SEREMBAN: Parti Sosialis Malaysia's sole candidate for the Negri Sembilan polls S. Tinagaran has publicly declared his assets and challenged contenders for the 36 seats in the Aug 1 election to do the same.
Popularly known as Cikgu Tina, the Rahang constituency candidate made a statutory declaration which he will upload to social media for public scrutiny.
"My assets include a single-storey, low-cost terrace house purchased with my wife in 2010, currently valued at RM180,000, and a 2019 Japanese car worth approximately RM25,000.
"I also hold just one bank account, which contains RM1,600 in savings," he claimed, adding that he did not have any other assets including fixed deposits.
Cikgu Tina said both his wife and he ran a tuition centre and, after deducting relevant expenses, took home about RM6,000 a month.
Of the amount, RM1,350 goes to service their housing loan, RM700 for a car loan, RM850 for monthly utility bills, RM1,000 for their three children and RM200 for his mother.
He said the housing and car loans were under his wife's name.
He expressed hope that other candidates would also declare their assets for transparency purposes.
"The public should know what you own before you are elected and not after. This is a matter of integrity and trust," he said.
Tinagaran also pledged to fight racism in Malaysia and said party struggles continued to be anchored in fighting for the working class rather than being based on skin colour and ethnicity.
He pledged to refrain from using racial undertones in all election campaign activities that could discriminate against or incite hatred towards another race or migrant communities.
In the Aug 1 election, Tinagaran will face Pakatan Harapan incumbent Siau Meow Kong, Barisan Nasional's Yap Siok Moy and Bersatu's Tang Jay Son.
In the August 2023 state election, Siau won the seat in a straight fight against Perikatan Nasional's Lee Boon Shian with a 6,432-vote majority.
There are 19,715 voters in the constituency.
