Polls show Lau vs Lau will never happen yet opposition’s most popular candidate is a Lau
SIBU: Of DAP’s eight names announced last Sunday, new-face Alice Lau seems to be the favourite with voters interviewed in Bandar Sibu.The Borneo Post carried a survey since the Sunday announcement and a dozen people offered their choice of the eight.
Almost all of them pointed unanimously to the woman politician as their pick.
The question posed to them was: Who do you prefer from the list of eight to contest in Bandar Sibu, and why?
There are a few reasons for the preference, the most important of which is, the voters feel Sibu must brace for the “global wind of political change” as women begin to play a more prominent role.
“It is time we recognise women not only in the work place, but in the political arena as well,” most interviewees said.
They said too few women were active in Malaysian politics, and from the few in the parliament and the state assembly, they had played a commendable role.
In Sarawak, they said, the fine examples were the Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah and a few others, including even DAP’s Violet Yong.
Alice is the Sibu DAP women chief. She held similar role in Sibu United Chinese Association before her political involvement.
A daughter of a prominent businessman, Alice is a pharmacist and has been active in Toastmasters’ activities. This was where she polished her public speaking skills.
But most interviewed disagreed that state DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng should be fielded now.
The interviewees were also asked for their comments on lawyer Robert Lau Junior.
They said the lawyer, by virtue of his being a councillor with Sibu Municipal Council, had laid a solid political foundation none of the new faces in the DAP could compare.
But will the two Laus meet head-on in the coming battlefield? Most observers believe they will not.
“Alice will probably avoid it. The Lau clan will not want to see the two Laus fighting.
“Moreover, Alice’s father Datuk Lau Cheng Kiong is the chairman of Sarawak Pan Chen Lau Clan Association,” said a clan member.
The clan member mentioned a famous quotation from the ancient ‘Warring State’, “We are all from the same root, why should we kill each other?”