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GE14 | Have you ever received a phone call from your elected representative on your birthday? If you are a Hutan Melintang voter, there is a chance you would have.

Incumbent Hutan Melintang assemblyperson S Kesavan has made it a point to collect as many phone numbers of his constituents – by any means imaginable – to showcase his personal touch when it comes to politics.

In a recent interview, the PKR politician showed Malaysiakini that he had over 6,000 entries on his mobile phone contact list. He considers just 200 of these to be family members or close friends.

"Since I was voted in, I began saving the voters' contact numbers. I try to greet them on their birthdays.

“Six months ago, I have been calling voters every day to tell them why they must come back to vote for change,” he said.

This practice may seem rather extreme for a politician, but cold calling and endearing himself to strangers is something that Kesavan had already learned during his days as an insurance agent.

While canvassing for votes, Kesavan even asks voters to pass him the phone numbers of their children who are residing in the big cities.

“The parents have no problems giving me the contact numbers of their children who may be out of town or the country. They know me well and some consider me family,” he said.

Kesavan also admits to having a penchant for attending his constituents’ wedding ceremonies. Now in his second term, Kesavan said he has attended a total of 5,252 weddings...