Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh
SIBU: Direct BN candidate for Bawang Assan Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh retained the seat with a bigger majority of 4,131 votes.
Speaking at a press conference, an elated Wong extended his thanks to supporters and attributed his victory to the feel-good factor and personal popularity of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
“I feel happy that I have been re-elected wakil rakyat (people’s representative) to represent Bawang Assan and I would like to thank all the voters in my constituency who gave me full support to enable me to get elected. I am sure throughout Sarawak, Tan Sri Adenan’s personal popularity had enabled the swing of the political pendulum to Barisan Nasional (BN),” he said.
Wong disclosed they had been working very hard to tell the Chinese community that it was about time that they stay united and have a greater representation in the BN government. For the first time, Wong said, he received the majority support from the Chinese community, for which he was very grateful.
“This is something which I feel proud of. In fact, all throughout my political career and more often than not, my Chinese support was less than 50 per cent. This time and for the first time, I got the majority support from the Chinese community.”
Wong also expressed his gratitude to the Bumiputra communities who continued to lend him strong support “to enable me to work with them to bring development to my constituency.”
He garnered 9,015 votes while DAP candidate Stanley Chiew secured 4,884 votes.
STAR candidate Wong Sing Wei obtained 100 votes while the two independent candidates Watson Bangau and Yeu Bang Keng or Beng Kor chalked up 569 votes and 63 votes respectively. All the three lost their deposit.
Total votes cast were 14,801 (80.7 per cent). The constituency has 18,340 registered voters. There were 149 spoilt votes with 21 ballot papers unreturned.
Wong described the election as his toughest battle as he had to face a five-cornered fight.
On direct BN candidate for Dudong Datuk Tiong Thai King’s victory, Wong said Tiong had been fighting an uphill battle.
“Independent candidate Dato Sri Benny Lee was giving him a tough time and also the DAP candidate and of course, he had to face it. In the end, he won and at least, I will have a partner in Sibu working hand in hand to bring development to Sibu.”
On a lighter note, Wong said it was coincidental that the 4,131-vote majority was his new car plate number.
“In the 2011 election, I won with 1,808-vote majority and it was also my car plate number. That is interesting and very coincidental.”
Meanwhile, Chiew, when interviewed, said he would continue to serve the people of Bawang Assan despite losing in the battle.
“The loss is not going to stop me from doing my job to serve the people.”