Ex-journalist challenges DAP's Bandar Utama candidate to debate
GE14 | Former Utusan Malaysia journalist and Damansara DAP member Hata Wahari has challenged the party's Bandar Utama state seat candidate Jamaliah Jamaluddin to a debate.
This, Hata said, was for Jamaliah to prove that she does not observe communist teachings, or carry the beliefs of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), in which her grandmother, Shamsiah Fakeh, was a prominent leader...
GE14 | Former Utusan Malaysia journalist and Damansara DAP member Hata Wahari has challenged the party's Bandar Utama state seat candidate Jamaliah Jamaluddin to a debate.
This, Hata said, was for Jamaliah to prove that she does not observe communist teachings, or carry the beliefs of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), in which her grandmother, Shamsiah Fakeh, was a prominent leader.
"Jamaliah's act of hiding behind Selangor DAP chairperson (Tony Pua), who is also the Damansara DAP chairperson, by saying that she is not a communist but a champion of democracy, is not the best way to prove that she does not believe in communist teachings," he said in a statement today.
Earlier today, Jamaliah said voters should look at her record, rather than focus on her late grandmother.
Read more: DAP's Jamaliah: Don't dwell on my grandma, look at my record
"I feel that the people need to know who Jamaliah Jamaluddin is, my background and the community issues I have resolved. Focus on what I can do for Selangorians and Malaysians.
"I am puzzled that people are focusing on my family background. I hope the people will focus on the important things," she told a press conference. She once served as a local councillor with the Petaling Jaya City Council.
Jamaliah (photo) said this in response to an earlier attack by Hata, who criticised DAP for fielding her as an election candidate.
Pua also jumped to her defence, saying he did not want to prolong any talk on the matter, and that Jamaliah's grandmother's past should not be linked to her.
In his statement today, Hata further said that Jamaliah's remark to judge her by her performance was "weird."
"To me, it is a weird statement, because as long as I was in Damansara DAP, she did nothing there.
"She just came into DAP in 2016, and was made a PJ city councillor, and is now elevated to be a state seat candidate.
"In that period of time, I heard many things about her - her acts and her 'inverse' agenda," he said, without elaborating further.
In his open letter to DAP earlier, Hata had criticised the choice of Jamaliah as the candidate for Bandar Utama, which he claimed was in betrayal of Malay support for the party.
He had also lamented that the party did not consult its Malay members before Jamaliah was picked as an election candidate.
So what's wrong with having a Communist for a grandmother? I would feel proud. For in her mind, she was a freedom fighter. She fought against the Japanese invaders, didn't she? Jamaliah gets my vote simply because she has the blood of a freedom fighter in her veins. With a person like that, who needs Hata?
It is not fair to prejudge Jamaliah because of her link to her grandmother. See how different Najib is as a leader compare to his father (Razak) if family link is to be used as a measure of later generation character. DAP accessment of her performance as a member of DAP and MBPJ councillor to determine if she deserves to be a candidate. We are definitely not happy with UMNO/BN records of 60 years governing Malaysia and definitely feel insulted by the Kleptocratic leadership of Najib more than anything else. The choice in PRU14 is a binary choice of PH or UMNO/BN. Winning the general election is like team sport rather than about any individual. The team list has been decided and we are the underdog team against a bunch of known low class spoiled brats that is cheating to win. They are stealing this PRU14 in broad daylight. We need to keep our focus and concentrate on our individual task to ensure our team PH can score more than 112 on May 9.
How does one prove the negative?