This is not really a book for serious readers. I would suggest you to start from the back page, take out the free DVD that comes with the book and watch it. While you watch the DVD, flip to page 108 to understand why the Seputeh MP is a lovable character. How can you not love this lady who does kung fu poses for her Chinese New Year greeting card and dresses up as a Chinese opera singer in another card.

Such is the colourful character of YB Teresa Kok that is projected in this book written by Roshan Jason. Roshan attempts to weigh and measure whether or not Teresa is a good politician.

The book is filled with colourful pictures of Teresa’s account through the years of working for the sake of public interest. The writer portrays her as a leading female politician, commanding the respect of many and awe of others.

As narrated in the book, Teresa has indeed come a long way from her early years in political activism. From joining Dr Kua Kia Soong’s campaign team during the elections in 1990; she subsequently became a member of the DAP and was appointed as the Political Secretary to the then Opposition Leader, Lim Kit Siang. Only five years later, she was already placed as a candidate for Ipoh Barat.

We get a glimpse at Teresa’s watershed political moments including her ISA detention, the fateful nude squat incident in 2005, and her appointment as Selangor State Senior Executive Councillor after securing the Seputeh seat for the third term in March 2008 with an astounding majority of 36, 492 votes.

Even a cursory glance through the book will make apparent the amount of hard work Teresa puts into serving her constituents. Democracy is not merely the number of votes nor the hoo haa of having your party flag declaring your ‘territory’ but more importantly is social activism and the passion to get involved with the matters that effect you, standing up for what is right and having your voice and opinion taken into account. Teresa has done this beautifully.

This article was published at The Rocket, June 2012