She was only 18 when she began getting involved and making
rounds campaigning hard for justice. When she went all over the country canvassing for votes in the 1999 elections. She
addressed mass gatherings organised by the reform movement and political
parties. She spoke eloquently to clusters of kampung folk. We met her under a
kampung house where over 100 people were gathered to hear her campaigning briefly
for the alternative candidates. She had the charisma of her father and showed
firm determination from her speech. She moved about through the people greeting
everyone up close, showing warmth and great
character. She had the makings of a politician with great potential in her.
Nurul Izzah is the eldest
daughter to former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, and
President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. For this reason, and
for many other reasons too, she is fondly known as Puteri Reformasi to Reformasi
supporters.
Nurul Izzah Binti Anwar was born
on 19th November 1980. She is the eldest child of six; an exemplary elder
sister to Nurul Nuha, Mohd. Ehsan, Nurul Ilham, Nurul Iman and Nurul Hana. Her children
are Nur Safiyah and Harith. Nurul Izzah attended her secondary education at
Assunta Girl’s Secondary School and passed her
SPM exams with flying colours. She was a first year student of Chemical
Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in 1998 when her father,
then the DPM, was sacked by the Prime Minister.
That incident was definitely the turning-point in her life. From just being a straight
forward university student, she was hurled unprepared into the country’s turbulent political arena. And from there, she grew and
became a full blown politician.
She put her studies on hold to
fight for her father’s freedom and the growing reform
movement. She then continued studies at Universiti Tenaga Nasional, where she
obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Electric and
Electronic Engineering in 2004. She pursued her studies at the well-renowned
John Hopkins University in the United States and a Master’s Degree in
International Relations in 2006. She received a special mention for the HSBC
Young IT Entrepreneurship Award for Best business proposal in 2004.
Nurul Izzah Binti Anwar is a politician
bred from the grassroots of society, trained and groomed by the hardships and
struggles of a combatant, matured by the experiences of going through the
turmoils of real political life. At the tender age of 18–
she started of when she was unexpectedly thrown into the battlefield as her
father was wickedly captured and imprisoned for politically-motivated reasons.
She stopped her studies at Universiti Teknologi Petronas to fight for her father’s rights and justice.
She campaigned alongside the coalition
of opposition political parties and various NGOs for the reform agenda. She
travelled all over the country, and also went abroad to gain support for her
victimized father. She met various foreign dignitaries and activists for the
purpose of her campaign.
At the young age of 27, she was a
parliamentary candidate for Lembah Pantai decisively defeating the incumbent
ruling party opponent. Her opponent was the ruling party’s woman’s wing
chairperson and senior minister.
Nurul Izzah Anwar defeated two
serving ministers. No wonder they dubbed her Puteri Reformasi.
The young ‘Puteri
Reformasi’ Nurul Izzah Anwar has got hard-earn
experiences learned from her direct involvement in the people’s struggle. She was born into politics from the grassroots.
May
she be successful in undergoing such difficult times, trials and tribulations
with the support of family and friends, with the help of all of us and above
all with trust in Allah always. With this true grit even if , Allah forbid, it takes
jailtime and imprisonment, through such an ordeal, she will truly rise above
the rest and inherit the mantle to carry
on leading the politics of idealism.
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