BN Giving DAP A Good Run For The Money In Kota Sentosa

KUCHING, April 12 (Bernama) -- Although the election focus to garner the Chinese votes has been largely centred around the Kuching city, the tug-of-war for the Kota Sentosa state seat is no less intense.
Three days before the 10th state election on Saturday, the fight here is getting intensified.
The seat is seeing a straight fight between incumbent Chong Chieng Jien of DAP and Barisan Nasional's (BN) candidate Datuk Alfred Yap Chin Loi, who is attempting on a comeback. Yap is also the only SUPP candidate among those who lost in 2006 to contest in this election.
Both are heavyweights in their respective party. One is the SUPP Publicity and Information Secretary while the other is the DAP state secretary.
Many voters feel that Yap, the former Assistant Minister of Urban Development, will give Chong a good run for his money.
"The fight for this seat is definitely going to be very close and very hot, although it's not one of the prime seats under focus.
"But we'll wait and see how the rival parties can arouse the voters' sentiment to their benefit ultimately," an elderly voter surnamed Chai told Bernama when met at 7th Mile Bazaar, near here.
He also pointed out that although the boyish looking, ever smiling Chong is a popular figure here, Yap is also known and seen to be making significant inroads here after his defeat in 2006.
Meanwhile, a fruit hawker, Alice Chai, said that as much as she wanted to cast her vote for the BN, she also wants her YB to be a person who is bold enough to speak up and fight for the people's rights.
"They are both good candidates. One is vocal but the pace of improvement he brings is slow because most of the things he brought up fell on deaf ears.
"Another belongs to the government, where the money for development is. But his power is also limited. He can't do much," she said.
She also described Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's visit to the area last week as a strong indication that Kota Sentosa is a very critical seat.
The thriving sub-urban township is a new constituency only created in 2006 following a delineation exercise.
According to the Election Commission, a total of 27,301 registered voters in Kota Sentosa are eligible to vote this time. More than 70 per cent of the electorate are Chinese, followed by Malay/Melanau, Iban dan Bidayuh which make up about 23 per cent of the electorate.
In the 2006 election, Chong defeated Yap with a majority of 531 votes, the thinnest margin among all the five BN-DAP contested seats in Kuching.
The voter turnout at that time was also the highest among the five seats at 68 per cent.
A SUPP supporter in Kota Sentosa, Wilfred Yap also told Bernama that he was very optimistic of the BN chances in this seat, this election.
He described Yap as one of the most diligent and overworked assistant ministers before 2006, adding that with his experience, he would be the best candidate for this area.
He said as the election machinery is going into overdrive, it is not taking chances to leave any stone unturned.
"We have been doing pretty well. From the campaign trail and even when we started our ground work and extended our service to the people way before the election, we could see that the support for us (BN) is growing," he said.

tunku : from my observation supp can wrest back pending , kota sentosa and padungan seats if they put full efforts and work round the clock.so do batu kawa and batu lintang seats, BN can win there. dap had done nothing in this area rather than talking and giving ceramah. all the development there is by BN not dap. supp look changed now and we hope that they party will have new president soon.