DO you know who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is? I bet most of you don't.

Those who think that she is an underaged celebrity who got busted for drinking beers at night club, then you are wrong.

Factually, she is a young American female politician whose age is one year older than me— she is in her late 20s.

Dare to wrestle 'giants'.

If we used to have Nurul Izzah, the daughter to the former member of parliament for Permatang Pauh, as a young female politician who had twice beaten minister-level politicians in Lembah Pantai years ago, Americans had Ocasio-Cortez who did not just defeat an incumbent Congressman named Joe Crowley in the 14th congressional district of New York, but also win the US midterm election that made her a "young prolific politician" in today's US politics— she beat an economics professor from Republican with 110,318 votes.

Stand with guts

Locally, in a constituency named Parit Sulong, a lady of 52-year-old politician survived in the recent 14th general election that unseated her political coalition from the premiership that it had been holding for decades.

Despite winning with contracted numbers of majority, Dr. Noraini Ahmad, who is also the chairwoman of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, keeps loyally standing with the rest of her downsized MP colleagues in bolstering the spirit of "credible opposition."

Like Ocasio-Cortez, despite her unknown brand in the US politics previously, she won in the midterm election with big margin.

The 'influences' that Donald Trump has sowed throughout the globe do not demoralise her to be bravely standing in the brouhaha of the US politics.

Five years ago, there was a young female politician from DAP who got her guts bid against a senior politician from the then ruling coalition in a by-election. Even she didn't win it, she proved to the rest of the Malaysian young ladies that being a female politician does not just to "fill the vacant seats", but to proactively lead the society with fresh styles of leadership.

"Don't care what you say about me"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not really care what people say about her "aggressiveness" and political stances.

In a recent live interview, she said "zero" in her response to question of "How many *censored word* do you give?" to criticisms mouthed by her own party members against her 'brazen' action of participating a demonstration of climate change with a group of young demonstrators at the Minority Leader's office.

As she lived her political journey as a social activist, she believes that activism must not be wrongly seen as a provocative deed that could cause a demise in political unity of same party.

Dr. Noraini Ahmad can be the "lady in action" in UMNO and also the opposition to widely open more doors for young females who have what it takes to be a local version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

She might be severely condemned for calling on females to join politics, especially her party wing, but like Ocasio-Cortez, she just needs to let others talk to her hands.

Women that lead

Dr. Noraini's mandate in the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians should be emboldened with aspirations of creating bigger numbers of political leaders among young females who have potentials to be loud in crafting changes.

Like Ocasio-Cortez who was just inserted into the House Oversight Committee— a special committee that gauges the led-by-Trump government, Noraini will be an operative addition to the Public Account Committee (PAC) that she was newly filled in.

Malaysian elected female members of the House of Representatives should now be given bigger stage to dance. Their appearances in politics should not be underestimated with a cliche perception that women politicians can only lead or hold portfolios that relate to women affairs.

From my eyes, besides her charismatic political leadership, Ocasio-Cortez's indomitable self-built fort to criticisms and other forms of negativities puked to her that shapes her credibility to be a hopeful female leader for the future of the US.

Regardless of political sentiments, the New Malaysia needs more female political leaders who can be as great as male ones in moulding the betterment of our nation.

* The writer is a yuppie working in the cosmopolitan city of Kuala Lumpur. Writing is his passion.


** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.