Lee, who is the Perak DAP treasurer, was elected to the state seat of Pasir Pinji in 2018. He is now contesting the Ipoh Timur parliamentary seat, which has been held by DAP since 2004.
Despite being in the opposition, “we harnessed the strength and cooperation of welfare groups and the community” to help those in need during the days of the Covid-19 lockdowns, he said.
“During the MCO period, we were literally delivering packets of food to the homes of people in need, rather than placing them at a specific location for them to pick up as this would have increased their risk of infection,” he told FMT.
He had also managed to set up a mobile vaccination centre, the only one of its kind, for his constituents.
“Being in opposition, that felt like a tall order, it felt like nothing less than impossible. Why on earth would the government want to give this dude from the opposition the licence to operate a PPV?
“But somehow we made it happen because we were tapping into relationships we had with the civil service. Impossible it was but we still delivered,” he said.
If elected as MP for Ipoh Timur, Lee plans to reverse the brain drain through “human-centric policies” to help young people to remain in the area.
“I often joke that the biggest and most valuable export from Perak is its talent and youth. You will find Perakians in Taiwan, the US and London doing really well, but why are we not bringing them back here?
“Because there aren’t enough incentives and the ecosystem is not conducive for them to build their careers and lives here,” he said.
Lee said he was committed to making Ipoh the best place for anyone, not just the youth, to live, work and play.
He said Perak has an ageing population, the huighest in Malaysia, and there was a need for initiatives like care allowances and care facilities.
“It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs, through human-centric policy interventions that need to be done now,” he said. “When you have jobs, you have a bigger and wider economic cake, it becomes this gravitational point for people to come back.”
On Nov 19, Lee will face Ng Kai Cheong (Barisan Nasional) and Nor Afzainizam Salleh (Perikatan Nasional) for the Ipoh Timur parliamentary seat.