GE15: Kota Kinabalu candidates have friendly Gaya Street encounters

KOTA KINABALU – Kota Kinabalu MP hopefuls took to the popular Gaya Street Sunday Fair market this morning as part of their campaign rounds, with opponents exchanging handshakes with each other as well as visitors.

The walkabouts had become a sort of ritual for Kota Kinabalu MP candidates for years due to the hundreds of visitors frequenting the weekend market from constituencies like Penampang, Kota Kinabalu, Sepanggar and Putatan.

Kota Kinabalu Warisan candidate Amanda Yeo was seen arriving first at Gaya Street, which was already packed with people from around 8am.

This was followed by KDM candidate Datuk Winston Liaw, Pakatan Harapan candidate and incumbent Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin, and finally, GRS-PBS candidate Yee Tsai Yiew.

It will be a five-way fight for the parliamentary seat.

Other than the four candidates mentioned above, Kota Kinabalu will also see controversial lawyer Marcel Jude trying to win the urban seat.

Local businessman Edward Chen, who never missed a fair visit over the years, said he had since seen hundreds of candidates visiting the fair.

But this time, he said he would vote for Yeo, who was the younger candidate, saying the time has come for a fresh face to represent the Kota Kinabalu constituency.

Chen also noted that the incumbent MP, Chan, was not around most of the time.

“It’s hard to get him,” he said while his friends who were having coffee with him nodded.

“I am a Kota Kinabalu voter. So, I know that this time we want Yeo to take Kota Kinabalu. Not only is she young, but she also holds a master’s degree. That alone shows something,” he told The Vibes when met at a nearby cafe.

As for the KDM candidate Liaw, Chen said he was not going to vote for him after what happened in Tenom.

KDM supporters started a riot in the rural district yesterday afternoon after KDM president Datuk Peter Anthony’s nomination papers were rejected by the Election Commission.

The 60-year-old Chen said the KDM leader was like a “loose cannon.”

Rosnah Abdullah, a housewife, said that while she was voting in Putatan, she was rooting for Warisan and knew the candidate would come by for a short walk.

A stall operator, who wanted to be identified only as Mr Chiew, said he would like to see young and smart individuals rise up in politics.

“I’d say we have to give them a chance. This is new. We are hoping to get a fresh face into the Dewan Rakyat. Especially those who do not have political baggage (problems),” he said. – The Vibes, November 6, 2022