Rara: Malay DAP leaders not sidelined

 

Ketari assemblyperson Young Syefura Othman, also known as Rara, has said Malay leaders in DAP were not oppressed or sidelined.

“If we were oppressed... I wouldn't be a state representative. My friends wouldn't be parliamentarians,” she said.

She said young leaders in DAP, regardless of religion or race, are given opportunities to participate in politics.

“We have seen DAP give many opportunities and space to the youth, especially the Malays, and actually to the youth of all races,” she said during an interview with The Malaysian Insight.

The 32-year-old added that DAP representatives were picked based on merit.

“If they are Malay but if they are not hardworking, do not prove that they are capable, they will not get a spot.

“So it reflects on ourselves, on what kind of leader we want to be, if we want to work or ‘bergoyang kaki’ (do nothing).

"What's important is that we work hard for ourselves, the party, and the future," she said.

Politicians have targeted DAP in the past in an attempt to unify the Malay vote or even as a diversion from more pressing issues.

Rara is one of a number of young Malay DAP leaders who have emerged in recent years.

They include elected assemblypersons Zairil Khir Johari (Tanjong Bunga), Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Seri Delima), Jamaliah Jamaluddin (Bandar Utama), Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali (Paloh), and Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof (Dusun Tua), as well as Lim Kit Siang's political secretary Syahredzan Johan and Johor DAP publicity secretary Marina Ibrahim.

Currently, only one of the party's 42 MPs is Malay - Raub MP Tengku Zulpuri Shah.

Recent party elections also delivered about 80 percent Chinese leadership at the state level. - Mkini