KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Umno should react with alarm instead of derision over DAP’s selection of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the Teluk Intan by-election, former group chief editor of the New Straits Times Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said.

The veteran newsman pointed out that Dyana Sofya was a new generation of young Malay politicians — many of whom come from Umno lineage — who were now abandoning the Malay nationalist party for DAP.

“While the [Barisan Nasional] campaigners and their cyber troopers are having a field day maligning her, they should perhaps spare some time to understand why these sort of things are happening. Why young educated Malays are joining the DAP?” he asked.

“There be must something particularly strong by way of push and pull factors to encourage a young Malay like Dyana Sofya, who hailed from an Umno family, to join the DAP and be an active member.”

Dyana Sofya has been targeted by Internet smear campaigns since even before she was nominated for the May 31 by-election.

Last week, a picture of a woman in a two-piece swimsuit was distributed online and which her attackers alleged to be of her.

After the photo was shown to be of Filipino actress Pauleen Luna, a new attack was begun that attempted to associate her with Perkasa’s Datuk Ibrahim Ali, a frequent rival to the DAP and her mentor, Lim Kit Siang.

Today, Kadir pointed out that Dyana Sofya’s membership in DAP was not a unique phenomenon, despite attempts to portray her as a rarity in the party that is viewed as predominantly Chinese.

“Just days ago, a former female deputy minister from Umno noted with alarm that the DAP’s internship programmes were attracting many young Malay participants, most of whom are well educated.”

This should prompt Umno and the rest of Barisan Nasional to consider what was preventing them from appealing to the likes of Dyana Sofya, Kadir suggested.

Umno’s inability to attract political young Turks into their ranks was previously highlighted by former president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who warned the party that the refusal of old leaders to move on would lead to the party’s demise.

“Today, many think that Umno is very corrupt. It is even assumed that Umno leaders at all levels had not joined the party to fight for race, religion and the country, but to enrich themselves,” he said in his column in Mingguan Malaysia, the weekend edition of Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia, last September.

“Only when many new and young faces are seen will the public believe that Umno has changed and has been cleansed,” Dr Mahathir said.

In a bid to shed its image as a predominantly-Chinese party, DAP picked Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, a young Malay woman, as its candidate for the May 25 by-election in Teluk Intan, a Chinese-majority constituency.

But the move has brought to the surface the influence of race in Malaysian politics on both sides of the divide.

Dyana will face Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong in a straight fight for Teluk Intan.

Mah won the Teluk Intan seat in 1999 and 2004, but lost to DAP’s M. Manogaran in 2008 with a 1,470-vote majority.

DAP’s Seah Leong Peng had defeated Mah in 2013 with a 7,313 majority before succumbing to advanced bladder cancer on May 1, this year.

The voter base in Teluk Intan is 42 per cent Chinese, 38 per cent Malay and 19 per cent Indian, making a total of 60,349 registered voters.