Who is Cleo and why is she contesting for GE15?
HURIN EIN27 Oct 2022 02:07pm
Photo courtesy of Nur Fathiah Syazwana
In what is considered a fresh, new and quite an unexpected addition to Malaysia’s political arena, her announcement stunned some netizens.
Prior to stepping foot into politics, most would recognise her through her presence on social media as an influencer.
“I am hardly an influencer, my contribution towards social media is more towards sharing of myself and of current issues,” she told Sinar Daily.
However, she attributed her followers on Instagram for driving her to establish the Hetero Action Women Alliance (Hawa), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that focuses on local affairs including the struggles of women and single mothers.
She aspires for Hawa to cater to the B40 needs as well.
“We will carry out our best endeavours to create sustainability for everyone concerned,” she said.
For her, the main areas of her concern were the well-being of the community and the people at large as well as the plights of single mothers such as herself.
The mother of two to Andromeda and Astreanova said she also felt a deep affiliation towards children, especially in terms of education.
DIVING INTO POLITICS
When speaking about politics, Cleo had always been interested and said it was not difficult for her to decide on running as the Batu MP as she had done deliberate consideration and various preparation prior to the 15th General Election (GE15).
Her motivation to represent the people came from her heart and passion to see the children of Malaysia have a more secure future and opportunity, especially for the B40 community. Not only that, but she was also very spirited for the gender equality movement where women should be given equal opportunities as given to men.
“There is nothing a man can do that a woman cannot.
“Women of today are at par with men in terms of capability and ability,” she said.
Her choice to run as an independent candidate was said as a matter of personal preference.
For Cleo, there was nothing wrong in being a candidate for a party but she felt that party members would be bound to party rules and directions.
She said being an independent candidate would give her the liberty and privilege to truly speak of what she really believes in and will be more realistic towards what she can achieve for the people.
In this day and age, she said that what mattered most was accountability and responsibility, adding that the real job of an MP was to fulfil the responsibilities as mandated by the people.
“It is a responsibility and trust that must be upheld through and through. The well-being of the constituents is very important, though as lawmakers, this responsibility goes without saying,” she said.
If given the chance to work with another party, she said she would be willing to work with a party that has a full dedication towards the people and its top priority was to centre around the nation’s interest.
A party such as that she said will be those that would offer equality among races without any barriers of religion or beliefs.
Also contesting for the Batu Parliamentary seat will be lawyer and social activist Siti Kassim and PKR’s Chua Tian Chang, responding to this, she said that it was wonderful to see people of various background to be involved in politics.
“Each has their own individual bespoke offerings and constituents have the opportunity to elect or select which candidate is most suitable,” she said, not letting her opponents weigh her down in her fight for the Batu Parliamentary seat.
She said her advantage to gain people’s votes lies in her age because with her youth, she will have the upper hand at having more fresh views and approaches that will cater towards matters that were current and relevant.
PUBLIC REACTION
Her announcement to contest in parliament was met with mixed reactions. Some had been supportive and encouraged for her best while some others resorted to harsh language and calling her inappropriate names.
She was honest and said it would be a lie to say she was not affected by the harsh comments.
She retaliated with some telling the people to not say such things as the people do not know of her private life that did not make it to her social media pages.
Being the sole breadwinner of her family, including her mother, grandmother and two brothers, she questioned the public whether it was so wrong for a woman who had struggled like her to use the platform of politics to make changes so women and Malaysians at large can be helped.
“Can’t a woman such as myself use the political platform as a tool for me to help Malaysians as a whole?” she said in one of her Twitter posts.
Although she fully supported the cause for freedom of speech and expression, that does not push away the fact that it also comes with a high degree of responsibility and respect that needs to be implemented together.
She was in dismay to see how some Malaysians succumbed to hate and bashful inappropriate comments. Even so, Cleo would not let herself be the same and reply with equal hate, choosing grace over animosity.
“My response is a more traditional response, we must never respond to cruel remarks with cruelty.
“Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows,” she said.
She also said that issues of cyberbullying need to be faced head-on because if left unattended, other mental issues might follow such as depression and anxiety.
She urged Malaysians who had to face the cruel ordain of cyberbullying to lodge a report to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) so that it can deter it from growing to become a bigger issue.
Her advice for people active on social media was to always be respectful and responsible for the things they said. If anyone were to face harsh comments, although tough but try their very best to not take it to heart and be courageous to lodge a report.
