KUALA TERENGGANU: At 99, Maimun Yusof, who was twice defeated in two general elections, still holds on to hope of becoming the next Kuala Terengganu Member of Parliament.
She told Harian Metro that despite her losses she is still keen on throwing herself into the fray, one more time, as she is still in good health.
But the grandmother’s bank balance does not support her ambition.
“If I have the money, I wish to contest again. But how, right now, Tok Maimun has no money,” she told the Malay tabliod.
Maimun is however not too confident that she can raise the RM10,000 deposit required to contest the parliamentary seat before nomination day.
Should Maimum raise the money in time she would join the ranks of another famous nonagenarian, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The former prime minister, who came out of retirement last year to captain opposition party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia is also on a mission to break his personal records.
Dr Mahathir, who once helmed Umno (a component party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition) is now the opposition pact’s (Pakatan Harapan) prime ministerial candidate. He is said to be likely to stand in Langkawi or Kubang Pasu parliamentary wards, both in Kedah or Putrajaya.
Maimun also reportedly spent RM60,000 in the previous two elections to become a candidate as well as campaign. Pictures of her riding her campaign bicycle hogged the covers of newspapers and news portals.
But despite the attention in the two polls, she lost her deposit in both elections.
It was also reported that Maimun's decision to contest the Kuala Terengganu seat affected Parti Amanah Negara’s president Mohamad Sabu's chances in the 2008 election.
Mohamad Sabu, who was with PAS then, lost to BN's Datuk Razali Ismail by 628 votes.
In 2013, the grandmother only managed to get 182 votes and the seat fell to Terengganu Amanah chairperson Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad, who had contested under a PAS ticket.