Moreover, PAS is also in the running.

Malays make up 66% of Kuala Sepetang’s 29,000-odd voters. The Chinese account for 26% and Indians 8%.

In the last election, Chua beat BN’s Loh Swee Eng and Berjasa’s Zainal Abidin Abd Rahman, winning nearly 50% of the votes.

Kuala Sepetang is a semi-rural constituency. “But most people think it’s a Chinese-majority seat since Gerakan has been standing here,” she told FMT. “BN is obviously banking on Umno to deliver the Malay votes.”

She said she was aware that she won’t have it easy but was determined to drive home the message that voters should look beyond race.

Her rivals in the May 9 polls are Mohd Kamaruddin Abu Bakar of Umno and Rahim Ismail of PAS.

Kuala Sepetang is one of three state constituencies within the Bukit Gantang parliamentary district, the other two being Changkat Jering and Trong. Bukit Gantang has been a PAS seat since 2008.

The 35-year-old Chua, who is a member of the PKR Wanita executive council, hails from Batu Pahat, Johor. She relocated to northern Perak after her 2013 victory.

Since then, she said, she had been working on several community programmes aimed at cutting through racial barriers, such as art workshops and ecology excursions for children.

She praised her multiracial campaign team, adding that her party’s machinery had a strong presence throughout the Bukit Gantang area, including the villages.

She is banking not only on her track record, but also the support of those she referred to as “the silent majority who are unhappy with the goods and services tax and the rising cost of living”.

She also hopes to garner support from PAS members who want change at the federal level.

“I believe the majority of people are putting change above any other concern,” she said.

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