Tengku Zainul Hisham, 64, who is a businessman, will be using the “house” symbol and the manifesto “Becoming the Voice of the People of Chini”. He said the decision to contest was made after taking into account the feedback from Chini residents.

“The decision was taken after careful consideration. I am prepared to face any risk that the party may have in my decision to contest, taking into account the collaboration in Perikatan Nasional between PPBM and Umno.

“As an independent candidate, I cannot promise the moon and the stars to the people, but I have my own support. As a native of Pekan, I have listened to the problems of the local residents for a long time,” he told a press conference at Felda Chini 2 here today.

As such, Tengku Zainul Hisham promised to be the voice of the people of Chini, if they dare to “change the tradition” by accepting an independent representative, besides believing that voters have the will to bring change to what is known as an Umno stronghold.

Tengku Zainul Hisham, who is a retired policeman, also appealed to voters to give him a chance to serve in the short period left before the 15th general election (GE15).

The Chini by-election is being held following the death of its incumbent Abu Bakar Harun on May 6 at Kuala Lumpur Hospital after a heart attack.

The Election Commission (EC) has set June 20 as the nomination day for the by-election and June 30 as the day for early voting.

In the 14th general election, Abu Bakar, who represented Barisan Nasional, won the Chini state seat by 4,622 votes after gaining 10,027 votes while PAS’ Mohd Fadhil Noor Abdul Karim secured 5,405 votes, and Mohamad Razali Ithnain, from PKR, only garnered 1,065 votes.

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