Popularity don’t matter, I’m just doing my ‘little job’ to support PKR - Afdlin Shauki

Focus

By SITI NURFATIHAH PIRDAUS

07 Jun 2022 10:35am

Afdlin Shauki said popularity does not matter in politics and what the people want is for the celebrities that are involved in the field to provide them an alternative for change.

KUALA LUMPUR - Celebrity status may not be appealing to the PKR members, but the celebrity politicians are just doing their job to support the party for the betterment of the people.

Veteran actor Datuk Afdlin Shauki said popularity does not matter in politics and what the people wanted from the celebrities involved in the political field was to provide them with an alternative for change.

“People do not vote for us because we are celebrities, they vote for us because they know we can give them an alternative to something that is not working or the alternative to things that need change.

“They want to know if we can help them with what's happening in their lives.

“Can we help them put food on the table? Can we help them give some hope that their lives would be better? That's the key and it's not about us being popular,” he said.

He said this after lodging a police report at Wangsa Maju district police station yesterday to protest the 2022 PKR polls results for the Setiawangsa branch, where he faced defeat in the race for the Setiawangsa division chief post at the hands of Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

He also mentioned he was just doing his ‘little job’ of supporting the party and it was not up to him to decide if he would be chosen to contest for the 15th General Election (GE15).

“The decision is with the central leadership council as well as with the higher echelons of the party.

“I'm here to do my little job to support the party, to let the people know that PKR is here for the people.

“What we want is the betterment of the people, or for everybody to have a fair chance to have a good life in Malaysia,” he said.

He commented this after being asked whether celebrity status did not appeal to the PKR members, as seen from the loss of several celebrities in the recent PKR polls.

Datuk Hans Isaac and Altimet also lost in their bids for the Ampang division chief post, conceding the seat to controversial figure Daing Muhammad Reduan Bachok.