Pulling out the big guns
Lim brought in to drum up support for Wong’s campaign
SANDAKAN: It’s been a lacklustre campaign from all sides so far and DAP has brought in veteran Lim Kit Siang to shore up support for Vivian Wong.
The Iskandar Puteri MP pointed out that Wong, 30, could make history by being the youngest Malaysian woman parliamentarian and called on Sandakan voters to make this a reality.
“Sandakan people must make history by voting in the youngest ever woman MP to Parliament,” said the 78-year-old politician, who himself entered Parliament at the age of 28, during a ceramah.
He has been on walkabouts and attending ceramah across the Sabah east coast constituency since Tuesday.
While Lim and Wong were warmly received by older folks at the traditional water village of Kampung Sim Sim, ceramah crowds in both Chinese and Muslim bumiputra areas had been poor.
There were hardly 100 people, with many more empty chairs, when Lim spoke during a gathering at the predominantly Muslim bumiputra area. This is a far cry from the huge turnouts Lim drew in the past.
Honing in on Wong’s youth against her main Parti Bersatu Sabah rival Datuk Linda Tsen, 63, Lim said it was important for the younger generation to bring changes.
Other DAP heavyweights backing Wong’s campaign, amid signs of voter disquiet over undelivered promises since the 14th General Election, include Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok along with Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
Kok drew light on steps taken by the Federal Government to address oil palm issues with the restive and influential local planter lobby while Yeo headed to Berhala island on a clean-up campaign at the Bajau fishing village.
Wong also expressed her gratitude at having her party colleagues campaign to boost her chances of winning the seat left vacant following the sudden death of her father Datuk Stephen Wong Tien Fatt on March 28.
In a post on her Facebook page she shared a picture of a visibly tired Lim, dozing off next to her, presumably after a long day of walkabouts and campaigning.
Her caption read, “Thank you for making multiple trips for me even with the tight schedule you have.
“Thank you for fighting with us. Most of all, thank you for believing in me,” said Wong.
As the campaign entered its fifth day Tsen, a former two-term MP for neighbouring Batu Sapi, continued her low-key approach which includes walkabouts to markets and housing estates.
The five-cornered race also includes independent candidate Hamzah Abdullah.
Two other independents, Chia Siew Yung and Sulaiman Samat, also went on walkabouts to meet voters, as people came out with their families for the May Day holiday.