KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — DAP’s Bandar Utama candidate Jamaliah Jamaluddin said today her entry into politics would not have been possible were it not for the influence of her late grandmother Shamsiah Fakeh.

"My grandmother was the leader of Angkatan Wanita Sedar (Awas), the first women’s organisation in Malaysian history, and a freedom fighter during the British occupation of Malaya.

"She once told me that she was not a Malayan Communist Party leader or a renowned female figure, but instead merely a woman fighter against the British for the nation’s freedom and for women’s emancipation,” she said in a statement.

Shamsiah, born near Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan on 1924, founded Awas at the end of 1945. Shortly after the start of the Malayan Emergency in 1948, she joined the Communist Party of Malaya’s (CPM) Malayan People’s Liberation Army where she fought as a guerilla fighter until being sent to China in 1956 with her husband Ibrahim Mohamad.

Increasing differences with CPM’s secretary-general Chin Peng led to Shamsiah and Ibrahim’s expulsion from the party in 1972. The couple remained exiled from Malaysia in China until July 1994, when they were allowed to return. Shamsiah passed away in October 2008, Ibrahim having predeceased her by two years.

Jamaliah described her grandmother as her idol, and that her teachings on struggle, courage, truth, and a fair and just Malaysia for all is indeed possible.

"I will continue on my journey, never ceasing until my dream and the dream of all Malaysians to be free from Umno and BN’s grasp has been achieved. For the future of a newer, better and beloved Malaysia,” she said.

The 29-year-old Petaling Jaya City Council member also thanked DAP’s leadership for supporting her candidacy as Bandar Utama state assemblyman.