I’m not using my beauty to fish for votes, says Rampas
TUARAN: Jo Anna Henley Rampas, 29, may be a former beauty queen, but she neither wants nor hopes to woo voters by her looks.
The Parti Warisan Sabah candidate for the Kiulu state seat is a well-educated woman who comes from a long line of local leaders.
The Unduk Ngadau for the 2007 Kaamatan Festival was the focus of many, reporters and members of the public after the nomination process at Dewan Sri Sulaman here yesterday.
“I am not using my beauty to fish for votes,” she said reporters made a beeline for her.
Jo Anna will face Parti Bersatu Sabah’s Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who is defending the seat for Barisan Nasional, Terence Sinti of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku and Parti Cinta Sabah’s Gaibin Ransoi.
She is not fazed by the tough competition.
“My grandfather on my mother’s side was a community leader in Kiulu at one time, and my uncle, Louis Rampas, was a former assemblyman here for three terms.
“My mother stood as a BN candidate here in 1994.
“So, perhaps this is one of the reasons I decided to get into politics,” she told the New Straits Times Press.
Jo Anna, who is of BritishDusun parentage, was born in Kota Kinabalu and raised by her grandmother in Kampung Poturidong, Kiulu, until she was 9.
She said, if chosen, she intended to work to increase the earnings of rubber tappers and fight for land grant issues in Kiulu.
Joniston said an elected representative should be appraised based on his efforts to help the people, and not by his looks.
“As a true son of Kiulu, I understand the problems and the needs of the people here, especially since I come from a family that was not well off and used to tap rubber, plant padi and walk a long way to school.”