GE14 - Guan Eng's special officer to contest Berapit seat

The DAP has announced that caretaker chief minister Lim Guan Eng's special officer Heng Lee Lee (above) will contest the Berapit state seat in the coming 14th general election (GE14).

Heng replaces veteran DAP woman leader Lydia Ong for the seat which falls under the Bukit Mertajam parliamentary seat currently held by incumbent Steven Sim also from DAP.

Heng's candidacy was announced by Penang DAP chairperson Chow Kon Yeow at the launch of the party's Bukit Mertajam operations centre today.

"We selected her based on her experience and background in public service and also for her work with the grassroots community," Chow said.

When contacted, Heng said she decided to join politics as she no longer wished to be part of "the silent majority".

"I have always been a Bukit Mertajam girl. I am 39 now and spent almost 30 years of my life in BM," said Heng, a former reporter who has worked for Lim for seven years.

"Since young, I wanted to contribute towards changing the government, waiting to be 21 so that I could vote for change," she told Malaysiakini.

"When I became a reporter, I could see more of the dark side of injustices happening around us and was told to use my pen to fight the system," she added.

Heng said she visited countries like New Zealand and noted that even in the countryside, citizens were provided with such good facilities.

When she worked under Lim, she said she realised that the state had provided many policies which really benefited the people.

"These policies can bring good changes for everyone and no one will be left behind," she said, adding that the mainland, Seberang Perai, used to be neglected once but now the state government had allocated funds to develop it.

"So that is why I no longer want to be a bystander or the silent majority and have decided to join the race in GE14," Heng said.

A University Sains Malaysia (USM) graduate, Heng has been special officer to Lim since 2011. From 2010 to 2011, she was in New Zealand on a working holiday while prior to that, from 2003 to 2010, she worked for a local Chinese daily.

During the launch today, Chow also announced that Sim (above, centre), the party's state political education director and DAP Wanita chief Chong Eng (above, left), will be defending their seats of Bukit Mertajam and Padang Lalang, respectively.

Of the 40 state seats in Penang, DAP will contest 19 seats and is expected to retain all. Of it allies, PKR will contest 14, Bersatu four and Amanah three. -Mkini