If 400 outstation voters, or one per cent of the voter turn-out, had returned to Teluk Intan to vote, Dyana Sofya would today be the MP for Teluk Intan

If 400 outstation voters, or one per cent of the 40,236 voter-turnout in the Teluk Intan by-election (66.7%) yesterday, had returned to Teluk Intan to vote, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud would today be the Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan.

Or if the Teluk Intan by-election polling had been held today, a Sunday, which would enable more outstation voters to make the journey back to Teluk Intan to vote, the result would have been very different.

But these are all water under the bridge.

We must learn from the lessons of the by-election and move on.

I congratulate Datuk Mah Siew Keong as the new MP for Teluk Intan.

The 12-day Teluk Intan by-election had been a titanic struggle between the new politics of the future vs the old politics of the past, the politics of Malaysia based on justice, freedom, accountability and good governance versus the politics of race.

As symbolized by the Teluk Intan by-election battle, a new Malaysia where all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, are inspired by a common Malaysian Dream of harmony, justice, freedom, excellence and greatness, is struggling to be born after more than five decades of nation-building.

This is why Dyana’s candidature and the Teluk Intan by-election have captured the imagination of Malaysians faraway from Teluk Intan, all over in Malaysia as well as internationally among the Malaysian Diaspora in the world.

Dyana may have lost as a parliamentary candidate in the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31, but what is finally most important is for her representing the New Malaysia to win the battle for tomorrow in taking the first important step to move and inspire Malaysians towards the new politics of inclusivity of all Malaysians to replace the politics of compartmentalization of race.

The struggle to achieve the Malaysian Dream resumed from yesterday!