With a PhD in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London, the former CEO of the Selangor economic adviser’s office was the backbone of the Smart Selangor programme, which aims to make Selangor a “smart state” by 2025.

His Smart Selangor parking app has about 2.2 million regular users, allowing people to park their cars without having to purchase coupons.

The Pakatan Harapan candidate for the Seri Setia seat believes that his experience in optimising the state’s public service would greatly benefit the people.

“The issues that the rakyat experience when they have to deal with the government can sometimes make them angry because it’s old school. They have to take numbers, fill forms, and so on.

“But we’re in a modern era now. I want to develop more reforms (to the public service delivery system) to resolve such issues and give Selangor folk a more meaningful civil service,” he told FMT.

Fahmi faces a four-cornered fight for the seat, going up against Perikatan Nasional’s Zubir Embong, Muda’s Dobby Chew and independent candidate K Harindran.

The PKR man believes that the federal and state governments should be aligned to reap greater economic benefits, citing how Elon Musk’s Tesla would be setting up its Malaysian headquarters in Selangor this year.

“Selangor was chosen because it has intellectual capability. I think we cannot be a fully agricultural state since we lack the land and minerals for that, but our assets for the next century are our intellectual capability and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our initiatives.

“This is an opportunity for the young people of Selangor. They could stand to earn US$2,000 a month, and that’s why they have to master English and science and be prepared when the jobs are created.”