“Gerakan has no burden anymore, and we are offering the people a ‘third force’ party,” the 38-year-old corporate lawyer, who is also the Gerakan deputy secretary-general, told FMT.

Wendy said despite losing all seats in the general election, Gerakan’s commitment to multiracial politics remains.

“We are a multiracial party, and one of the reasons Gerakan is standing in Tanjung Piai is to stay relevant and to tell the public that it is business as usual for us, even after leaving BN,” she said.

Gerakan, which was formed in the 1960s and which once ruled Penang, left the defeated BN coalition about a month after the May 9 general election last year.

Since nomination day, Wendy has been making herself known to the people in Tanjung Piai.

She is facing heavyweights Karmaine Sardini of PH and Wee Jeck Seng of BN, as well as two independent candidates and one from Berjasa.

The mother of two seems ready for the challenge despite the odds against smaller parties and independent candidates during any by-election.

She said when she joined politics about a decade ago, she was aware that she was stepping out of her comfort zone.

“I felt that I needed to step out of my comfort zone to make a difference,” she said.

She looks up to former Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong as a role model, saying he still had time to attend to his constituents in Teluk Intan when he was a minister in the former government.

“He took time off to go back to his constituency every week despite having a busy schedule as a minister,” she said.