THE urban Chinese-majority seat of Sibu in Sarawak is set for a major showdown in the 15th general election, with political heavyweight Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Wong Soon Koh looking to topple incumbent Oscar Ling Chai Yew for a seat in parliament.

It will be anything but straightforward as Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) new face Clarence Ting Ing Horh is also in the fray, making it a three-way contest for this constituency of 105,875 voters.

Even though Wong – known to many as Soon Koh – has been the state assemblyman for Bawang Assan for seven terms stretching back to 1991, this is his first attempt for a seat in parliament.

Bawang Assan is one of three seats that make up the Sibu parliamentary constituency. The other two are Pelawan and the Malay-Melanau majority Nangka.

Wong is a well-known face in this Sungai Rajang town in central Sarawak, having been in the state cabinet for nearly 14 years with him being the second finance minister, as well as international trade and e-commerce minister, before he resigned in July 2019 to sever his party’s ties to GPS.

Since its formation on August 17, 2014 as United People’s Party – a splinter party of the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party – and after its rebranding in December 2018, PSB has been a GPS-friendly party.

Even though GPS’ Ting is a political novice, he is no slouch.

As chairman of the Sibu Municipal Council, he has a feel of the pulse on the ground to make incumbent Ling’s third term twice as difficult.

In the 2018 general election, Ling triumphed in a four-way fight with a majority of 11,422 votes.

His challengers then were Barisan Nasional’s Wong Kee Yew, Peace Party’s Tiew Yen Huong and Star’s Tiong Ing Tung. – November 5, 2022.