Close battle for Chinese vote for BN and DAP in Sarikei

SARIKEI: This is true. Within the Chinese community, the most beautiful girls in Sarawak are said to be from Sarikei.

It is not exactly known why this is so but Chinese maidens in the district seem to be taller and have a fairer complexion.

Sarikei is also known as the “Fruit Basket of Sarawak”. The economy of the town is primarily agricultural, and Sarikei is famed for its pineapples and its pepper.

Away from the fairer sex and fruits, mention politics and SUPP and its former deputy president, Law Hieng Ding, come to mind.

Law, one of the earliest from the Foochow community to join SUPP, was the longest serving MP for Sarikei.

He was undefeated in the constituency for six consecutive terms from 1982 to 2008.

Along the way, he served at federal level as senator, parliamentary secretary, deputy minister and minister from 1976 to 2004.

Law was the longest serving MP for Sarikei

In SUPP history, Law holds the record for being the longest-serving MP and the longest serving science, technology and environment minister.

The minister was a hard-working parliamentarian and much of Sarikei’s development today was credited to his resolve and dedication to his job.

Law once told his SUPP members in Sarikei that he was able to get things done in Sarikei because he has a listening ear in Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was prime minister during Law’s 20 years in the federal cabinet.

But gone are the days when SUPP was unassailable in Sarikei.

Today, Sarikei is held by DAP’s Wong Ling Biu, who defeated Law’s successor and party colleague Ding Kuong Hiing in GE13.

After Law’s retirement in 2008, Ding only managed to scrape through with a razor-thin majority of only 51 votes in the 2008 election. In GE13, he lost by a mere 505 votes.

GE14 will be another “touch and go” case for both parties. The victor is not expected to obtain a majority of more than 1,000 votes, according to political observers.

SUPP is hoping for the Chinese vote to swing in its favour as seen in the 2016 state election when the party managed to win back the state seat of Meradong from DAP.

Meradong and Repok are the two state seats in the Sarikei constituency. Repok is still in the hands of DAP.

Thus, Sarikei is seen as the most “balanced” seat, with SUPP and DAP holding one state seat each.

The worry for SUPP is whether its breakaway group, United People’s Party (UPP), will play the spoiler role come GE14 by fielding a third candidate.

If that happens, you can expect DAP to retain Sarikei.

The constituency has an electorate of 36,550, 66% Chinese, 23% Dayak and 11% Malay.

Sarikei was established as the capital of the then Sixth Division of Sarawak in the 1970s due to the security threats posed by the communist insurgency, which was at its height at that time.

It was felt that with the establishment of a new Sarikei Division, the government would be able to concentrate and focus more in its efforts to contain and counter the security problem in the area. -FMT