When Malacca DAP deputy chairperson Norhizam Hassan Baktee won the Pengkalan Batu state seat in the 14th general election, he finally achieved what his own father could not back in the 1980s.

Norhizam's father, Hassan Baktee Mohd, was a DAP member who contested twice for the seat previously known as Peringgit, at a time when Malay sentiment against the party was very high.

Even though he was raised under his father's strong DAP influence, his path in politics was not so clear-cut.

The 52-year-old was actually an Umno member in the Pantai Peringgit branch, even rising to become its deputy Youth chief at one point before leaving to join DAP in 2006.