Influencer Cleopatra eyeing Batu parliamentary seat

PETALING JAYA: Social media influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharuddin (pic) is eyeing the Batu parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election.

Better known as Cleopatra, the influencer said she was unperturbed about competing against big names.

Nur Fathiah said that being an Independent candidate would allow her the liberty and privilege to speak out on what she truly believed in and be realistic about what she could achieve.

In the last general election, the PKR-endorsed Independent candidate P. Prabakaran won the seat with a majority of 24,438 votes, edging out Barisan Nasional’s Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai, PAS candidate Azhar Yahya and another Independent candidate Datuk VM Panjamothy. Prabakaran subsequently joined PKR.

Nur Fathiah, who is also a director for a defence and security company, said she had been interested in politics for some time.

Gender equality would be among the issues she would fight for, she added.

“I strive to see gender equality. There is nothing a man can do that a woman cannot. Women of today are on par with men in terms of capability and ability. I will work hard to ensure equal opportunities,” she said.

And should she win the seat, Nur Fathiah said her immediate plan would be to attend to community issues and problems affecting traders as well as look into commuter connectivity in the area.

Nur Fathiah added that other issues she would focus on include congestion issues near PPR flats and increasing economic activities.

Activist and lawyer Siti Kasim is also planning to contest in Batu.