What motivates a 21-year-old trader to contest in a by-election?

When this question was posed to Ng Chee Pang (below, left), who will vie for the Batu Talam state seat as an independent candidate, he replied: "I like to contest."

According to Bernama, Ng told reporters this after filing his nomination papers. He will be facing Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Abdul Aziz Kiram in the Jan 28 contest. The youth turns 22 on Monday.

The Batu Talam state seat fell vacant following the death of BN incumbent Tengku Paris Tengku Razlan on Dec 27.

The independent candidate's father Ng Kwi Lin (above, right) had his own rationale for his son's decision to contest.

"I want to bring business for the people of Batu Talam, if there is a contest, more people will come here," said Kwi Lin, who is also DAP Pahang treasurer.

DAP has stressed that it is not backing the independent candidate but its Pahang chief Lip Tuck Chee said he hoped Ng would be able to reduce the majority of the BN candidate.

Opposition parties have boycotted the by-election in order to press for electoral reforms.

Door always open

Meanwhile, Abdul Aziz (left) vowed to work towards fixing the problems that have plagued the people of Batu Talam. This included the construction of a bridge and mobile phone facilities for the area.

The BN candidate also said he would try to solve the problems concerning land titles affecting several villages in Batu Talam.

Abdul Aziz, who is also the Umno Raub division secretary, is confident of serving the people well.

The politician said he knows the people and their problems because of his involvement in Umno since 1983.

"I know what the people of Batu Talam want. The door to my house will always be open. If I cannot solve the problems, I promise to take it to the higher levels," he added.

As for the opposition boycott, Abdul Aziz said it did not surprise him because Batu Talam is known to be an Umno stronghold.

"If we look at the records, the opposition has only obtained about 2,000 votes. I believe they would not have even garnered that amount if they contest now," he added.

In the 2004 general election, Tengku Paris beat PAS candidate Mohamed Nilam Abdul Manap by 2,761 votes. There were 10,866 registered voters then.

This time around, there is a slight drop in the number of eligible voters - 10,525 - including 14 postal voters who are all policemen serving in the constituency.