Uphill battle for Batu Lintang incumbent to shed 'frog' label

 

SARAWAK POLLS | In the southern part of Kuching city lies the affluent Batu Lintang state assembly constituency, which has been an opposition ward since 2006.

However, this time around, the choices for constituents, the majority of them Chinese Malaysians, are less clear.

There are four opposition candidates to choose from, and one of them is incumbent See Chee How, who recently joined a new party.

At a coffee shop in Tabuan Jaya, retiree Rocky Chan, 64, expressed his disappointment and accused his two-term assemblyperson of defecting from Pakatan Harapan.

“We voted for him (See), but suddenly he jumped to another party without telling me!

“He is a good person, but I don’t know much about his new party. This is like old wine in new wineskins. What if we vote for him, and he suddenly jumps again?

“We call him a frog. His principles are just not the same anymore. In life, we need to have principles,” Chan told Malaysiakini as others in the shop nodded in agreement.

See Chee How's campaign billboard

See was formerly the Sarawak PKR vice-chairperson. He was sacked from the party in April 2020, in the aftermath of the “Sheraton Move” two months earlier. In May 2020, he joined Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).

This nuance between being sacked and defecting does not appear to register with Liew, who owns a hairdressing salon in the Tabuan Jaya town centre.

He, too, regards See as a “frog” and is adamant that he will not be voting for See the third time.

“Those who jump parties will lose. People don’t like them. He jumped like a frog.

“I voted for him twice but not anymore. There will not be a third time. Because he jumped,” Liew told Malaysiakini.

Shops and stalls in Tabuan Jaya

The ox’s third try

See’s chief opponent, Sih Hua Tong of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)-Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp), is widely regarded.

Unlike See, Sih has intentionally portrayed himself as a quadruped.

His campaign materials often feature a caricature of an ox ploughing the field.

One billboard bears the slogan: “With a furrowed brow I cooly defy those who point fingers at me, I bow my head like an ox”.

Sih Hua Tong's campaign billboard featuring a caricature of an ox ploughing the field

Voters see it as a symbol of Sih’s hardworking nature and persistence, as he had contested and lost in Batu Lintang in 2011 and 2016.

Sih’s campaign also projects him as a person who has performed welfare work in the constituency over the past decade, despite not being an elected representative.

Liew said he was considering voting for Sih since the latter has been actively aiding locals over the years.

Met after his nomination, soft-spoken Sih expressed with a quiet confidence that voters know him for his “track record”.

“I think this time (the voters will finally) see what I can do. Regardless of whether I win or lose, I believe in what I’m doing.

“It doesn’t matter that the mandate was not given to me for the past two times,” he said.

Sih Hua Tong at the Batu Lintang nomination centre on nomination day

See: Voters know I’m no frog

As for See, his message to voters was that he did not betray his mandate because he was sacked from PKR.

That incident, said See, showed why he preferred to join PSB because it is independent of the dictates of parties in Kuala Lumpur.

See now has nine days left to get his message across and is relying on flyers and Facebook video clips as he’s unable to hold rallies due to campaign rules.

Asked about his progress in shaking off the “frog” label, See said he believes that his constituents know him well and are aware of his circumstances.

“The thing is, I did not jump. I was sacked by PKR and joined PSB,” he stressed.

When met after distributing a booklet about his achievements at a hawker centre, See said he saw the voters as more receptive to him for being part of a Sarawak-based party in this election.

“The sentiment is there. I think the voters expect more of a state-based party rather than put their expectations on a national-based party when it comes to state rights,” he said.

Batu Lintang sees a five-cornered fight in this election.

Aside from See and Sih, the other three contenders are 24-year-old law graduate and political novice Cherishe Ng (PKR), a former DAP leader and Batu Lintang assemblyperson Voon Lee Shan (Parti Bumi Kenyalang) and Sarawak independence activist Leong Shoaw Tung (Aspirasi). - Mkini

See Chee How speaking to voters in Tabuan Jaya