KOTA KINABALU, April 27 — Jannie and Jenifer Lasimbang may be 12 years apart, but they are as close as sisters can be. For the 14th general election (GE14), the two siblings are about to become even closer as they embark on their maiden journey as political candidates, albeit in different parties.

Jenifer, the younger of the two, was the first to show an interest in politics and joined PKR in 2010, while Jannie joined DAP a year ago. However, Jannie was tipped as a candidate for the Kapayan seat as early as last year while indications that the younger Lasimbang would be a candidate for the Moyog seat came more recently.

Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal today announced that the decision to field Jenifer as a Warisan candidate was the result of a compromise between PKR and Warisan, as PKR had won both Moyog and Penampang in the last general election.

Jenifer said the decision to contest using Warisan’s logo was a "tactical move” by the two parties.

The sisters, who are contesting in adjacent state constituencies under the Penampang parliamentary seat, said that they would support each other’s journey.

Jannie is the fourth of 13 siblings, while Jenifer is the 11th. They also have one child each.

Jenifer, 44, has a background in Computer Science and was a university lecturer in engineering before she left to work as a consultant with Unicef Malaysia’s Partnership Development for Sabah and Sarawak.

"I’m very much involved in community work and children’s causes. I needed a bit of a break, and then politics came along. I’ve always been interested in politics but working with indigenous people and seeing the suffering has strengthened my resolve.

"My family has been supportive, including my older brother Philip, who is now retired from active politics. Jannie contacted me and said we should be campaigning together,” said Jenifer after the Warisan candidate announcement today.

Jannie Lasimbang is a former state Bersih 4.0 chairman. — Picture by Julia Chan

Philip was Moyog state assemblyman, which he won on an BN-Upko ticket in 2004 to 2008. He contested the seat again in 2013 but ironically, was defeated by rookie Terence Siambun, who was contesting on a PKR ticket but since then has joined Warisan.

Siambun was dropped as a candidate for GE14. Another Lasimbang brother, Adrian, was tipped to contest the interior area of Sook but the seat was lost during negotiations with Warisan.

Jannie, a former state Bersih 4.0 chairman, said it was a "funny” twist that she would now be contesting alongside her sister but welcomed the new development.

"I find it funny. It’s nice but we are getting ready to get targeted by critics. But our chief minister also has more siblings and family members… so it’s OK,” said the former Suhakam commissioner. 

"I didn’t expect this. We first heard a few months ago that she was a potential candidate for PKR. We’ve always worked together, like when she was with Unicef and I was with the Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia. We shared an office and our scope of work is similar in terms of working with native people,” she said.

But Jannie said that while their voters do overlap, with Donggongon town as their base, their constituencies have vastly differently needs.

"Hers is a largely rural area, and some villages like Terian and upper Moyog are only accessible by foot or through gravel roads. She will be doing a lot of walking, which is good, as she’s still young,” laughed Jannie.

Kapayan, however, is a suburban area with problems of housing, proper management and good governance, among others.

"We will be doing our own thing with our own programmes, but we can help each other out sometimes. I am looking forward to it,” she said.