GEORGE TOWN – Part of Lee Kim Noor’s campaign has been warding off jokes about representing Muda at the age of 59. But the Muda candidate for the Batu Uban state seat takes it all in stride.
“I say I am sweet 16 with 43 years experience! I am very confident with myself. Look at the 98-year-old, he is still active,” she said in reference to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been campaigning for Perikatan Nasional (PN).
“With age comes wisdom,” said the lawyer and prolific Penangite when met at her home in Jalan Padang Victoria here.
Better known as KN Lee, the mother of three believes that Penangites need better representation in the state assembly.
“There is no debate,” said the former Penang Island City Council councillor, alluding to the current composition of the 40-seat assembly, where it was dominated by Pakatan Harapan (PH) component party DAP. The governing coalition held 37 seats.
The other representatives were from Barisan Nasional (2) and PAS (1), while four were Bersatu representatives who won their seats in 2018 under the then Pakatan Rakyat ticket. The four have since been sacked from the legislature after leaving the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
“Now that PH and BN are working together, we essentially have one opposition (representative). It is not good for democracy. There are no checks and balances.
“There are critical infrastructure projects coming up (including the Penang Transport Master Plan) that encompasses the undersea tunnel and continuous reclamation works.
“After all these years, only now we are talking about a local draft plan,” said Lee, who is also the founding president of the Penang Ratepayers Association.
Lee said strata issues and archaic rates are what she hopes to change, where equitable fees will help fairer collection which would then help with revenue generation for the state.
“Do you know the current strata rates were set in 1975? There are many developed areas of Penang now which are still paying ‘kampung rates’ because they were kampungs then,” she told Scoop.
Lee added that her agenda is to improve the quality of life of Penangites by focusing on three areas – a harmonious society, an ageing society and the environment.
“For a harmonious society, we need more involvement from the people such as the Rukun Tetangga initiative where people look out for each other.
“Penang also does not pay enough attention to our ageing population. We have had people dying alone at home only to be discovered much later,” she said, adding that she hopes to fight for more elder care policies.
Lee also said that environmental issues have come to the fore due to indiscriminate approvals by the state government due to the lack of challenges by the state assembly.
She said as the state that gave birth to the civil society movement, there is little dialogue between the State Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“There is no respect for NGOs. No dialogue with NGOs. The state government should be talking with us,” said Lee, emphasising that she just wants to do right by Penangites.
“We at Muda are not interested in Sheraton Moves to bring down an elected government. I hope the people will give us a chance to represent them and fight for them,” she said, adding that equitable representation also means having more women in the state assembly.
Prior to the dissolution, the assembly only had six women out of the 40 representatives.
“The incumbent keeps shouting about the need for 30% women representation but still cannot fulfil it. Muda has three women candidates in Penang!”
Lee faces PH’s Kumaresan Arumugam and Perikatan Nasional’s Mok Kok On in the constituency of 43,000 voters – an increase of 11,000 following the eligibility of the Undi18 voters and automatic registration.
With 60% Chinese and 25% Malay where half are older voters, Lee said she has her work cut out for her.
“Think carefully about who you vote for and why you are voting. Just make sure you have someone in the legislature to question the government when it does not look out for your interest.” – August 7, 2023