Dr Teo beats Ting for the second time with bigger majority

MIRI: It was sweet victory for Dr Michael Teo who beat BN candidate Datuk Sebastian Ting for the second time for the Miri seat with a majority of 13,663 votes last night.

Dr Teo, who is also the PKR Miri chairman, polled 35,739 votes while Ting garnered 22,076 votes out of the total number of registered voters at 80,386.

There were 513 spoilt votes and 111 unreturned ballot papers. Voter turnout was about 70 per cent.

Returning officer Frederick Morshidi announced the official result for the Miri parliamentary seat at 9.45pm at the Miri Civic Centre.

In the 2013 general election, Dr Teo defeated Ting by 1,992vote majority, obtaining 26,909 votes while Ting garnered 24,917 votes.

Dr Teo waited for the announcement with his wife Diana Yeoh, his son and daughterin-law, as well as DAP Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon, DAP Sarawak secretary Alan Ling Sie Kiong and his supporters.

Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Dr Teo said he had expected a big majority and said he was able to retain the seat due to the “Dayak tsunami”.

“We have been preparing for this the last two years and this is exactly how we expected the result to be. This is the Dayak Tsunami,” he said.

He said he had been getting close to the local Dayak community by attending their events and by showing up at funerals to show his sympathy and share their grief.

For Angkatan Muda Keadilan Miri chief Steve Teo, Dr Teo’s win not only represents ‘tsunami of the rakyat’ and ‘Malay tsunami ‘ but also tsunami of Malaysians who are staying abroad.

“I feel really touched by this win as it means a systematic change for us. Although we can cherish this win today after this we have to start working very hard. We have a lot of policies that we would like to implement.

“This includes abolishing the GST, creating more job opportunities for our younger generation and imposing a special system to protect the women,” he said.

After the triumphant win, Dr Teo was greeted with cheers as he walked out of the Miri Civic Centre

“I would like to thank the police, Election Commission and the media, but most importantly our supporters who helped to make this possible,” he said.