KUCHING: Prior to the 15th general election (GE15), most candidates began engaging voters in their respective parliamentary constituencies with various programmes.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate Lo Khere Chiang also began his campaigning early yesterday morning (Nov 8) in an effort to win over voters in the Stampin parliamentary constituency.
Lo took a stroll at 6 am through the Batu Kawah Old Town Bazaar and 38 Commercial Centre, beginning with Guang Loong Temple and ending his walkabout while mingling with folks eating breakfast in the nearby eateries.
The setting, which has been the focus of people’s routine to buy basic necessities and have breakfast with the family, is a strategic way for candidates to engage and approach voters.
Lo is joining the fray to defeat Democratic Action Party (DAP) incumbent Chong Chieng Jen for the Stampin seat as a first-time candidate in the parliamentary election.
“This visit is part of a campaign to gather support from the local community, which includes the distribution of related flyers,” he said after the walkabout.
Batu Kawah is one of three constituencies of the Stampin parliamentary seat, along with Batu Kitang and Kota Sentosa.
In the GE15, the Stampin seat will face a three-cornered fight between Lo, Chong and Lue Cheng Hing of the Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) to garner votes from a total of 121,009 eligible voters.
This time around, the battle is particularly intriguing given that in GE14, Stampin only saw a one-on-one fight between Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, who was standing on the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket at the time, and Chong, who is also the Sarawak DAP chairman.
Chong won the seat with a margin of 14,222 votes at the time.
