BUTTERWORTH: S Rajoo is a man who has endured many hardships in his life.
The son of an office boy and a housewife, and one of six siblings, he lived with his family near Jalan Scott in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, helping his parents tend to cows on the banks of the Klang River.
As an adult, he lost his job as an insurance adjuster during the Asian financial crisis. The setback forced him to find work at an estate in Kuala Selangor, and also by driving a taxi at night to make ends meet.
Yet, little did he anticipate that his life would change after he took a job as security supervisor for Desa Ria Apartment near Old Klang Road. Destiny led him to cross paths with another kampung boy who would reshape his life.
“Liew Kee Sin jogged every morning. He stopped by the guardhouse for a chat. I noticed his Donnay brand sports shoes. I said I liked them. Next thing you know, he brought me a pair.
“He said he had another pair, so he gave them to me,” Rajoo told FMT. Liew is presently Eco World executive chairman.
From that seemingly small encounter in 1989, Liew, who had just started out as a developer, asked Rajoo if he wanted to be his driver. That led to him eventually becoming Liew’s trusted lieutenant.
From there it was up and up for Rajoo, as he was made sales officer, and at one point, a squatter settlement officer when developing Bukit Indah in Ampang.
Through hard work, he scaled the corporate ladder, ultimately becoming chief operating officer of EcoWorld years later.
Rajoo said he quit his C-level job at EcoWorld to give back to society, pointing to the 300-odd families in Kg Manis in the Perai state constituency he is contesting on a Pakatan Harapan ticket.
The Kg Manis residents find themselves in the unenviable position of squatting on government land, having survived multiple previous eviction attempts. Its residents are the descendants of workers at a nearby sugar factory.
“There are some people in Kg Manis living in two inches of water permanently. It reminded me of my home on the banks of the Klang River. There was this aunty, an elderly person, she hugged me and cried. She said: ‘All I want is a house’,” he said.
Rajoo said he called on the Railway Assets Corporation’s (RAC) CEO, where he sits as director, and was told that a request for proposal to build new housing would be put forward, which will include transit homes for those involved. RAC owns the land on which Kg Manis is built.
He has other issues he wants to fix — poor drainage that causes intermittent flash flooding in Chai Leng Park and the permanent placement of traffic officers on congested Jalan Baru close to the Penang Bridge exit.
Rajoo said he entered politics to fulfil a long-time dream of giving back to the people.
He said ‘turun padang’ (going to the ground) was what he loved doing most, and the 20,000 steps he chalks up daily is doing wonders for his fitness levels.
“I always wanted to retire in Penang, but I am still energetic. I want something to keep me going. I want to be an elected representative in an area where I can serve the people. I have no ambitions to become an exco member or to become the deputy chief minister,” he said.
Rajoo regards the former Perai assemblyman and deputy chief minister P Ramasamy as a revered father figure.
“I’m not here to replace Ramasamy. The party has decided not to offer him a seat. I’m just filling up a gap that has been created and I am eager to serve the people of Perai,” he said.
Rajoo is facing Perikatan Nasional’s R Sivasuntaram, Muda’s H Vikneswary, and independent candidate P David Marshel.
There are 20,479 registered voters in the latest roll compared to 17,032 in 2018. At 51%, Chinese voters make up the majority in the constituency, followed by Indians (36%), Malays (11%), and others (0.8%).
The seat was held by PH’s Ramasamy for three terms, clinching it by more than a 9,000-vote majority in 2018. - FMT
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