GEORGE TOWN, April 27 — While he may be a first-timer, DAP’s youngest candidate for GE14 Gooi Zi Sen wants voters to know that this does not mean he is new to politics.
According to the 30-year-old Pengkala Kota candidate, Gooi developed a keen interest in politics at the tender age of eight when his uncle, Gooi Seong Kin, contested in Berapit back in 1995.
At that time, Zi Sen said Seong Kin used his home as an election operations centre, which left a lasting impression on him.
Zi Sen said he even stuck a Robocop sticker of DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang at the back of his primary school text book.
The 1995 election was the year that Lim launched a “Robocop” campaign to capture Penang in DAP’s “Tanjung III” project.
“I will always remember the Robocop sticker and throughout my years of growing up, with my family helping my uncle in his campaign almost every election, I truly believed in DAP’s fight,” he said in an interview with Malay Mail.
Zi Sen believes his main challenge will be against Barisan Nasional (BN), despite facing a multi-corner fight.
This is the first time that the 30-year-old was picked as a candidate and he is ready to face the challenge of defending the seat for DAP.
Although DAP won the seat with a massive majority of 13,600 votes in 2013 that led to MCA losing its deposit, Gooi said they must not be complacent.
“I will still go on the ground to meet the voters and tell them what Pakatan Harapan (PH) can offer them,” he said.
He said the past 10 years under PH, led by DAP, served as an example for the people that the PH administration has a good track record.
Zi Sen joined DAP in 2010 after graduating with a degree in business and tourism management.
He started working as an aide to first tourism exco Law Heng Kiang before joining Penang DAP headquarters as a full time staff.
He became housing development and town and country planning exco Jagdeep Singh Deo’s aide in 2013.
“Working with Jagdeep means I am well versed with issues on town and country planning and housing so I will be able to address issues such as traffic congestion in Pengkalan Kota,” he said.
The constituency consists of 92 per cent ethnic Chinese voters so naturally, there were many temples there.
Zi Sen said he had assisted Jagdeep in handling funds for the temples, and that experience will be helpful in his campaign.
Zi Sen will be contesting against MCA’s Lim Swee Bok and two other parties, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Chew Seng Tung and Malaysian United Party’s Koay Teng Lye.
When asked if voters might give sympathy votes to Lim, who had lost his whole family in a fire last year, Zi Sen said he believes voters will be wise when casting their vote.
Malaysians will go to the polls on May 9.
