Even though his father has held the Sarikei parliamentary seat for two terms, it will not be easy for newcomer Roderick Wong Siew Lead, 32, to win the seat on Nov 19.
A graduate in Business Administration from UNIMAS, Wong was an election agent for his father in 2018 and had experienced first-hand ‘fighting’ during the election.
This time around, he is the candidate himself and hopes that the experience he gained can be used as best as possible.
“In 2018, we felt the pressure facing Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii who has great machinery.
“We were already thinking we would lose the battle, but when the voting day arrived, we could feel the aura of victory, until my father obtained a majority of 2,570 votes,” he said.
Roderick is a new face fielded by Democratic Action Party (DAP) in this general election.
He is the son of former Sarikei MP, Wong Ling Biu, who decided to retire at the age of 64.
Ling Biu was once diagnosed positive with COVID-19, causing him to be in a coma for more than a month. In fact, his son said, many expected his father to die.
“My father’s spirit and strength to continue fighting to live at that time became an encouragement and motivation for me to agree to be a candidate. He is my mentor and I will continue to learn from him,” said Roderick.
Roderick is actually aware that his mission is quite difficult, even though he insists on holding on to his father’s track record as an MP for two terms in the area.
He understands that Huang is no ordinary candidate. Huang is a leading businessman, in addition to serving as Repok assemblyman.
During the Sarawak state election (PRN) last December, Huang defeated his opponent easily when he secured 10,038 votes compared to Philip Wong Pack Ming (DAP) who only polled 2,730 votes.
The other state seat under the Sarikei constituency is Meradong which is represented by GPS-SUPP candidate Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing, who also won big.
He obtained 6,827 votes defeating his challenger, Chris Hi Ru Yee (PSB) who only secured 3,465 votes.
The Sarikei parliamentary constituency has 54,978 registered voters, of which 33,259 are Chinese, 16,970 Iban and 3,677 Malay/Melanau voters.
On paper, Huang’s second appearance is actually more potent, because he has learned and understood the cause of his defeat in the last general election.
Due to that fact, the Chinese man, who is also fluent in Iban, as well as able to embody the character of poverty, as he used to live without having a pair of shoes and walk miles to school in Bintangor, has started his campaign earlier.
He went to the field as early as the first day of the campaign, spending about 15 to 20 minutes in each longhouse he passed by to appeal to voters.
In fact, since becoming Repok assemblyman, Huang has practised an open-door policy. He will go out and visit the area regardless of the time, and will not hesitate to help anyone in need.
In this campaign, he appeals to be given the opportunity to lead the parliamentary constituency for a period of five years. If he fails, he is ready to accept and will yield to the will of the people. This appeal was heard by this writer himself pronounced by Huang in fluent Iban language.
“I can feel the suffering and poverty experienced by the people in this area all this time. That is why I fight for them. I don’t want them to continue to face this situation (poor and hard life) as I have experienced before,” he told this writer later.
Although there are various titles and interpretations of this man out there, Huang is actually trying to prove that he is capable of changing this area, especially from the economic view perspective. He has proven through the transformation that happened to him, hence his dream is to bring change in this area. This is expressed through his personal manifesto.
For Roderick, it should be terrifying news.
Roderick himself admitted trying to win young voters through social media. But it’s actually not enough, if he doesn’t go out on the field.
Even if he is still young and inexperienced, his tongue must be fluent to speak the local language, because it is a useful weapon to approach the people in this parliamentary constituency.
Roderick also needs to be prepared because the people are actually waiting to vent their frustration on him about his party’s failure to govern the country for 22 months.
He admitted to being disappointed by the “coup” that took place, but believed that it was a political process and democracy that Malaysia has to go through.
The chances of winning and becoming Sarikei MP is actually still in the balance for both candidates. They need to go to the field and court the entire electorate; if possible, up to 50,000 registered voters due to the current situation, the fight between the two is pretty even.
They also have to hope for local voters who are outside of Sarawak to go and vote.
However, compared to 2018, the profile of external voters is actually quite different and difficult to predict. This is because they are getting smarter, exposed to information and able to make their own decisions; not necessarily influenced by party and candidate logos. And most importantly, the history of the leadership is important, because it will be the last factor to be evaluated, because the people in this country no longer want to be deceived, by the flood of leaders who only talk loudly.
