“I am a child of Selangor, born in Selangor, raised in Selangor, I have worked in Selangor and now I’m coming back to serve the people of Selangor.
“Selangor has always been in my heart, even when I watched Penang play Selangor, I always secretly supported Selangor, but I could not show it in public because I was an elected representative in Penang,” the Perikatan Nasional candidate for Taman Medan said at the Biblio Bookcafe, Menara Mutiara Majestic.
Afif, the former assemblyman for Seberang Jaya in Penang, will face off against Pakatan Harapan’s Ahmad Akhir Pawan Chik, a former councillor with Petaling Jaya City Council.
Afif said he solved more than two-thirds of the issues faced by his constituents during his 10 years in Penang, which he felt gave him great insight into how he could improve the well-being of Taman Medan residents.
He added that he preferred not to use the term “manifesto” for his campaign because it sounded like propaganda.
Instead, he said his campaign would focus on five areas – improving the economic well-being of the people, especially the B40 group; providing students with better access to spaces that encourage learning; implementation of a “healthy rover” squad offering free healthcare; upgrading of open spaces to encourage higher quality living; and improving security.
“I would put myself as the underdog here because Akhir has been here politically, he’s been serving the people of Taman Medan but what I could say about him is that he lacks the vision and also the will to be able to bring great change,” he said.
“In choosing a leader, we have to be realistic, you have to be someone with vision and I believe I have that for the people of Taman Medan.
“Someone who has the courage to knock on doors and also to know the trigger to get things and policies changed.
“I have that experience in Penang, I used to work under Lim Guan Eng, which was not easy, so I think I have been well trained to serve the people of Taman Medan.”
Afif served as the Seberang Jaya assemblyman under PKR for two terms from May 2013, and was the executive councillor for healthcare, agriculture and rural development under the PH-led state government.
He joined Bersatu in June 2020 following his sacking from PKR and was expelled from the Penang assembly in March this year together with three Bersatu colleagues – Khaliq Mehtab Ishaq (Bertam), Zulkifli Ibrahim (Sungai Acheh) and Zolkifly Lazim (Teluk Bahang) – under the state’s anti- hopping law.
He contested for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat in the 15th general election but was defeated in a four-cornered fight against PH’s Azli Yusof (the eventual winner), Barisan Nasional’s Isham Jalil and Pejuang’s Rafique Rashid Ali.