JOTTINGS FROM SIBU.

In 2004 the late Robert Lau won by a majority of 3235. In 2006 Wong Ho Leng decreased his loss to 3235 despite PKR taking away 812 votes. This time around, it will be another 3 cornered tussle with an independent messing around.

Its a tough call, this by election. Unless DAP can garner 65 percent of the Chinese votes it will be a hard climb to the peak of success. But many things are possible and these will unfold itself during the campaign. But for a start DAP will have to face the 3Ms in Sibu - money, machinery and media manipulation. But Terrence Netto, Malaysiakini's columnist dismisses this threat:For this by-election, however, that formula may no longer be winning because of greater awareness by the people, via the internet principally, that the 'old politics' of the 3M type is passé.


It is perfectly OK to wear black here. I blended so well with our black-shirts in the background. Earlier I had approached one of the FRU guys and offered him a drink. He refused blankly and then I reached out to shake his hand. He refused until I asked him "Aren't we all Malaysians?" He offered me one of those "dead-fish handshake". He did winced when I grasped his hand firmly and placed the bottle of mineral water next to his feet.
It will not be an easy passage for SUPP's little Robert. For too long, his late cousin five- term MP for Sibu, would deploy all the power of his party's use of the '3M' formula – money, machinery and media manipulation – on the Bawang Assan and Nangka wards to offset the deficit in Chinese votes he was wont to incur in Pelawan to win the parliamentary seat. Malays, Melanaus and Ibans in Sibu have recognised that their piece of the cake is meagre compared to those hijacked by nepotism, cronyism and patronage. The younger generation is very well aware of this rampant neglect and their protest might be registered in this by-election. The Long House chieftains have been traditionally BN supporters and their decision was usually complied with by the whole community. Not so anymore, as the youngsters that have left home to seek better opportunities became aware of how they were exploited. These are the votes that DAP has to court and woo. It is not impossible. Will DAP focus on this? The next few days will tell.


The racial composition of the Sibu seat, with a Chinese majority in the state ward of Pelawan, an Iban majority in that of Bawang Assan, and a Malay/Melanau majority in Nangka, makes the division of campaign responsibility among the Pakatan partners straightforward

PKR should concentrate their campaign on the Iban in Bawang Assan with Pas focusing on Nangka while DAP can scour the two while bringing their big guns to bear on Pelawan where they have been the preferred choice of the Chinese voters there.

According to three Sarawak bloggers, Taib’s reputation was a tremendous liability among urban voters in 2006. These voters have enjoyed access to a broad range of media, including online news portals and widely-read Chinese newspapers. This led to the remarkable result of urban SUPP members voting en masse for the DAP, and against their own party’s candidates, allowing the DAP to clinch six urban seats and the PKR, one.

It may also explain why Taib is expected to take a back seat in the Sibu campaign. Nonetheless, his family’s fortune remains a potent campaign issue. But his money will flow SUPP's way....some easy agreement between two fathers-in-laws.


Whilst Robert Junior may not have the experience of his rival Richard Wong, his family's coffers may be opened for this battle for supremacy. According to past media repoets, the parents of both Roberts pioneered KTS trading, which is involved in multiple businesses throughout the country as well as abroad. The corporate activities range from logging, plantation, and fertiliser manufacturing, to sale of power saws, heavy machinery, air-conditioners, construction materials, garden tools, as well as bee farming, media and travel services.

The group, one of six major timber companies of Sarawak, also invests in Indonesia, China, Australia and Brazil in timber, plantations, construction and other businesses.

Recently KTS's tree plantation project in the Baram area of the northern Sarawak touched off a controversy when affected Penan communities staged a road blockade late last year. Lives were affected by such incursions into ancestral land rights, yet some stubbornly bow down to crumbs wiped off the high table. Intriguing?

BN/SUPP has the money and they will vent power-money unscrupulously. Pakatan Rakyat cut corners in every department. It was edifying to meet DAP's Tengku Aziz (on my left) walk down from the storyed RM35 a day budget hotel we were housed in. At first I thought that he had come to visit someone. "No, I am staying here, Bernard!" He had been out the whole day visiting the Malay kampongs and had just freshened up to go to another walkabout.
As I greeted and gave him a hand to move up YB LKS said, "So they could not prevent you from coming to Sibu? (he had heard about our delay in LCCT) It is going to be a tough fight, Zorro." "Then the tough must get going." I had to volunteer.

Yes, admittedly it will be a steep climb. They say that the higher you are the harder you fall. And going downhill is always more dangerous than climbing uphill. Is SUPP free-falling downhill?

We know that the main portions of Sibu are built on peat swamp. Often there's the problem of sinking ground. The situation can get worst as new construction takes place without proper planning or shortcuts taken due to corruption.

Reports have it that residents of the low lying areas are experiencing more frequent floods year by year. Promises for better drainage remain as promises. A bund system along the river bank following the Dutch model has been proposed for several years.

However, as time passes, the mighty Rajang continues to be silted up by indiscriminate logging activities upstream. With the impoundment of the Bakun Dam, more uncertainties can be expected soon. The patience of Sibu people is running out.

Common sense says that upstream management and excavation of riverbed sand would be a better solution.

It is rather hard for little Robert to convince the people that he can solve the problems that his senior could not.

Back to the uphill climb. It is challenging and from the scenes below on Nomination Day, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition will face this uphill task and not succumb to "altitude sickness". Win or lose, their attitude says, we will give them a good fight,the same fitting words that YB Lim Kit Siang said to me when he invited me and Fauzi to come to Sibu.

ALL PHOTO CREDITS TO FAUZI