Yussibnosh Balo
MUKAH: Yussibnosh Balo, the assemblyman of Balingian revealed that Chief Minister Datuk Patiggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem has informed him the during the last State Legislative Assembly sitting in April that he would be defending his seat in the coming state election.
“He told me to stay put in Balingian to continue serving the people here,” Yussibnosh told BAT V here on Wednesday.
He said this when asked whether he would be offered the new Tellian seat where he is a registered voter if the constituency was gazetted in time for the next polls.
Yussibnosh, a former District Officer, won the seat in the by-election held in March last year after its former assemblyman Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud resigned mid-term to take up his new post as Head of State.
Since then he has gained the trust and support through his simple and sincere efforts to help the people.
“I am a simple person.
I do not want to have too much formality even now as a YB,” he said, smiling broadly.
And since he was elected, he had visited almost all his constituents including 40 of the 62 Iban longhouses in Balingian constituency.
“I would normally bring my wife Elizabeth Nelson along as she is an Iban.
And it was one of their requests before that they wanted me to bring her along if I won the by-election,” he stressed.
When asked how he divides his time between serving his constituents and his family, Yussibnosh said every month, he would normally spend two weeks with his family in Kuching and the remaining two weeks serving his people.
“It’s not easy and very challenging but I have to shoulder the responsibility as I have been elected by the people to serve them.
And at the same time I have to spend quality time with my family in Kuching especially to ensure that my children’s education is taken care of,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yussibnosh was optimistic that he could defend his seat in the coming election as there was a mood swing among voters here especially those who have supported the opposition in the past.
“There is a mood swing among the voters here to be with us in the BN especially among the Chinese and some of those how have supported the opposition in the past.
“And I have been assisting the Chinese community here to renew the probates of their properties, such as their shophouses, as many of them are quite ignorant about it,” he said.
Yussibnosh won the by-election against a PKR candidate Abdul Jalil Bujang with a huge majority of 6,911 voters.