Silat man contests Bukit Gantang

Kamarul Ramizu Idris, the sole independent candidate for the Bukit Gantang seat, has forked out nearly RM100,000 for this by-election. And he is doing this to promote his yet-to-be-registered Parti Iman Se-Malaysia.

The 42-year-old entrepreneur said his brand of "spiritual politics" was important as people were obsessed and corrupted by the trappings of power.

"Win or lose is immaterial. I'm not worried about that. All I want is for my multi-racial party which promotes faith and spirituality to be known," he said. He is also unfazed that he will be losing at least one vote - from himself as he is not a registered voter. And the reason why he did not register was because he had yet to find a "true leader", he said.

"My role model is (Independent Pasir Mas MP) Datuk Ibrahim Ali because he is true to his principles. If I win, he will have me to accompany him," he added.

Despite being a virtual unknown and starting late in his campaigning - he only went campaigning on Monday - Kamarul is confident of getting at least 20,000 votes as Bukit Gantang is his "playground" because he was born and bred here.

He claimed that even his rivals were getting jittery over his progress with the voters."Maybe they are threatened by my concept, they are afraid that I will affect their votes," he said.

Clad in his velvet songkok and trademark sunglasses - "The glare is hurting my eyes," he says - Kamarul goes campaigning in his black Mercedes trailed by a convoy of six cars comprising volunteers from Persatuan Seni Silat Gayung Pusaka Malaysia, of which he is the 'khalifah' or sifu. Why did he pick the umbrella as his logo? "Because Taiping is the wettest town in Malaysia."

Written by Eileen Ng
Sourced from http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20090401161425/Article/index_html