From influencer to Islamist: Cleopatra joins PAS to ‘secure children's future', vows commitment to party's spiritual training
KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 – Influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharuddin, better known as Cleopatra, has officially joined the Islamist party PAS yesterday, citing the need to provide a better future for her children.
PAS' Muslimat Wing posted on Facebook that the former independent candidate for Batu submitted her application to wing chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh
'Cleopatra said her decision to join PAS was driven by her hopes for her children's future,' the wing said.
'A single mother, she had previously expressed a desire to get to know PAS better and had voiced her willingness to undergo the party's spiritual and ideological 'tarbiyyah',' it added, using the Arabic word that roughly translates to 'training' or 'education'.
Nuridah said the wing has long remained committed to championing the welfare of vulnerable groups such as the poor, persons with disabilities, the elderly, single mothers, and orphans.
'Cleopatra's entry into PAS is seen as a strategic move to strengthen women's political engagement in Malaysia and to further the cause of community welfare,' it said.
A single mother and entrepreneur, Nur Fathiah also founded women's and community rights group called Hetero Action Women Alliance (Hawa).
She ran in the 15th general election in the crowded Batu parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur and garnered only 628 votes in the 10-candidate contest. Pakatan Harapan's P. Prabakaran won by a 22,241-vote majority.
Earlier last year, she was forced to deny her wedding to deputy inspector-general of police, Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Zinin in Thailand, after a purported marriage certificate went public.
She first went under the media spotlight in 2019 after her little-known firm Cleo International Sdn Bhd led a delegation with local e-sports powerhouse Orange E-Sports to meet then youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.
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