Perumal determined to fight poverty
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MALACCA: Back in the 1950s, young R. Perumal had to divide his time between studies and herding livestock. Coming from a poor family in an estate in Selandar, he vowed to do his best to get his family out of poverty and the only way he knew was through his studies.
Perumal completed schooling and won a place at the University of Malaya, where he majored in Malay Studies. He became a teacher and rose to become a senior assistant.
Perumal, 56, is now the new Barisan Nasional candidate for the Asahan state seat in the Alor Gajah parliamentary constituency.
Having lived in Selandar since birth, Perumal, fondly known as “Cikgu” by the locals, said he never dreamed that he would become a politician. “It was by accident that I was pulled into politics by the late Datuk N. Arunasalam (former state MIC president who died in a road accident in Petaling Jaya on April 28, 1996).
“Now that I am a candidate for Asahan, I will see to it that the needs of the people in the constituency are looked into. “I came up the hard way and I know what the people need and I can relate to that.”
Perumal, the MIC state secretary for the past 11 years, said he wanted to empower the youth with knowledge to help them bring themselves out of poverty.Perumal will be up against Amdan Sudin of Pas.