FAILURE to leave the urban comfort zone, or “Bangsar bubble”, is why civil society groups have not been able to spread their ideas for change farther, said Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan. 

These groups should be taking important issues, like political financing reform, to rural areas where the culture of political patronage is more entrenched.

“We need to make sure that civil societies are doing their job so that there’s no pressure for politicians to fund charitable work; so that politicians can do their actual work, which is legislation,” he said. 

The former chief executive officer of the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs said the handouts and giveaway culture perpetuated by Umno and Barisan Nasional had resulted in people coming to politicians for various types of aid, including financial help.

“This is because civil society and, myself included when I was in civil society, we failed to change society,” he said at a forum on political financing reforms organised by G25 at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur. 

“We keep organising events like this in Bukit Kiara; we have never thought of taking this event or discussions like this to Pendang or Arau, or rural areas,” he said. 

Wan Saiful joined Bersatu in March and was fielded as a candidate in Pendang, Kedah, in the 14th general election but lost, garnering 14,901 votes to Umno’s 20,728 and PAS’ 26,536 votes. 

He said politicians needed to balance demands from civil society with demands from voters. 

“We keep talking about things that need to be done by the government but we are not touching on the reality on the ground. 

“It’s great to be idealistic but once you deal with the reality, you quickly grow up and that was the challenge I had to deal with within two months of joining politics and preparing to contest. 

“I immediately realised that there is a much bigger world than the ‘Bangsar Bubble’,” he said. 

Civil society, he added, must not only keep the new Pakatan Harapan government in check but be brave enough to lobby for people living in rural areas. 

“If we are really committed to reform, come and help us educate the public out there, so that in the next election, they will say ‘I will not vote for the politician who pays my electricity bill’.”

In sharing how expensive it is to run an election campaign, he said that he spent RM189,000 on his campaign, with the money being used to pay for campaign material, like T-shirts, flags, as well as renting houses and two Toyota Hilux, and to pay workers. 

“When you contest in an area where the people’s source of income is from rice or rubber tapping, you need to consider that you will be pulling them out from their daily work.

“Scrap rubber sells for RM1.80 per kg, and you get RM180 for 100kg. To get 100kg, you need to work for a week. If it rains, they have no income. So, if you pull them out to put up flags for your campaign, you need to appreciate the time they took off.

“You need to compensate them by buying them food, drinks, accommodation, and all these cost money.” – July 21, 2018.