SIBU, Dec 17 — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate for Bawang Assan, Robert Lau Hui Yew has urged the electorate to gauge his service track record there before having their say in the Sarawak state election tomorrow.
Former senator Lau, 56, says his hard work in the state constituency and for its community speaks for itself.
“I served as a Sibu Municipal councillor for 10 years, and then as a member of the Sibu Rural District Council for another four years. The electorate can assess for themselves my service records.
“My services to the people continued when I was appointed a member of the Senate,” he told Bernama when asked about his chances in the hot seat eagerly watched by many and dubbed the “Master-Student Mentee” showdown.
His service record in the local community may appear impeccable, but Lau, a lawyer by training, faces a tough task in wresting the seat from the incumbent, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, described by many as his “political mentor”.
Lau is currently the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Bawang Assan branch chairman.
Wong, 79, meanwhile, is considered a Bawang Assan “heavyweight”, having been its elected representative since 1981 on a Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket.
In the 2016 state election, Wong defended his seat with a 4,131-vote majority in a five-cornered fight before leaving SUPP following internal party issues to form the United Peoples’ Party (UPP) before it was rebranded as PSB in 2018.
Wong has expressed confidence that come Sunday, he will be serving his seventh term in Bawang Assan.
Besides Lau and Wong, the other candidates vying for the seat are Michelle Ling Shyan Mih of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), DAP’s Amy Lau Bik Yin and Independent candidate Ricky Enteri.
The Bawang Assan seat has caught the attention of many, not just because of the GPS-PSB rivalry, but many are touting it a “Kungfu” showdown between master and student.
Lau was propelled into mainstream politics by Wong, who was then heading the Sibu Barisan Nasional Visionary Team, to contest the Sibu parliamentary by-election in 2010 following the death of the incumbent, Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew.
That by-election was eventually won by the late Wong Ho Leng of DAP, but only with a slim majority of 398 votes against Lau who obtained 18,447 votes, and Independent candidate Narawi Haron who managed only 232 votes.
DAP candidate Bik Yieng, 30, meanwhile considers the contest in Bawang Assan an uphill task for her as Lau and Wong were experienced political heavyweights in their own right.
However, observers say among the rest in the ring, she remains the closest competition for the two.
The Bawang Assan seat has 19,650 voters and the electorate is split evenly between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera voters.
Will the student triumph over his master? Or will there be spoilers? The decision rests with the electorate of Bawang Assan. — Bernama
