Told she was a candidate 30 minutes before deadline

Norlizah Gurahman

KUDAT: Norlizah Gurahman never thought of becoming an election candidate until 30 minutes before the closing of the nomination process last Saturday.

“I was having breakfast at home when I was called to be the candidate. My car was not available then, so I had to call a ride-hailing service.

“I was almost late for the nomination process but, thankfully, I made it and am now contesting the Tanjong Kapor state seat,” said the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Sabah candidate, who faces a five-cornered fight in the polls.

The 33-year-old entrepreneur said that although she was initially worried about the prospect of contesting, she had become confident of garnering votes with her house-to-house campaign.

“As someone who grew up in Kudat, I will touch on what the people here want from the next government.

“I would like to see the local economy stimulated, particularly the tourism sector, improvement in infrastructure and more assistance for the B40 group,” she said at the Kudat Sports Complex here.

Meanwhile, first-time voter Ken Lisad hopes that issues affecting Tanjung Simpang Mengayau would be resolved to spur tourism in the area.

The 26-year-old, who has been working with a dive company since 2014, said the roads leading to the dive site needed upgrading as tourists flocked to the area for leisure, sightseeing, diving and surfing.

“Poor Internet connection is also a problem when I liaise with guests. The people here also experience frequent blackouts and water supply disruptions.”

In the last general election, Parti Warisan Sabah’s Chong Chen Bin won the Tanjong Kapor seat with a majority of 2,992 votes.