The Umno information chief took pride in his mixed parentage and wished to show people that BN was a coalition for all Malaysians.

“I come from a mixed-race family myself. My mother is Chinese, my father is Malay. My extended family members have different religions.

“So I’m used to the diversity. It’s in my DNA,” he told FMT, when asked how he planned to garner the support of voters in Alor Gajah.

According to data from the Election Commission (EC), 30% of the voters in the constituency are non-Malays and they are said to be inclined to support Pakatan Harapan.

Shahril is facing Redzuan Yusof of Perikatan Nasional (PN), who won the seat in the 2018 general election (GE14) on a Pakatan Harapan (PH) ticket, former Melaka chief minister Adly Zahari (PH), and Nazriq Abdul Rahman (Pejuang).

“I know it will be a tough fight, but I’m an Umno Youth member and I don’t expect to be given red carpet treatment or an easy seat,” he said.

Shahril also said he would not make the mistake of thinking BN’s win in all five state seats in Alor Gajah at the Melaka state polls last November reflected the coalition’s true strength in the constituency.

The five seats are Rembia, which BN won with a majority of 860 votes, Gadek (559), Machap Jaya (938), Durian Tunggal (559), and Asahan (2,993).

He noted that in the state polls voter turnout was low and there were no two “giants” contesting, referring to Redzuan and Adly.

“We were still battling the Covid-19 pandemic and automatic voter registration was not implemented yet,” he said, adding that BN still has a lot of work to do to ensure its victory in GE15.

Shahril said his election campaign will focus on issues relating to wages, job opportunities, education, health, and agriculture, as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.