Half-Malay, half-Chinese Jamaliah sees bridging racial divide as key

MALAYSIANSKINI | Her election in 2018 as the Bandar Utama assemblyperson in Selangor marked a high point in the meteoric rise of Jamaliah Jamaluddin, who began her political journey just three years earlier.

In her 20s then, she was among young faces such as Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Batu MP P Prabakaran who took office as a result of that watershed election.

However, no one anticipated the chain of events that saw a perfect storm of political betrayal, a deadly pandemic, and an economic crisis, all of which challenged political leaders with far more experience than Jamaliah.

Then again, her story is no ordinary one. Born in Hunan, China as the only child to radio DJ and political columnist Jamaluddin Ibrahim, she is also the granddaughter of independence fighter Shamsiah Fakeh, a prominent member of the Communist Party of Malaya.

She began volunteering in politics with the DAP and was appointed as a city councillor for Petaling Jaya in 2016.

Her nomination as DAP's candidate for the Bandar Utama state seat drew some criticism but the electorate gave her a thumping win and the chance to show what kind of leader she could be on her own terms.

Now 32, Jamaliah spoke with Malaysiakini about how she entered politics, her love of biographies, and how she is holding up as a Selangor assemblyperson in the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is her story in her own words, edited for clarity:

When I was first considering this journey, I felt that...