THE people of Klang in Selangor will be served in a strange way by Madam Pushpaneela.
(Above) Madam Pushpaneela (in yellow) campaigning on her husband's behalf before the elections.
Her style will be: First to meet-the-people session, then to prison - to meet the man who is the constituents' real Member of Parliament.
Her husband, newly-elected state assemblyman M Manoharan, has been locked up in the Kamunting detention centre in Perak, about 220km from his Klang constituency.
The 46-year-old lawyer has been there since last December.
He is one of five men detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), arrested after the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) led street protests against the ruling government last November.
So just as de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim once relied on his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, 55, to represent him while he served time in prison, Mr Manoharan is now depending on wife Pushpaneela, 47, to serve his constituents.
Her husband shocked the nation when he won Klang's KotaAlam Shah state seat during the 8Mar elections.
Madam Pushpaneela, a mother of four who works as an office administrator, had campaigned on her husband's behalf under the banner of the opposition's Democratic Action Party (DAP).
M Manoharan, Hindraf's legal advisor, beat his rival MrChing Su Chen from Barisan Nasional (BN) by 7,184 votes.
(Above) Detained Hindraf activist and newly-elected state assemblyman, M Manoharan. --Picture: NEW STRAITS TIMES
He is the third person in Malaysia to win a seat while under detention.
The other two, Mr Chan Kok Kit and Mr Chian Heng Kai, contested under the DAP ticket and won Sungai Besi and Batu Gajah seats respectively in 1978.
In 1999, M Manoharan had vied for the parliamentary seat of Segambut, Kuala Lumpur, but lost to BN politician Tan Kee Kwong.
EXTRA ROLE
Now, Madam Pushpaneela finds herself having an extra role to play, on top of her hectic schedule at home and at work.
But she's keen. She feels driven by her mission to free her husband and the other ISA detainees.
She also wants to fulfil the promises made to Kota Alam Shah voters.
She is opening a 'service centre' to meet residents in Taman Bayu Perdana, Klang, next week.
This is to make it convenient for voters to raise issues to elected officials.
Usually, the issues involve public amenities, pleas for lower rentals and even fixing potholes on roads.
How will their problems be solved when M Manoharan is behind bars more than 200km away?
BRAINSTORMING IN JAIL
Madam Pushpaneela told The New paper: 'This is where I have to play my part.
'I will meet him every Sunday to brief him on the voters' problems and we can brainstorm to find solutions.'
Madam Pushpaneela said that since she is also running hus husband's legal firm, she would givehim the paperwork for him to work on.
Her most recent visit to Kamunting was on Sunday, the day after the results were announced.
Visitors get only an hour's time there, Madam Pushpaneela said with a hint of sadness. She tried to make the best of it, she added.
'My husband was ecstatic when he heard (we) won the seat.
'He wanted to thank the voters for all the support, but unfortunately, he couldn't,' she said.
She said her husband had lost so much weight, he is now 'half his size'.
'We're not allowed to give him food. He eats the canteen food at the detention centre.
'The detainees would usually eat fried rice or porridge with salted fish or century egg for lunch.
'When it comes to dinner, they would rather go hungry because they do not have the appetite to eat.'
Madam Pushpaneela herself was kept trim by the punishing pace during the polls.
WORK AND POLITICS
She now divides her week by manning the legal firm and spending a couple of days and the weekend in Klang meeting the constituents.
This is in addition to minding their four children, including the youngest, 9, who is constantly asking 'if daddy was coming home soon'.
How does she cope?
'The people's support gives me courage and strength,' Madam Pushpaneela said, revealing that public donations of about RM$50,000 ($21,800) had helped her through the political campaign period.
'Without them, I would not have been able to do it.'
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