Fifty-five thousand people. 55,354 votes, to be exact. That is the number of votes that came in and vouched their confidence in 28-year-old Michelle Ng of DAP, giving her a majority of 48,272 against her closest competitor, Chong Ah Watt from Barisan Nasional.
More significantly, her majority was almost double of her predecessor, heavyweight Hannah Yeoh won the Subang Jaya state seat in GE13, securing 28,069 votes.
Yes, it’s all just a numbers game on paper but what one could read into this is the amount of support constituents were showing this first-time candidate. Perhaps it was her story that stirred them, one which detailed how she had the urge to return to Malaysia from London early on because she said she ‘would feel guilty if she did not return to help her tanah air.
Or perhaps it was simply because her predecessor, who was much loved by the people of Subang Jaya, declared during a ceramah before the 14th General Elections, that Michelle was a candidate that was the closest in values and principles as herself.
To this, they came out and threw their weight onto the ballot papers, ensuring not only a victory for Michelle, but more importantly a very loud siren to Malaysia that this neighbourhood was demanding change immediately and swiftly.
Now, post-victory, Michelle has a lot of work on her plate. Subang Jaya is an area with a lot of things going on in it. It’s not going to be rocket science to figure out what the people want (as they are very vocal about it) but it will take a lot of sweat and hard work on Michelle’s part to meet the demands of her discerning constituents.
In this interview, we get a glimpse into what her next moves are and how the next five years will pan out.
