BALINGIAN Newcomers to Mukah town will notice many textile shops bearing the name and picture of popular Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as a marketing strategy to lure would-be patrons who are star-struck by the man.

But, minus the drama of the Bollywood glitz and glamour, the campaign for the Balingian by-election which kicked-off on Monday, appears to lack drama and is almost a non-event.

Prior to nomination, the buzz of activities seemed to indicate that the sleepy town renowned for Umei, a local ‘sushi’ dish, will be more lively.
    
However, life seems to have returned to normalcy, as if there is no by-election...

Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) are in a straight fight for the vacant seat after incumbent and former Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud stepped down on Feb 28.

Former Dalat district officer Yussibnosh Balo, 48, will contest under the BN ticket while businessman Abdul Jalil Bujang, 55, is the PKR candidate.

At the early stage of campaign, both candidates preferred to meet the voters during walkabouts at town areas and villages, accompanied by either state ministers or politicians from the peninsula.

So far, the only ‘ceramah’ was organised by PKR last night, with PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu as its main speaker.

A former journalist and now a successful entrepreneur in the tourism industry in Mukah, Diana Rose said unlike the conventional campaign of holding ‘ceramah’ like in the peninsula, Sarawak differed in style focusing on whispering and door-to-door campaign which was deemed to be more effective.

“Yes, campaigning in this area always appears to start slow and is superficially quiet... nothing extraordinary about it,” she told Bernama today.

“We must remember that this is Sarawak, where local demography and local accepted norms supercede the usual scream and shouts of peninsular political party style of campaigning,” she said.

A grassroots member of Kuala Balingian Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB) women’s wing, Majelah Beri, echoed similar sentiments, saying that door-to-door campaigning was much more effective.

“It is usually that way, during the campaign period or during election time and it always works because it has got the personal touch. We know all the people here, many of them our relatives,” she said.

Campaign will go full swing after Kajang polls

Although the pace of campaigning is slow at the moment, businessman Fabian Laberi, who is also a former journalist, believes the campaigning would go full swing, right after the Kajang by-election on March 23.

“By Monday next week, I believe the campaigning would be hectic and not as slow like it is currently,” he said, adding that local issues like lack of education infrastructure in Balingian would take centre stage, especially the construction of SK Telian and SMK Balingian which has been delayed for years.

“Bear in mind, we in Mukah here, value harmony despite different political ideologies. We are still a close-knit family and close friends...we can share the same table when having a cup of coffee, politics is politics and we do not mix that with our personal lives,” he said.

On security, Mukah police chief DSP Omar Bakthiar Yaacob said there had been no untoward incident.

“Maybe, after the Kajang by-election, we can see a lot of activities because political parties will focus on the Balingian by-election and many politicians will come here,” he said.

Balingian has 13,366 registered voters and the Election Commission has fixed March 29 as polling day.

In the 2011 state election, Abdul Taib retained the seat in a three-cornered fight by beating Suriati Abdullah (PKR) and Salleh Jafaruddin (Independent) with a majority of 5,154 votes.

Of the registered voters, Melanau/Malays form the majority with 7,705 voters or 57.65 percent; Iban 3,875 (28.99 percent); Chinese 1,683 (12.59 percent), Orang Ulu 29 (0.22 percent), Bidayuh 19 (0.14 percent) and others 55 (0.41 percent).

- Bernama