a candidate that I found very
03:10inspirational. So how do you put aside the anger and frustration? Is there a place for anger and
03:17frustration in running for elected office? Definitely, it's through action. It's through understanding how
03:23changes can be made both as an activist, as a special officer working in the constitutional office
03:29and also I find myself as a candidate. The two weeks of campaigning, I find myself
03:34playing an important role as a candidate who has worked in Puciwangsa for the past four years. So my
03:39campaign will reflect on the stories, on the faces that I've seen in Puciwangsa and not the active
03:45fighting of other political parties. Well, you mentioned a little bit earlier that you're very young,
03:51if it's the first time that you're running in elections and that some of the feedback you've
03:56heard is that you may be inexperienced for this role. Can we talk a little bit about that? So you
04:01are
04:01asking voters to choose you over candidates that have decades more experience than you, including a
04:09former federal minister. Yeah. Why should they? Why should they choose you over experience? What do you
04:17think experience means in politics? What does experience bring to politics that maybe voters are
04:24concerned you are lacking? Yes, I've heard a lot about the inexperienced comment, but I would like to say
04:30that I'm inexperienced in taking corruption. I'm inexperienced in abusing power and I think working in
04:36a constituency office, the most important part is the passion and also understanding of the people in
04:41Puciwangsa for me as a candidate in Puciwangsa. That was the most important part or like the drive for
04:46me as a candidate. Sometimes the comments can get to me, but I think of the work that we've done
04:51in
04:51Puciwangsa. 13,000 complaints solved by office, almost 1.9 million ringgit raised for the welfare of the
04:58constituency. I think about that. When I talk about other candidates, there is a former minister and also a
05:05local councillor in the mix. But I think about my age and my experience. What I'm not enough with age,
05:10I'll make it enough with integrity. And when I'm not enough with experience, I'll make it up with the
05:16honesty to self. So I think there are a lot of people who say, who view youth as energy. And
05:23then
05:23on the flip side, there are people who view youth as inexperienced. Which perception do you think you
05:27have accounted more? I feel energy. I feel we had a young team in the constituency office, I think an
05:34average age of 24, 25 years old. And that would result in a lot of creativity, especially
05:40as a pembangkang, as an opposition ADUN. We've had a lot of fund runs to make sure that we're funding
05:46of the community, the Pesatuan, the NGOs in Puciwangsa. We also manage to fundraise for 40 students,
05:52free tuition for SPM, for families that are in need. So in ways that we are lacking in experience,
05:59we are definitely filled with energy and also creativity to serve in the constituency.
06:02Has anything about campaigning surprised you?
06:07For me, the most surprising thing is the amount of people that wants to help me. I find it emotional
06:13because four years ago, I was also folding pamphlets. I was also organising kerama. But I see the faces of
06:2022-year-old Rashifa in my team today. So it's also emotional because I think, I only hope that I'm
06:27also
06:28giving them an opportunity to learn about campaigning and also the opportunity to learn about clean
06:32politics and not the political scene that are filled with corruption in Malaysia.
06:37So I came across your crowdfunding initiative. How has that been so far? Has it been really difficult
06:44in trying to not just campaign, but you're also thinking about how do I fund my campaign? You're
06:49calling for not just Johorians, but also Malaysians to support.
06:53The welfare of my team as well. Alhamdulillah, we have quite a big team compared to maybe other
06:59places. But when I was 22 years old entering politics, I didn't realise elections was this
07:06expensive. And especially as a young candidate, I think my asset declaration was released today.
07:11It is a reflection of how young people do struggle with the financial situation in Malaysia. But I find
07:18people in Malaysia, in Johor, my family even really wanting to help me succeed. One of my family members
07:26said that it's not the matter of winning or losing. It's a matter of how they've seen me working hard
07:31for the past four years. Not for myself, but also to the people around me and the constituency.
07:35Can I ask you, if you don't win, if you do lose this election, will you consider it a failure?
07:45I don't. I don't. If I am able to inspire one more Rashifa, there'll be like enough for me.
07:53Yeah. So if we're able to change the narrative of younger candidates, or if I see in the next election,
08:00there'll be more younger candidates, there'll be like a dream come true. Worth the fight? Yeah.
08:04Worth the fight. Okay. And if you do win, which is on the flip side. Yeah, I do. That makes
08:08me
08:08emotional as well. If you do win, talk to me about what kind of assembly person you will be,
08:13and what you think success looks like as an assembly person representing their consistency.
08:21I've talked about my manifesto a few days ago about climate change, cost of living,
08:26and also being a voice. But most importantly, I would feel the most important part of being a
08:31wakil rakyat for me is being present, and also being the loudest voice they can be. In Puciwangsa,
08:36there's almost 270,000 residents in Puciwangsa, but not all of them can be a wakil rakyat. There's
08:42only one wakil rakyat for all of them. So for me, even though we have half the voters of that
08:48amount of
08:48people in Puciwangsa, I'll be the, I'll be able to be the voice of that much people. Then for me,
08:53that matters the most. Winning means being the loudest voice I can be for the people,
08:58but also proving about how wakil rakyat can be a wide range of ages. Four years ago,
09:05what Puciwangsa chose a 27-year-old Amir Ayesha. I can only hope these elections,
09:10they would trust a 26-year-old Rashifal Jinnik to be the wakil rakyat.
09:13Is that, can I ask you whether there's another layer added to the challenge that you face in
09:19in these elections? You're not just young, not just the first time candidate, but you're also a
09:24woman. Have you noticed that as a dimension in the way people respond to your campaign?
09:30Yes, definitely. I have taken almost like the liberty to reduce the amount of time I'm on
09:36social media. The nasty comments, it's almost to a point of sexual violence, I would say.
09:43Unfortunately, I've seen it with a lot of female politicians. I had a conversation earlier before,
09:48weeks before the elections about being a candidate, and one person told me, oh, you'll have to be ready,
09:53becoming this kind of comments, this kind of cyber troopers attacking you. But I'll say like,
09:58why am I accepting the reality that a young female candidate has to accept this? I understand that
10:05it may come, but I don't want to normalize an act that is so violent and a reality that it's
10:12so hard
10:12to accept as a young female candidate. And for me, I'll be so sad if this is the reality for
10:19the
10:20generations after me. Yeah. I mean, so you're finding it more online as opposed to in person?
10:25Um, in person. Have you had terrible comments to you in person? Um, not terrible comments,
10:31but almost like sexist jokes, second wife's jokes. So those kind of things can be uncomfortable and I
10:38have to find a balance of garnering their votes, but also not offending them. Well, you know, I think
10:44it's easy. You can happily call out and hopefully in future elections, this is no longer an issue
10:49for young candidates like yourself. Do you think that Malaysians, because when you said about how you
10:57hope to inspire more young Malaysians to come into politics, do you think that Malaysians in general,
11:04Malaysian voters are ready to give young people a chance? Because I think Malaysians complain a lot.
11:12I mean, I am speaking generally, but Malaysians complain about, oh, you know, it's the same faces,
11:17it's an older generation who dominate politics, right? But when it comes to election day, when it comes to
11:24polling day, how many Malaysians are willing to give young untested candidates a chance? So do you
11:30think that Malaysians mean what they say when they say they want fresh faces? It would really depend on
11:35the 11th July later, but I think it's a perfect template of that situation. Four years ago,
11:42Amira was quite new in politics and they were able to choose 27-year-old Amira. And Puchuwangsa
11:48is quite a youthful constituency. It's 35% under 80. So I'm also trying to emphasize on the younger
11:57people to come out and vote. Of course, vote for muda, but also come out and vote because a lot
12:01of them
12:02actually are studying or working in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. What's your sense of turnout?
12:06Like, do you think turnout will be high? I really do. But I'm just a bit worried because the first
12:10few
12:11days of campaigning was a bit cold to the act of there is an election coming in two weeks. So
12:16people
12:17are quite unknown about the vibe of elections. But now with the flags and banners up, they are
12:23understanding there's an election coming. So we're also reminding them to vote on the 11th of July.
12:28Okay, so you're pacing yourself for the final day. What else are you looking for? Or what else can we
12:35expect from you in this campaign period? So we're trying to try to engage more younger voters about
12:41our candidates, about me as a candidate in Puchuwangsa. So we're doing more flash mobs in Puchuwangsa.
12:47Trying to try, just try to gauge with the younger people who want to come out and do flash mobs.
12:52We're also trying to do more social media campaigns. I did a video on roads. Like, how do we make
12:59complaints on roads? In a more engaging and fun way. Because when people think about their adun,
13:04they think about like the roads and Lokang Tersumbat. So I find myself, okay, how do I make younger
13:10people relate to this kind of content? So the social media part is really important as well.
13:15Well, it's been wonderful talking to you. Thank you so much for talking to me. My pleasure. Yeah.
13:22I'm Melissa Idris, and we'll bring you more on the Johor elections soon. Stay tuned.
14:06Hi, I'm Melissa Idris reporting here in Johor for the state elections. I'm at the Muda Command Centre in JB,
14:13where I'm joined by Aini Hazika Shafi'i, who is the Muda candidate for Simpan Jeram, where she's up
14:19against Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, and Perikatan Nasional in a four-corner fight. She's also
14:25the Secretary General of Muda. Aini, good to have you with me today. So we've had you on the show
14:31several
14:32times, and we know that you've been in politics for some time. Can you talk to me about why you
14:36decided to
14:37contest now? What makes you think this is the right time to join elected office, or run for elected
14:46office, instead of maybe working behind the scenes in politics? Right. Honestly, I think that I have
14:53been managing the party, I've been managing the people, I've been managing elections, I've been
14:59the campaign managers, I've been everything behind the scene. So one day I thought that, you know, of course
15:04I had this conversation with the leadership, and I thought that, you know what, I've been talking a
15:09lot, I've been saying so many things, I've been having my own stance, I've been saying just my own
15:17stance, and I thought that, you know what, this is the time. The time is now. There will never be
15:24another time. So at the end of the day, being in politics is all about making decisions, being in the
15:30decision-making position. So if I am not in there, and while talking about like having more women in
15:37positions and whatnot, like why? So I thought that this is like the first base that I should start with,
15:45and I'm ready. Yeah. Okay, so what have you, what was, what has been surprising about this transition?
15:52What have you learnt in the time, so we're in the middle of campaigning, but what have you learnt about
15:56maybe that you didn't see while working behind the scenes in politics? I thought campaigning would
16:03be worse than what I'm having right now, but maybe, but maybe it's because of like the experiences that
16:10I have been through, I've seen worse things, I've been experiencing more tarot kind of like, you know,
16:17experiences when going campaigning for the past many years. So this time, I think I am much more ready,
16:25mentally, physically, and obviously as a mother of three, I thought that, you know, the endurance that
16:30I have managing three children at home, the family, like, you know, my own legal firm. So I'm a bit
16:37more
16:37ready physically, mentally. So I thought that, and not just that, I think like meeting up people is
16:44something that is so passionate in me, it's like always firing me almost all the time. So that everyday kind
16:50of like work meeting people from 7am until 11pm is something that I am passionate about,
16:56talking to people, just listening to people. So I kind of think, I don't know whether this is right or
17:02wrong, but I kind of think that I love campaigning. Okay, well, it's in your kind of nature to want
17:08to
17:08do this. One of the things that strikes me that's interesting about politics is that politics, unlike any
17:14other job, has actually no, I guess, qualification or minimum requirement for entry. So can we talk a
17:22little bit about that? When, in your view, Aini, what is it that you think makes someone actually
17:28qualified to represent the public? All right, I think it depends on who says this. You know, in Muda,
17:35obviously, we have very high standard and requirements before we put in our candidates.
17:41Obviously, in Muda, we would want to bring out and show up like our young candidates, we want to show
17:48up like more women, we want to show all this and which is very important. Because at the end of
17:52the day,
17:53Muda is the only party who actually is represented by 50% or more of women candidates. So I think
18:00that is
18:01the representation or like, you know, mirroring our commitment towards the public. But that's the
18:07standard of Muda. And every party would have like different kind of like standard and requirements
18:11when they place a candidate. By the end of the day, I think the most important thing for Muda is
18:18to ensure that those who we put in as candidate or who we place as candidate are those who are
18:25really
18:26passionate to hold on to that position. Because at the end of the day, you would have so many people
18:31who wants to be in politics, but doesn't want to be in such such position, you know, to require
18:36themselves to act and making decision. You know, it's not easy, obviously, you know, on top of like
18:45having to deal with like the whole constituents, you got to think what is good for your constituents,
18:50constituency as well. So this is a lot, you know, it's a lot of management that you need. And if
18:57you do
18:57not have the fire for the whole mandate for the whole five years, then it's a waste. Yeah,
19:04yeah, that's so important to us at least. Well, you know, we talk a lot about the rejuvenation of
19:09politics. We want young faces, fresh faces, new blood in politics. But are we actually allowing for that?
19:17Does our political culture actually allow, encourage and conducive for young, capable people to enter
19:25politics?
19:26Yeah, I love this question because it fires up like how I can connect to my campaign currently.
19:32Because, you know, to be honest, right, you know, like bigger parties would sell the idea of stability,
19:37would sell the idea that, you know, having incumbents to stay on, you know, pretty much more help the whole
19:45constituency. In a way, I agree. But at the end of the day, you will never have fresher candidates,
19:51you will never have fresher faces if you allow such culture to continue. You see, you nowadays,
19:58and especially, you know, within this range of 10 years, right, you have seen tremendous changes of how
20:05candidates actually go campaigning, how candidates actually put out their campaigns as a whole,
20:10how they put up themselves in social media. And I think this is very, very important for
20:16our political culture to change. And obviously, when I see this, right, I saw a lot of like people
20:23actually just say, oh, this is how young people campaign, this is so childish, this is, this is
20:29really not what we want. But at the end of the day, they are just a group of voters. We
20:34are not just
20:34looking at this one group of voters. At the end of the day, there are new voters coming in. And
20:39especially right now, the gap between 18 to like the endless number of age, it is too huge. You see,
20:46so there's always ways for us to find how to campaign effectively to ensure that their voices are heard.
20:52Okay, so, so in the, I guess, the campaign period that you have had now, I'm curious to know what
21:00you
21:01think voters are, what are voters telling you? And what have you learned about how voters perceive the role
21:08of an assembly person? And how does that inform you, Aini, if you are to win in these elections?
21:13How does that, how does that change your perception of what makes a good assembly person?
21:19All right. I thought this in two parts, you know. A lot of like the people that I meet in
21:24my
21:24constituency would really want an adun who are present really fully in the constituency, which is
21:33totally understandable. They want to see the presence of that person. I keep getting questions
21:37like, are you going to stay here? Are you going to have your business here? Things like that,
21:41you know. And I have to be answerable and accountable to that kind of question as well,
21:46even as a candidate. And I think the only thing that I can assure them is to answer them
21:51accountably. That's one. Number two, a lot of them also understand that, you know, we just do not
21:57want you to be here as an adun, but we want you to bring our voices. Are you going to
22:02talk about like
22:02the women here? Are you going to talk about like the young people here? How are you going to present
22:07yourself in the state assembly, for example? And I see that these two important things are
22:13well connected. And you can't rely, you can't deny the fact that, you know, you can be a very wholesome,
22:21present adun, but voiceless in a state assembly. Because at the end of the day, and to be very
22:28honest, in Simpang Jiaram, for example, there is about like 51% women and 53% of young people below
22:3740.
22:38That means the culture of understanding on how they want politics is so different from like 10 years
22:44ago, 20 years ago. It is very different. And how we bring this system is very important to ensure
22:50that, you know, each and every segment of this group of people are heard.
22:54Okay. So, Aini, what's going to, I guess, shape the next phase of your campaigning? You say you love to
23:03do
23:04this. What is it that you think is not being said and done in the current landscape that you think
23:12you will need to do in the next week or so?
23:14All right. So, I have another more, I have another seven days to go. And I feel like,
23:18you know, I really want to push the fact that I'm the only women candidate in Simpang
23:24Jiaram. I'm the youngest candidate in Simpang Jiaram. I'm 36 and still the youngest. All right. So,
23:30I thought that, you know, that is pretty much very, very important to make them understand that,
23:34you know, as a women candidate, first time in Simpang Jiaram, if you give me a chance,
23:40I can lay all down to you the least of things that I want to do there. So, it makes
23:46me a bit more
23:46different from, you know, just going down and say, please vote for me, please vote for me. Because at
23:51the end of the day, the culture, the normal culture of doing campaigning is just like, vote for me. Then
23:56you'll see what I'll do. You know, for me is I launched my manifesto. I launched my lima tekat
24:01Aini untuk Simpang Jiaram, which means that, you know, win or lose, this is what I'm going to do.
24:08You know, I really hope that whatever that I present to them is something to convince them that
24:13I'm going to do this. Give me that chance. Beri Aini peluang.
24:17All right. Aini, thank you so much for talking to me today. I really appreciate you taking time.
24:21Thank you. I guess that's all we have for you on this episode. But then we will bring you
24:25more coverage of the Johor state election here on Astro Awani. So make sure you stay tuned.
24:32Till then, good night.
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