I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT, SAYS WOMAN OF THE HOUR VIVIAN WONG – WHILE ANWAR & GUAN ENG GIVE THE THUMBS UP: ‘THIS SHOWS THE PEOPLE WANT A CLEAN GOVT’ – AND NOT AN OLDIES-SINGING ‘BOSSKU’ OR ‘DIRTY TACTICS’ UMNO

SANDAKAN — Jubilant and excited at her win, Vivian Wong Shir Yee said she never expected such a big win that would overtake her father’s unprecedented majority.

The 30-year-old impending Sandakan MP told reporters she was thankful to the people for giving her the opportunity to represent them, but Wong said that she was humbled by the big majority.

“I never expected to accumulate such a huge majority. I just tried my best and I was very surprised as well because I had additional voters to help me win,” she said referring to voters from Sim Sim and Berhala who had previously voted for Barisan Nasional.

Wong said she wanted to live up to the people’s expectations of her and her father’s legacy. The fact that her voters were also her father’s biggest supporters was not lost on her.

“They also hope that I could do as good a job as my father,” she said, adding that he had built a good foundation for DAP in Sabah which had the people’s trust.

The party had early declared themselves the winners after their unofficial results put them at more than half of the 54 per cent voter turnout, and ahead of their nearest rivals by more than 10,000 votes.

As of the time of interview, the official results had yet to be announced by the Election Commission.

Wong said she was tired and exhausted from the two weeks of campaigning.

“Actually I’m still fine probably because I’m still young. My seniors prepared me for the mental and physical stress of being an elected representative and I’m still learning to cope with it. Talking to the media makes me nervous but I have pulled through,” she added.

Anwar congratulates DAP over Sandakan win, but cautions Pakatan against complacency

KUALA LUMPUR— Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today congratulated DAP’s Vivian Wong for winning the Sandakan by-election, but said at the time Pakatan Harapan cannot afford to be complacent with this victory.

In a statement, Anwar said the win shows that people still believed in and supported PH.

But the PH leadership cannot feel comfortable with this win and on the other hand they must work hard to ensure that the economic conditions of the people are cared for on every level,” the PKR president said.

The Port Dickson MP said that PH leaders must also do their best to help Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in realising his “Shared Prosperity” economic model.

DAP’s Wong polled 16,012 votes, trumping her closest rival, Datuk Linda Tsen from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), who garnered 4,491 votes, according to unofficial vote counts.

Voters want a clean government, Guan Eng says after DAP’s Sandakan win

SANDAKAN— That Pakatan Harapan ended its losing streak in Sandakan today because the people believed in the collaboration between the state and federal government, and want a corruption-free government, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

He said that their victory was also due to effort and influence of chief minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal who had worked with the federal coalition and mobilised the voters to come out and vote.

“We won despite the low turnout, the lies, despite the dirty tactics and the presence of ‘Bossku’ — the people want a clean government,” he said, referring to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who came to stump for the opposition.

“This is the best birthday gift for our one year anniversary. The victory belongs to the people of Sandakan,” said Lim when speaking to reporters at the DAP office in Bandar Letat Jaya here.

Earlier the party declared themselves the winner after unofficial results puts their candidate Vivian Wong ahead by more than 50 per cent against a turnout of 54 per cent. At 8.30pm, DAP was ahead with 16,012 votes versus PBS’s Datuk Linda Tsen’s 4481.

“The campaign showed the solidarity of the Sabah government and federal government, also towards the coalition. This proves once again that only multi racial and religious coalition parties can govern Malaysia,” said Lim.

He said the party will work hard to give Sandakan what the people deserve, unlike in the past where only cronies benefited.

“The cooperation of all parties in this by election augurs well not just for this term but also the term after,” he said.

MALAY MAIL