An attractive, 27-year-old ethnic Malay lawyer has suddenly electrified Malaysian politics, running as an opposition candidate in a parliamentary by-election set for May 31. In the process, she has been branded a traitor to her country, race, sex and mother, a former United Malays National Organization division secretary. But mom is on her side and she is also favored to win.
She is Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, running as a member of the Chinese-dominated opposition Democratic Action Party in Teluk Intan, a northern city in the state of Perak. Her opponent, Mah Siew Keong, is a former two-term MP in the constituency and president of Gerakan, a small party in the ruling national coalition. The seat was vacated when the DAP lawmaker holding it died of cancer.
Dyana has seemingly come from nowhere to phenomenal popularity. Her Facebook friends skyrocketed to more than 30,000 in three days. According to the English-language news site Malaysiakini, the name Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud – she was named for the late Princess Diana Spencer ‑ has been the subject of 4.3 million searches on Google.
Beyond her decision to join the DAP instead of UMNO, as two of her uncles and her mother did, Dyana may well represent a new social phenomenon for a country caught in the strait-jacket of rigid religious, ethnic and political squabbling. She lets her hair swing free and usually dresses in conventional clothing instead of the confining hijab worn in public by most of Malaysia’s political women. Full story...
Read also: The DAP-Umno faceoff...
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She is Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, running as a member of the Chinese-dominated opposition Democratic Action Party in Teluk Intan, a northern city in the state of Perak. Her opponent, Mah Siew Keong, is a former two-term MP in the constituency and president of Gerakan, a small party in the ruling national coalition. The seat was vacated when the DAP lawmaker holding it died of cancer.
Dyana has seemingly come from nowhere to phenomenal popularity. Her Facebook friends skyrocketed to more than 30,000 in three days. According to the English-language news site Malaysiakini, the name Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud – she was named for the late Princess Diana Spencer ‑ has been the subject of 4.3 million searches on Google.
Beyond her decision to join the DAP instead of UMNO, as two of her uncles and her mother did, Dyana may well represent a new social phenomenon for a country caught in the strait-jacket of rigid religious, ethnic and political squabbling. She lets her hair swing free and usually dresses in conventional clothing instead of the confining hijab worn in public by most of Malaysia’s political women. Full story...
Read also: The DAP-Umno faceoff...
Related posts:
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