MEET Fauzi Abu Bakar, a landscape architect.

He is also the PAS candidate who will lead the Islamist party’s charge to take over the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat currently held by PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

PAS has indicated that it will contest in as many seats as possible in the 14th general election even in seats the Islamist party has no chance of winning.

Fauzi is one of the pillars in this ambitious plan.

He is set to take on PKR Lembah Pantai Youth chief Fahmi Fadzil and BN’s Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin. Nurul Izzah is set to move on to a different constituency.

In the last general election, Nurul defeated BN’s Raja Nong Chik and independent candidate Rusli Baba by 1,847 votes.

The 58-year-old Fauzi who lives in a bungalow in Lucky Gardens, Bangsar, which doubles up as his operations centre.

“I have been active in the local community. I have been the chairman of the parent-teacher associations of primary and secondary schools in Bukit Bandaraya.

“I am also active in the Bukit Bandaraya residents’ association. I am also member of the hearing committee for the Kuala Lumpur master plan. So, I think I know the worries and the problems here.

“If we can see the imbalanced development in Lembah Pantai, especially in Kerinchi where the flats were demolished and replaced with skyscrapers, the issue of displacements, it created a huge gap here,” he said pitching his case at a hi-tea recently.

The former president of Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) has an impressive record like any Bumiputera corporate figure in the country. 

He made a name for himself through his company, IN-SITE Design, which is known not only in Malaysia but also in countries like Iran and Libya. His company was also involved in designing the landscape for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which has won many awards.

Fauzi, who is part of the Abu Bakar As Siddiq Mosque committee in Bangsar, dismissed talk of his party being a spoiler at GE14.

He said being a PAS candidate is not something strange because of the party’s role in community building.

The PAS approach, through the Wawasan Induk Sejahtera (WINS – The harmonious vision), he said, emphasises on social development, not just a life aimed at material gains.

“This is the kind of approach that can be accepted here. This is an opportunity for PAS to contest. We have to make sure that we will have more balanced development to improve our lifestyles,” he said, brushing aside talk the Islamist party was out to spoil PH’s chances in Lembah Pantai.

Fauzi is a recent entrant to the Islamist party, having signed up only in 2017. He is the party’s Lembah Pantai division treasurer. 

Last October, Fauzi appeared as the main speaker for a programme called Sembang santai teh tarik held at the Pantai Dalam bazaar in the main Malay populated area in the Lembah Pantai constituency.

Lembah Pantai area consists of four main areas – Bangsar and parts of Damansara for the middle-income and the elite; Pantai Dalam where Universiti Malaya is located; Kerinchi and Pantai Dalam, areas for Malays who migrated to the city. 

Lembah Pantai has 78,000 voters with Malays making up 56%, Chinese (22%), Indians (18%) and others (4%). – March 14, 2018.