GE15: without MP for two years, is Batu Sapi ready for DAP’s dark horse?

SANDAKAN – The Batu Sapi constituency has been without an MP for over two years following the death of Warisan’s Datuk Liew Vui Keong in October 2020. 

The constituency’s folk went through the pandemic without a representative in Parliament. Funds and the distribution of food baskets were handled by the Community Development Leader Unit, while its two state assemblymen George Hiew (Karamunting) and Alias Sani (Sekong) took over many tasks, taking care of the welfare of the people here.  

Like most seats in Sabah, the three main contenders in Batu Sapi this election are Warisan (Alias), DAP (new candidate Liau Fui Fui), and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) (Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan from Bersatu).

Other candidates are Pejuang’s Boni Yusuf Abdullah @ Narseso P. Juanico, and independent Othman Ahmad. 

Batu Sapi is a tough seat to predict. It is possible that Liau could become the dark horse between Alias and Firdaus and win Batu Sapi.

While it may appear that Warisan, which has two state seats in Batu Sapi, has the upper hand, it is not contesting the seat with DAP in support by its side like it did previously.

Liau has had limited time to serve in Batu Sapi but is still a familiar face here, being born and raised in Batu Sapi. But DAP might only be able to secure the Chinese voters, whose population ratio has dwindled to only 27.9% according to the latest data. 

On the other hand, Warisan’s Muslim supporters, who are mainly Bajau and Suluk, might be split with the GRS candidate this time. 

So, it might all come down to Alias, if he had done enough during his time as assemblyman in Batu Sapi since the Sabah election of 2020.  

Locals are familiar with Alias, who has been active in serving the people even before he was in politics. His approachability might serve as a winning point for him. 

Recently, however, there has been a growing number of local leaders coming out to speak against Alias. 

On November 9, Warisan’s Karamunting Chinese affairs coordinator David Fong Vun Fui announced his immediate resignation from the party and all posts, saying that Alias has not done enough for the people in Sekong.  

Fong said he is throwing his support behind GRS’ Batu Sapi candidate Firdaus instead, hoping to bring Chinese support for GRS in Batu Sapi.  

Former Sabah Amanah chairman, Hamzah Abdullah, a seven-time election candidate, also said Alias had failed to take care of the welfare of Sekong’s residents.  

Batu Sapi has 43,916 voters, with most of them from the lower-income group comprising fishermen, factory workers, or small business owners. The area that used to thrive with happening businesses in the late 1980s is now left with mostly abandoned buildings.  

The people want major improvements in the economy and employment opportunities.

GRS candidate gets boost from Sabah CM

According to a local community activist, Azlani Rayqiezan, Alias had started to lose support in Batu Sapi because he had failed to bring the locals’ pressing issues to the attention of the government.  

Among them, he alleged, Alias failed to address the issue of Taman Mawar Market’s faulty facilities and setting up streetlights along Jalan Sibuga Bypass.  

He also said that the fire victims of Kg Gas have been living in container homes for four years, and the issue has still not been resolved.  

“The people might need to consider giving a chance to Firdaus. At least, he is from the Sabah government (GRS-Bersatu) and he might be able to develop Batu Sapi,” he said.  

However, Alias’s campaigns are drawing significantly larger crowds than the other candidates. 

Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has not even campaigned in his own seat Semporna, but has gone to Batu Sapi twice during the campaign period.  

This includes the time Firdaus’s father made a scene in front of Shafie.  

On the other hand, while Firdaus’s campaign appears steady, he may struggle to get the support of Chinese voters in the seat.

During one campaign which targeted the Chinese residential area, Taman Mawar, Firdaus attempted to speak a sentence of Mandarin and later invited his mother, a Chinese, on stage to plead support for him in Hakka.

Yesterday, GRS chairman cum Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor came to Batu Sapi to support Firdaus.

Hajiji asked the people in Batu Sapi to give Firdaus a chance and said Firdaus will be able to bring the people’s voices to his attention. – The Vibes, November 17, 2022