By Connie Chieng
KUCHING: A man of action rather than words, blunt talking Wilfred Yap does not mince his words when expressing his views.
The English-educated Secretary of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Sentosa Branch who is tipped to be a potential candidate for the Stampin parliamentary seat is not worried about how people perceive him.
He prefers to work hard to show them results instead of worrying about public perception of his personality.
Yao supports SUPP President’s tag line – “Speak less, do more”.
“As a true Sarawakian, I strongly believe that our leaders should continue to pursue the Sarawak Agenda within the framework of the Malaysia Agreement which was initiated and put into action by our late Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem,” said Yap..
Now heading the SUPP Public Complaints Bureau (PCB), he tries to help the deserving public as much as he can.
He would forgo time on his legal practice and instead spend it with the people.
Advising the people not to take advantage of the PCB, Yap stressed that the bureau did not deal with personal problems.
He requested the people to help themselves first by going through the necessary procedures before turning to PCB for help.
“In many welfare cases, you need to go through the procedure of application and filling up forms. “Do that and when you cannot get the benefit due to unforeseen circumstances and if your case is genuine, we will come in and see how we can help,” said the Secretary of SUPP Sentosa Branch.
“The tasks facing the PCB are never ending,”said Yap.
“There is so much to be done and the expectations of the people are higher. I try to look at the big picture and go for more urgent cases first.
“It is not only the drains, the roads and the infrastructure that we need to tackle. We also have to help those with documents to apply for welfare aid or citizenship.
“ It is good for the people to help themselves first before they seek help. We must teach a society to fish, not to be given fish all the time,” he added.
Yap was fielded as the SUPP candidate for Kota Sentosa in the state elections in 2016. He lost to Chong Chieng Jen of DAP.
In the parliamentary election predicted to take place next year, Yap believes that he may pull though if he were nominated as a candidate.
Looking at the results of the last state elections, Yap said the scenario had been favourably tipped towards SUPP as Batu Kitang, a
new seat, was won by his comrade, Lo Khere Chiang while Batu Kawa was captured by the SUPP President Datuk Dr. Sim Kui Hian.
“There is a good chance we can pull through but it needs a lot of hard work,” he admitted.
Yap has paved the road for himself and tries to go to the ground as often as he can.
There are many mornings when he will sit in different coffee shops to meet the people, chat with them or have coffee with them.
Today, many people recognise him in the coffee shops.
Moving around in the Stampin parliamentary constituency, he feels encouraged when strangers come up to greet him and praise him for doing a good job.
He also does not believe that a state assemblyman should be holding a full time job.
“I am a practising lawyer and if I win, I am going into politics full time.
“In the old days, an MP’s pay was low but with today’s increased pay, there is no reason not to set up a proper service centre or legal aid centre in Stampin to help deal with the people’s problems. I intend to do what Datuk Lee Lam Thye is doing. At the moment, I cannot do so due to my family issues,” he said.
