TELUK INTAN, May 20 — Yammy Samat told Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today that her daughter Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is very much like his own daughter Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, whose social activist work has put her on a collision course with her father on a number of issues.

Yammy, an Umno loyalist since she was 18, told Dr Mahathir that she had raised Dyana Sofya to be like his son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, also an Umno man, but the strong-willed 26-year-old chose a different path for herself.

“I tried my very best to bring up Dyana to be like Mukhriz, but when she grew up, she turned out to be like Marina,” Yammy told The Malay Mail Online in an interview today.

“So it doesn’t matter. She became like one of Tun’s children anyway,” the 59-year-old added, in her message to the former prime minister.

She then pointed out that the glass ceiling in Umno, the Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin, only permits female leaders to reach the position of vice-president.

But in the DAP, which is the party of Dyana Sofya’s choosing, a woman can progress to the top.

Probed further, the mother of the DAP Teluk Intan candidate declined to elaborate on the qualities ascribed to Mukhriz, who is the Kedah mentri besar, and Marina, a prominent activist who fights against racism.

Dr Mahathir had reportedly expressed his disappointment yesterday that Dyana Sofya had come from a family of Umno supporters, saying that if Umno members did not educate their children on the party’s history and contributions, they would go their own ways.

Yammy also defended today Dyana Sofya’s candidacy in the Teluk Intan by-election against accusations that her daughter was betraying Umno.

“It’s Shahrizat who’s the traitor,” she said, citing the RM250 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal that former minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was embroiled in.

On nomination day, the Wanita Umno chief reportedly told Dyana Sofya, a Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) law graduate, not to be a traitor.

Yammy, who was Umno Ipoh secretary back from 1976 to 1980, said the Malay party used to give young women opportunities, but when Umno Baru came along, such opportunities disappeared.

“They didn’t want young women to disturb Wanita, so they created Puteri,” said Yammy.

“Now, don’t even dream of a woman becoming Umno president,” the Umno member added.

Under the BN government, the Umno president is usually appointed as prime minister.

Yammy also said she lost her job as a clerk with Umno in 1987 after she sided with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah during the Kelantan prince’s contest against Dr Mahathir for the Umno presidency, which Tengku Razaleigh had narrowly lost.

“They told me to work for Ku Li,” she said, using Tengku Razaleigh’s nickname.

Yammy then joined Semangat 46, the splinter party that Tengku Razaleigh had subsequently founded. Semangat 46 was dissolved in 1996 and its members then rejoined Umno.

“I was humiliated when they sacked me just because of Ku Li. That’s Umno for you. All the staff were sacked. You want my daughter to be like that?” said Yammy.

The Umno member questioned the logic of labelling Dyana Sofya a traitor to the Malays, pointing out that BN had appointed a Chinese — Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong — to contest Teluk Intan, while the DAP had chosen a Malay candidate.

“You say ‘hidup Melayu’, but you put a Chinese candidate,” said Yammy, using the Malay phrase for “Long live the Malays”.

The mother of four children also said all political parties in Malaysia were the same, in that they aspired to develop the country.

“My daughter has the freedom to join politics as she wishes,” said Yammy.

“I ask all my friends in Umno to think about this carefully: My daughter is your daughter too,” she added.