Kuala Lampur, July 22 -- JULY 22 - When I joined politics in 2016, I was a "banana" (a Chinese who can't speak Chinese). Consequently, I was assigned to Chinese-minority areas during elections: Kapit, Pengkalan Batu, Keningau and Simpang Jeram. In the 2019 Cameron Highlands by-election, I was based in the 100 per cent Malay area of FELDA Sungai Koyan 3.

Malay voters are, of course, not a monolith; these assignments gave me a different political upbringing within DAP.

Recently, I campaigned in Tiram, a BN stronghold except in GE14 (2018), when it was won by PKR's Gopalakrishnan a/l Subramaniam. PH fielded Nor Zulaila binti Abdul Ghani (Lily), a Chinese-Malay mother of two who is fluent in Mandarin and Hokkien, with 12 years of public ser...