JOHOR BARU: Lee Ming Wen's social consciousness sharpened during the Movement Control Order (MCO) two years ago and that led to his plunge into electoral politics.
The 38-year-old Parti Warisan (Warisan) candidate for Bukit Batu is involved in a four-cornered fight with Barisan Nasional (BN), PKR and Perikatan Nasional (PN).
"I was in a small non-governmental organisation which went around handing out lunch boxes to the elderly and the differently-abled who were stranded and confined to their homes during the MCO," said Lee.
"During the lockdowns in 2020, we distributed something like 1,200 lunchboxes to the needy in Skudai, Bukit Batu and other parts of Johor Baru," he added.
"The whole experience opened my eyes to the poverty and struggles of ordinary people and that was what sharpened my social consciousness and led to my involvement with Warisan, though I only joined the party in the middle of last month," he said.
Bukit Batu is one of three state seats in the parliamentary constituency of Kulai whose incumbent is Teo Nie Ching of DAP.
He does not rate his chances highly but he said: "Warisan has to make a start here in Johor and I was ready to lead the effort."
Bachelor Lee runs a retail business in Skudai where he was born and brought up.
He did his A levels in Subang Jaya and a year and a half of preparatory work in Help University College before completing his degree programme in South Australia.
The international business studies graduate from the University of South Australia worked in finance, banking and manufacturing concerns before setting up a retail business in Skudai.
"It's small but it is enough to keep me going," said Lee, who intends to continue with his involvement in Warisan even if he loses in the polls scheduled for tomorrow.
Besides Bukit Batu, Warisan has also fielded candidates in Pekan Nanas, Bekok, Mahkota, Johor Jaya and Permas.
"I am unfazed by the presence of bigger names from other parties who are not only contesting for seats but also campaigning for their colleagues," said Lee.
"Warisan has to start somewhere and this Johor poll is where we start spreading our message that this country has to lay less stress on race and religion and unite all Malaysians as a priority."
He cited Abraham Lincoln's famous saying 'A house divided against itself cannot stand', as wisdom for the Warisan fight against dividing the country along racial and religious lines.
Lee was practically doing most of the menial tasks at Warisan's operations room in Bukit Batu when he was interviewed by the New Straits Times yesterday.
He had a small coterie of helpers but they were not enough to allow him the latitude to talk without interruption to the daily.
"I am prepared to do all the tasks necessary to build things up from scratch for Warisan here in Bukit Batu," he said.
"No task is too menial for me. I believe in the Warisan mission of freeing Malaysians from sectarian divisions for the larger goal of building up a united and prosperous nation.
"We can do it because the politics of racial and religious divisions are not going to get us anywhere. We can already see where all this has led.
"I can sense the young in the country want to move on from these divisions.
"We must shed divisive politics and strive to build a better future for our people," summed up Lee.