15-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
‘Tried and tested' Chang seeks to retain PKR veep post
Chang Lih Kang prides himself as a risk taker, saying he has never once been asked to stand in a safe seat.
PETALING JAYA : Tanjong Malim MP Chang Lih Kang says his loyalty, experience and willingness to take risks justify his bid to retain his vice-presidency at the party polls later this month.
In an interview with FMT, Chang said he had 'been tested' over the years, citing his numerous arrests, being charged twice for attending rallies and tempted with money to jump ship.
'I stayed with the party at its lowest point and didn't leave even when there were offers.'
Chang will be defending his post, which he won in 2022, in an 11-cornered fight.
The three other incumbent vice-presidents — Selangor menteri besar and state PKR chairman Amirudin Shari, Negeri Sembilan menteri besar and state PKR chairman Aminuddin Harun, and natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad — will all be defending their posts.
Other party leaders vying for the vice-presidency are Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, deputy entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister R Ramanan, Segamat MP R Yuneswaran, PKR deputy secretary-general Dr N Sathia Prakash, senator Abun Sui Anyit, former Selangor exco member Hee Loy Sian, and former vice-president Mustaffa Kamil Ayub.
Chang's interest in politics was ignited following the sacking of then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, which triggered the 'reformasi' movement and led to PKR's formation in 2003.
He joined PKR the following year, during a period when the party struggled to gain a foothold in Malaysia's political landscape after a poor electoral performance in a general election that saw Abdullah Ahmad Badawi achieve a landslide victory one year after succeeding Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.
'Those were dark days. Many left, but I stayed because I believed in what we stood for.'
But his loyalty came at a cost. Chang was among those arrested for attending the Bersih 2.0 rally in 2011 and the #KitaLawan rally in 2015.
Refusing to be cowed by those arrests and convinced about the reform agenda PKR was pushing, premised on the party's core values of upholding justice, he stood his ground and resisted the temptation to defect to other parties.
Still, he is aware that there are those who feel PKR has not done enough to live up to expectations.
'Judge us in the next few years before GE16.'
General elections are of significance to Chang's political career.
First elected to public office in 2008 after winning the Teja state seat in Perak by a wafer-thin 175-vote majority, he went on to defend the seat with a bigger majority of 2,082 in 2013.
Chang secured 9,732 votes in a straight fight with MCA's Yew Sau Kham who managed 7,650 votes.
He also prides himself as a risk taker, saying he has never once been asked to stand in a safe seat.
In 2018, PKR asked him to contest the Tanjung Malim parliamentary seat, a Barisan Nasional stronghold which MCA had held for three consecutive terms.
'I didn't hesitate. And we won it.'
Chang won the seat with a 5,358 majority in a three-cornered fight, securing 24,672 votes ahead of MCA's Mah Hang Soon, who received 19,314 votes.
He retained the seat in 2022 with a 3,541 majority, beating Perikatan Nasional's Nolee Ashilin Radzi into second place, with Mah coming in third in a six-cornered fight.
