Chan won the constituency in the last election after garnering 10,948 votes, 5,927 votes ahead of closest contender Fung Len Fui of BN.
Chan is the only opposition assemblyman in the parliamentary constituency of Tawau, whose MP is Mary Yap the deputy minister of higher education.
The other two elected representatives in the state assembly are Syed Abas Syed Ali (Balung) and Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan (Apas).
The Chinese make up 66% of the total voters in the semi-urban constituency while the rest are Bumiputera.
Chan, a first term assemblyman, said Sri Tanjong was the first state constituency won by DAP in Sabah, but BN is intent on getting it back.
“I foresee that BN will use new tactics, like those used in Sarawak, in the coming election to wrest the seat from DAP,” Chan told FMT.
Like in Sarawak in the 2016 state elections, he said BN will field a direct candidate, someone with influence, chosen from outside its component parties.
“One possible BN candidate that comes to mind is the former chairman of the Tawau Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lo Su Fui, who has been making his rounds among the people.
“In the Kepayan state seat on the west coast, one such candidate is (prominent property developer) Francis Goh, who is likely to contest for MCA.”
Chan said in Tawau, BN had been using NGOs instead of its own banner as a platform to win the people’s support.
“This is because they have a problem in using their own banner as it’s associated with scandals and problems such as the goods and services tax and 1MDB.”
But Chan said he is not afraid of this because he has full confidence in the wisdom of the people.
“They know fully well the choice that’s good for them and will vote accordingly,” he said.
“In fact, such tactics by BN undermine the power and autonomy of their component parties to choose their own candidates.”
Chan revealed that it is possible he will contest in the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency, switching places with DAP’s incumbent there, Jimmy Wong.
“This has not been finalised as we are still exploring things,” Chan said.
“This is not to say that I don’t have confidence in defending my seat but this is part of our strategic arrangement.
“Local Chinese papers recently quoted Wong as saying that he wished to ‘balik kampung’ by contesting in Sri Tanjong.”
Wong became the assemblyman in Sri Tanjong after a three-cornered fight in the 2008 election and is familiar with the needs of Tawau’s people.
Problem of clean water and electricity
In Tawau, according to Chan, one of the people’s needs is steady and clean water supply.
When the river’s water level is low, it is hard to pump water for treatment and when it is high during the rainy season, the water is muddy and difficult to process.
“So, we need a dam,” he said.
“In 2015, the BN government had a ground-breaking ceremony to build a dam but until now, nothing has come of it.
“They brought in heavy machinery for the ceremony, but after that, they removed it. It was just a show.”
Chan said the water supply problem is related to the electricity problem.
The BN government, he said, had tried to build a geothermal power plant in a first-class forest reserve that was downgraded for the purpose.
“Their deforestation activities have damaged the water catchment areas in the forest reserve,” rued Chan.
Tawau also has electricity supply problems, he added, with people throughout the east coast relying on power supplied from the west coast.
“Our power supply is negative while we actually have potential alternatives to generate power that the government hasn’t considered,” he said.
“We have lots of oil palm mills that produce by-products such as biogas which can be used to produce power but the government is not looking into this.
“If we don’t make use of this biogas, it will be released into the atmosphere which is bad for the environment. We actually have lots of resources to generate power.”
Suspension of barter trade affecting business
Another challenge faced in Tawau is the indefinite suspension of barter trade with neighbouring nations by the government for security reasons.
Chan said this had been negatively affecting traders of fast-moving consumer goods.
“Recently, the Tawau Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry had a discussion with the Nunukan business council about the need to re-open barter trade,” he recalled.
“Tawau is a town bordering Nunukan in Indonesia. A lot of consumer goods outlets here depend on barter trade to survive.”
According to the assemblyman, the government had mixed up a security issue with a business decision.
“The government should fix the security problem and not touch the business community,” he said.
Tourism is also suffering despite Tawau having the second busiest airport in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu, lamented Chan.
“After arriving at the Tawau airport, tourists tend to head straight to neighbouring Semporna and don’t even stay a night in Tawau,” he said.
“The government should create tourism products in Tawau so that people would at least stay a night and spend money in Tawau.”
Despite the challenges, Chan said he was happy to serve the people although he was not given allocations from the state government.
“I play my part as an assemblyman by using my own initiative to help solve problems, such as helping in the delivery of water supply to people’s homes,” he explained.
“If we form the state government after the election, we will do away with the old mindset of the current government.”
Otherwise, Chan feels the opposition has to use platforms such as the media and the state assembly to push for change.
“The current government is not listening to us and not adopting new ideas. We’ll have to strive harder so that they’ll heed us,” he said.
Come what may, Chan said he believed the winds of change has started in Sabah and DAP and its Pakatan Harapan partners have a chance to form the state and federal governments after the next election.
Chan’s complaints dismissed
Fung, BN’s candidate who lost to Chan in the last outing, has dismissed Chan’s complaints of problems in the constituency.
Now the community development leader in Tawau, Fung said the solution lies in doing something concrete, not just making comments to the media.
“Ten years ago, Tawau would be without power for five to six hours a day but now there are less than 10 hours of blackout in a month or even a year,” he said.
“So we have made progress in Tawau and please remember, Tawau is not like Kuala Lumpur or Penang where everything is already there.”
As for the barter trade, Fung said the government had to suspend it for the sake of security as there used to be kidnappings in the east coast.
“Some businesses have been affected by this measure,” Fung acknowledged. “But after the inception of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), tourists are coming to Semporna.
“There was no kidnapping recorded throughout last year and we should all be grateful for this.”
Fung said the water supply situation in the constituency was also improving.
“Work on the proposed dam is ongoing. We have a meeting with the contractor and other stakeholders every week. This thing takes time.
“Mary Yap has also done a lot to help solve the people’s problems, such as the flood problems in Tawau, with cooperation from the department of irrigation and drainage.
“BN is not perfect but we are doing our level best.”
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