It’s also the first time she will vote in Malaysia, after leaving for New Zealand 30 years ago because of the intense racial sentiments among the communities in Penang.
“I just felt very strongly about coming back to Malaysia this general election, to be a part of this change that most unhappy Malaysians want to realise,” she said.
Speaking to FMT, she said she had left to live in New Zealand because “in New Zealand, you cannot make racist remarks.” She said the Chinese community in Malaysia, as a minority, felt the racial sentiments strongly.
“I thought things were getting better here. But in the last 10 years, I saw that the country was not doing well, especially after the previous general election.”
Lee, a permanent resident in New Zealand, said it was through digital news sites that she found out about the “political commotion” happening in Johor – especially in Labis, where DAP is fielding Pang Hok Liong, a local man and former Johor DAP chairman.
“I don’t know who Pang is, but I read that he will be facing a tough fight in Labis. Knowing that he needs volunteers to help him campaign, I decided to come back.”
Pang, 61, a former Johor DAP chairman, is being fielded to thwart the re-election hopes of MCA vice-president Chua Tee Yong.
Lee said “I tracked (Pang) all the way here, and I am not even a Johorean. I am glad that I came, and can be part of a team that is made up of volunteers from all walks of life,” she said.
“My friends told me that I was crazy to come all the way to help a person that I don’t even know,” said Lee. “I said why not? In New Zealand, I campaigned for former MP Rodney Philip Hide and he won in a general election.
“I can also afford to come back, unlike some who really want to come back but can’t.”
She said her Malaysian friends in New Zealand told her to just let Malaysia go to its own fate “but my family and friends are still here, and I’m not going to let that happen”.
Lee will help Pang’s campaign in Labis until May 8 and go to Penang to cast her vote the next day.
Pang contested in the 1990 general election under the DAP ticket for the Bekok state seat at the age of 32. He later contested in Maharani (1999), Jementah (2004), and the Segamat parliamentary seat and Jementah state seat in 2008.
He said that most of his volunteers were loyal supporters who had followed him at every general election. “The team is not big but I am very touched that they have all returned to help.” His campaign manager is only half his age.
Some of the volunteers were Wanita MCA members who left the party. Others were not so ready to quit the party and were helping on their personal account.
Pang was propelled into the limelight after former Skudai assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau rejected the party’s decision to field him in Labis against MCA’s Chua.
It is a mixed seat with an electorate that is 44.96% Chinese, 37.98% Malay and 14.66% Indian, according to the latest electoral rolls.
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