INDEPENDENT candidate for Batu, Siti Kasim will need to work at introducing herself to the constituents and persuading them to vote for her in a short time. 

The general election is expected to be held this year but the prominent lawyer and Orang Asli activist is still unknown to many local residents despite having opened her service centre in Vivo Mall on Jalan Ipoh in Sentul, on May 10.

The Malaysian Insight spoke to about 10 people in the area and found that many of them had never heard of the name.

A convenience store owner, who did not wish to be named, said he was not aware that Siti had opened a service centre in the area.

Down the road, a nasi lemak seller, who referred to herself as Kak, said she did not recognise her picture.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is nor do I know that she has a service centre here,” she said.

Lakshmi, who sells roti canai, said she has never heard of the lawyer, but is aware of the incumbent Batu MP Prabakaran Parameswaran although she has never met him either.

In 2018, Prabakaran was an independent candidate who won the Batu seat after the PKR representative Tian Chua was disqualified from nomination.

After he was elected, 26 year-old Prabakaran joined PKR.

But Siti is not entirely unknown as her service centre has attended to a few complaints.

The lawyer told The Malaysian Insight that the complaints she has received so far have mostly been about developers, banks, and land occupation.

“I have been getting visitors at my centre and have helped some of them,” she said when told that she was not well known among the voters.

The 59-year-old outspoken lawyer has had run-ins with the law for speaking against the use of Islam as a moral policing tool and when religion infringes on human rights. She is currently suing the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) and others for wrongful arrest and confinement following a 2016 raid on a private dinner at an event for transgenders in Kuala Lumpur.

Well known among lawyers and social media users, Siti Kasim said voters must not be underestimated.

She is standing as an independent candidate  of Gerak Independent (GI), a movement to promote independent candidates for Batu, Petaling Jaya, Wangsa Maju, and Kota Kinabalu.

GI, launched in 2020, is non-partisan alternative to candidates from established parties, all of which are struggling to retain voter confidence following the political upheaval and three changes of government since the 2018 election.

“I think we underestimate our voters too much,” Siti said, adding that voters cannot choose good elected representatives because they have poor choice to start with.

“Of course, I do not expect everybody in Batu will know who I am or what’s going on politically. But it’s my job to make them aware.”

She said she is confident she can woo voters in Batu, and will work at raising awareness by going out into the field with her team.

When asked whether she would be able to manage her career as a full-time lawyer and as an MP if she won, she pointed out that many lawyer MPs still hold on to their professions.

She admitted that for now, she is tied up moving house and attending to legal cases.

“I plan to be more on the ground from next month,” she said. – June 22, 2022.