Dr Kelvin Yii – File photo
KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) defeat in the Tanjung Piai by-election yesterday is a good opportunity for the coalition to learn from their mistakes.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii admitted that the Tanjung Piai by-election was a “message” sent by the people there, and he felt that this was a good opportunity for the PH government to study what they have done since becoming the federal government.
“We accept the defeat in the Tanjung Piai by-election. For me, this is a good opportunity for the PH government to evaluate and review what we have done in these one-and-a-half years. We should learn from every mistake we have made and further improve on what we have done.
“I believe that the Tanjung Piai by-election was a message from the people, and I hope that our leaders (in PH) will hear the people’s voice. Even though this has been a lesson for PH, we shouldn’t give up or lose hope but instead push forward and ensure that we can improve and fulfill our promises we made in the five years mandated to us as federal government,” Dr Yii said when met by reporters before officiating a blood donation and Peka B40 programme at Kuching Sentral earlier today.
He also expressed his hope that despite losing the Tanjung Piai by-election, the PH government and its leaders would continue to ensure that the initiatives set up by them would reach the people.
“In these one-and-a-half years, we have done quite a lot; a lot of institutional reformations and good initiatives that have not been carried out before such as Peka B40. But we need to continue to go down to the ground and ensure that these initiatives reach the people and truly benefit the people, regardless of race, age or socio-economic status.
“There have been sentiments about the PH government not fulfilling some of the promises we have made, but not all of the promises can be settled in a few years, but we will do our best to fulfill as many as possible in the five years that have been mandated to us. There have been a lot of promises fulfilled, but there are also a lot of promises that we need to work harder to fulfill,” Dr Yii said.
When prompted for his opinion on how the Tanjung Piai by-election results would affect the coming state election, Dr Yii said that it was “too early to predict”.
“It’s still too early to predict for the state election. By-elections are usually used by the voters to send a message, so the stakes for state election are different. Because now there is a possibility to change the state government, but we must not take it easy.
“This (Tanjung Piai by-election) is an lesson and example for the PH government to work hard and ensure that Sarawak is not left behind in the developments that we plan to bring and that the initiatives introduced by PH can be enjoyed by Sarawakians regardless of race, age or socio-economic status,” Dr Yii said.
Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) candidate under Barisan Nasional (BN) Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck won the six-cornered by-election with a 15,086-vote majority last night.
The former two-term Tanjung Piai MP polled 25,466 votes against the 10,380 garnered by his closest contender Karmaine Sardini of PH.
Four other candidates lost their deposits for securing less than one-eights, or 12.5 per cent, of the total votes.