As expected, Barisan Nasional won by a landslide in Gaya, albeit with a record low in voter turnout. The most disappointing aspect of the by-election for me, though, was how racialised the media coverage was.

If a relatively critical news source like malaysiakini repeatedly spouted statistics on the ethnic backgrounds of voters in Gaya, I shudder to think of what was written and said in the mainstream media. To be fair, I noticed that issues "transcending ethnicity of the voting community" did at least rate a mention — though in the section of the article reserved for subscribers.

What I would have liked to see in this whole sorry episode: Instead of a colourful pie chart detailing how many percent of voters in Gaya are Chinese or non-Muslim bumiputra or whatever, how about a detailed analysis of the "local issues" in the by-election?

I would have thought these merited more than a few paragraphs at the bottom of an article. I want to know, for example, how many percent of voters think that the high parking fees in Kota Kinabalu is their foremost concern in the by-election. I want to know what the voters themselves think about the oft-mention connection between race and politics.

It's disappointing to see that malaysiakini still buys into the notion that race is by far the most important factor in determining voting behaviour. That Parti Bersatu Sabah can still influence the Kadazandusun votes has just as much to do with the fact that they are able to tap into specific community concerns, probably even more so than ethnicity. If Keadilan and DAP failed to connect with the Gaya constituency over local concerns, then they deserved to lose the by-election.

There is a need for a strong opposition in Sabah, but it will not happen until the various opposition parties get their act together instead of taking their cue from their West Malaysian counterparts. Sniping at one's political opponent, while a long-standing tradition in Malaysian politics,does not inspire confidence in voters already skeptical about the "transplantation" of DAP and Keadilan in Sabah.

I hope that the results of the Gaya by-election will prompt some soul-searching among opposition politicians. As it is, I suspect that I will only see accusations and recriminations.