PN candidate in Semarang pushes past language barriers to reach Chinese voters

Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) candidate for Semarang, Shazani Abdul Hamid, is proving a hit in the town of Ayer Hitam where her door-to-door campaign has been well received by the Chinese community in particular.

Her secret? An ability to converse fluently in Mandarin, born of six years of education at a Chinese primary school.

As she makes her way from one house to the next, she is greeted by smiles and friendly conversation.

At 31, Shazani is a relatively young candidate but her fluency in Mandarin and soft-spoken demeanour just may be giving her an edge.

She received her primary school education at SJK (C) Malayan in Ayer Hitam itself before continuing at SMK Datuk Menteri in the same district.

Speaking to MalaysiaNow, she said the Chinese voters in Ayer Hitam appeared more trusting of her once they realised she could speak in Mandarin.

“In the village area here, there are some Chinese who cannot speak very well in Malay,” she said when met after the day’s campaign activities in Kampung Sawah Sagil.

“When I speak to them in Mandarin, they become more comfortable in telling me about the issues they face.”

Shazani, who also goes by her nickname of Nani, said the villagers would also speak of their dissatisfaction with corrupt leaders, especially those embroiled in court cases and who have already been found guilty of the charges against them.

“Their concern so far is the economy,” she said. “They have been badly affected. They don’t want anymore greedy leaders who are incapable of taking care of the economy.”

Many are also happy to see younger candidates in the field, she said.

“They want young candidates, regardless of race,” she added.

About 13% of the 27,000-odd voters in Semarang are from the Chinese community.

Shazani is up against three other candidates from Pejuang, Barisan Nasional (BN) and PKR.

BN’s candidate, Samsolbari Jamali, is the secretary of Johor Umno and has held the seat for four terms.

When asked how she first became interested in politics, Shazani said her family members had registered to join Bersatu after Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) victory at the 14th general election.

She said they had admired the leadership of Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who co-founded the party with him.

It wasn’t just that it was a new party, she said. They also liked the fact that its leaders had clean records and were vocal in fighting corruption in the government.

Her family was also close to former menteri besar Osman Sapian, whose death triggered the election in the state.

“Osman supported my venture into politics,” she said. “He approved. He was my motivation to do all of this.”

Her late father, meanwhile, had known Samsolbari.

“So people here say that me competing with Samsolbari is like a grandchild going up against her grandfather,” she said.

Shazani is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree through distance learning in marketing and business management at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Pasir Gudang.

Nevertheless, she is also ready to serve and to give her focus to the issues if she is elected on polling day this Saturday.

“My team and I have already made plans for this area,” she said. “We have Plan A, B and C – what to do and so on.”

Even during the campaign period, she said, people had reached out to her on social media asking for help.

“We quickly informed the party so that action could be taken,” she said.

“We are the candidates, so we channel the requests to those who can take immediate steps. We know that Muhyiddin is always clear about this.”