BATU Kawah will be the most watched constituency in the Sarawak elections, where two of Sarawak’s most popular leaders will face off on December 18.

Sarawak United People Party (SUPP) president Dr Sim Kui Hian is the incumbent; his challenger is Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, a first-term MP.

The Chinese-majority suburban seat counts more than 17,000 voters and is where SUPP and DAP derive most of their support in the state.

Yii is chairman of the parliamentary select committee on health, science and innovation while Sim is the state’s housing and local government minister.

Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) will field community leader, Liu Thian Leong while Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) is said to be considering former DAP assemblyman for Pujut, Fong Pau Teck as its candidate for Batu Kawah.

Pro-independence party Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s (PBK) candidate is Chai Kueh Khun.

Analysts are split over the outcome in the crowded field, where the main contenders are Sim and Yii.

Universiti Putra Malaysia political expert Jayum Jawan said DAP will pay a price for fielding young rising political stars to knock out Sim.

“I suspect DAP will be punished for pitting one (popular) Chinese leader against another. Why can’t Yii contest elsewhere where he will win?” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Jawan said by placing Yii in a winnable seat, it would spare the Chinese in Batu Kawah the difficult decision of having to choose between Sim and Yii.

“They (the Chinese) can have both Sim and Yii,” he noted.

Sim, who won the seat by a comfortable margin over DAP’s Christina Chiew Wang See in the 2016 election, is well-liked by his constituents.

Professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, James Chin said on paper, Sim has all the advantages to retain his seat.

Unlike Jawan, Chin felt fielding Yii was “a clever move”.

Chin said this was because DAP was making the state’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic a central issue in its election campaign.

Chin said DAP will try to convince voters that Sim was the source of the blunders made by the state disaster management committee (SDMC).

“Sim has been an adviser to SDMC from day one of the pandemic in 2020. So anything that happened could be directly pinned on him.

“The Covid-19 pandemic resonates with many people.”

Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen confirmed the Covid-19 response was a key issue in the polls.

He said Yii was picked due to his Covid-19 management experience and knowledge as chairman of a parliamentary select committee.

Chong said the SMDC had responded poorly to the health crisis and issued many “confusing SOPs” (standard operating procedures).

He also blamed Sim for the high prices of flight tickets between the peninsula and Sarawak and for movement restrictions o curb the spread of the virus.

Chin said it is a smart move to field Yii as DAP needs “a high-profile candidate” to take on the SUPP president.

“Next to Chong and Violet Yong, Kelvin is probably the most high-profile person in DAP now,” Chin said.

DAP’s Yong is the Pending incumbent.

“Yii is popular among young people and there are a lot of young voters in Batu Kawah,” he added.

Chin said much will depend on the voter turnout.

He said a high turnout would favour Yii while a low turnout would give Sim the advantage.

“On paper, Sim has all the advantages. But that depends on the mood created by the campaigning, which will be restrained by the SOP.”

Chin said Yii’s victory would depend on “whether he can get the people out to vote.”

Indications are the seat will see at least a six-cornered fight, not counting Independent candidates. – December 5, 2021.