GEORGE TOWN: Whenever he embarks on his campaign trail for the Kebun Bunga seat, Independent candidate Datuk Razalif Mohamad Zain will make a striking entrance in a vibrant green Lamborghini Urus sports utility vehicle (SUV).
His campaign convoy also includes an impressive fleet of four additional luxury vehicles - a Lamborghini Huracan, a Range Rover and two Bentleys.
These vehicles, all under his ownership, driven by his friends, create a captivating spectacle as they accompany him during his campaign endeavours.
During his campaigning in Rifle Range and Hong Seng Estate over the weekend, Razalif, 33, who is a businessman, also had a lion dance troupe, a 100-motorcycle convoy and a 15-car motorcade comprising some 200 supporters accompanying him.
"I just want to make a grand entrance whenever I go campaigning to catch the constituents' attention as all I want to do is to help them.
"If elected, I will eradicate poverty, improve the lives of senior citizens and buy a piece of land in Tanjung Bungah belonging to a developer so that the present residents can continue to stay there instead of being evicted.
"I have no ulterior motive in running for the state election as I have no intention of being in the state executive committee or holding any major posts," he said when contacted today (Aug 7).
Razalif said he wants to give back to the people as life has been good to him, adding he would serve his constituents to the best of his ability while travelling regularly between Penang and Kuala Lumpur to take care of his business.
"On June 6 during my birthday, I visited a number of people with disabilities in the Rifle Range area to help them.
"So the people there know me well, and I was asked to visit and campaign in the area on Saturday, and the turnout was unexpected as more than 1,000 people came out to greet me.
"I may spend most of my time in Kuala Lumpur now but I consider myself a Penangite as I stayed here till I was 17 before moving to the capital. I still have many family members here whom I visit on a regular basis," he said.
Razalif is in a three-cornered fight with Pakatan Harapan's Lee Boon Heng and Perikatan Nasional's Tan Zhen Zune.
Meanwhile, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s candidate for Air Putih Teh Yee Cheu wants to promote a hiking trail which connects the temples and churches located along the lower part of Penang Hill.
"But this trail needs to be upgraded with rest stations and this can only be done if I am elected as I need an assemblyman's allocation to do this. The trail can be made into a heritage tourist attraction.
"This trail is not that difficult and can be used by the senior residents to exercise, they can also socialise at the stations where there will be refreshments like coffee and tea.
"I have experience as I have done this before. While I was the Tanjong Bunga assemblyman twice from 2008 to 2018 under the DAP, I upgraded the Bukit Lang trail which is more popularly known as the Zizai Hill trail.
"I still visit this trail regularly and will plant indigenous trees and plants. I think I could have planted at least 500 such trees and plants there already," he said.
Teh added that last week, the party also launched its manifesto which states that they would safeguard the interests of common citizens, as the political landscape is progressively dominated by a privileged few, leading to greater control and suppression.
"The challenges of life are becoming increasingly intricate, while societal perspectives are becoming more limited.
"The party, founded in 1955, has a historical background in championing the rights of the people and countering the influence of the privileged government class even prior to our independence," he said on Sunday (Aug 6).
Teh is in a three-cornered tussle for the Air Putih seat on the island, where he will be up against Lim Guan Eng and Perikatan’s Kong Cheng Ann of Gerakan.
Lim, a former finance minister and Penang chief minister, is expected to return for a fourth term in the seat he first won in 2008.
Teh also once contested the Air Putih seat under the DAP ticket in 2004 but lost to Barisan’s Lye Siew Weng.
He won the Tanjong Bunga seat for two terms under the DAP banner. He quit DAP in 2018.
