KUCHING, April 25 — The state Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Sibu, Datuk Andrew Wong Kee Yew, today said he is relying on his track record as a former deputy chairman of the Sibu Municipal Council (MPC) to earn voters’ support.

“The voters are smart enough to make their own decision whether they are voting for my father or me and Barisan,” he said when asked if he had to rely on his famous father, Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, who is the state minister of e-commerce and international trade, to exert his influence on voters.

“I think they (voters) are smart enough to distinguish such a difference,” the 47-year-old Wong said when he spoke to reporters after receiving his letter of authorisation from state BN chairman Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg at Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) headquarters here.

He said he has done a lot in the education field by helping to set up a college in Sibu and has implemented many initiatives to improve Sibu town when he was the deputy chairman of the Sibu Municipal Council.

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Wong said many people in Sibu are judging him based on his track record and not that of his father’s.

“Anyway, my father has already indicated that the current term of the state assembly will be his last and that he will retire at the end of it so there is no point talking about the past, and we need to look forward to the future,” he said.

Wong said he has big plans for Sibu which he will implement if he is elected as the member of parliament (MP).

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“I have come up with the Rancangan Sibu 1 (RS1), a five-year development plan to transform Sibu and its rural areas in line with the chief minister’s vision of digital economy.

“We are focusing on e-commerce, agriculture and tourism,” he said.

Asked if he would get any cooperation from Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) members in his campaign to take back the Sibu seat from the state DAP, he said there should be one in accordance with the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MoMU) signed by SUPP and United People’s Party (UPP).

Under the MoMU, UPP members would join SUPP as members, if they are selected to run in the GE14.

“I am confident that whether it is in the Sibu or Lanang seat, both SUPP and UPP members will work together to ensure victories in Sibu and Lanang,” he said.