He said the people could see that the opposition parties were at odds with each other, which would ultimately cost them the seat.
“It’s an uphill battle, but the BN candidate for Kota Kinabalu has a chance,” he said, adding that BN was united as a team.
“There is better communication among the component parties while the opposition is in disarray.”
Chin, who lost the seat to Sabah DAP advisor Jimmy Wong in the 2013 general election, said although the opposition had held the state capital since 2008, BN had never sidelined its residents.
“Although it has been under the opposition for almost 10 years, the government has never stopped building Kota Kinabalu. The government has never neglected the Kota Kinabalu folks.
“You can see lots of developments. This is because the government still puts in the funds whenever it is needed,” Chin told FMT.
The disunity among opposition parties appears largely centred on seat distribution for the upcoming election, with Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) deputy chairman Stephen Wong last month saying the national-based coalition had agreed to let Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) take the lead in the state and contest 36 of the total 60 state seats.
At the same time, PH wants the balance of the state seats, and the lion’s share of the parliamentary seats in the 14th general election (GE14).
Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking had questioned PH’s sincerity, saying he was surprised to read about the offer as any such plan should have been discussed behind closed doors before being made public.
PH chairman Christina Liew subsequently denied that the offer had been made to Warisan, saying Stephen had made the announcement in his capacity as Sabah DAP chairman.
She said it did not represent the stand of Sabah PH, and that no discussion on seat distribution had yet taken place.
Jimmy had also attempted to intervene, saying the formula was only a suggestion made with “the sincerest of intentions”.
‘Failed as an MP’
Speaking to FMT, Chin said Jimmy, who beat him by a majority of 18,959 votes in the May 2013 election, had not delivered as the elected representative and was more focused on the party’s struggles instead of the people’s interests.
“Overall, he has failed as the MP. What has he done in five years? I have never really seen him solve anything. I don’t see what he contributed to Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
Jimmy however dismissed Chin’s assessment of him, saying the PBS man “knows we have been helping the people”.
“As the MP or assemblyman, we (in the opposition) always try to help the people. We don’t only fight for the party but for the people. The rakyat prefer to talk to us because if they talk to the government, they don’t get anything,” he said.
Jimmy added that if anyone were to be blamed for not delivering, Chin’s party should be first in line.
“PBS was the government in Sabah once and what have they done? What problems have they solved? For the opposition, we don’t have money but we highlight the problems faced by the people so the government can fix them,” he said.
However, he claimed that the BN government fell short in this respect as issues like traffic congestion, lack of car parks and infrastructure, the goods and services tax and even drug addiction were still apparent in Kota Kinabalu.
He said the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, announced in 2016, had yet to take off.
“A total of RM1 billion was allocated for the project under the 2016 budget and it was supposed to start work in 2017 but it has not been implemented so far,” he said.
Another big issue, Jimmy said, was that of the non-existent water supply to Pulau Gaya, which is about 15 minutes’ boat ride from the city. This was despite the millions of ringgit pumped into building the facility for residents there, he said.
“About RM93 million was channelled to the state government to build a water supply system to the island, which has 15,000 residents, but until now Pulau Gaya has not received water,” he said, adding that he had brought up the matter in previous Parliament sittings.
‘Chances favour PH’
Jimmy said he would stand in GE14 although he did not specify where, and expressed confidence over his chances.
“I’m sure I will stand again. It could be in Kota Kinabalu or somewhere else. But the chances are favourable towards PH. This time, there will be a significant increase in votes and seats won for us.”
He said he was confident of a 10% majority increase for him if he contested in Kota Kinabalu, adding that the people of Sabah were ready for a change.
However, Chin, who is also PBS Luyang division chief, rubbished Jimmy’s claim that the government had failed to contribute to the community.
“There are many things the government has implemented to show it is a caring government at the state and federal levels, such as contributions to places of worships, NGOs and the community.
“Assistance like subsidies and BRIM (1Malaysia People’s Aid) are also methods to help those who need it.
“And we are also focused on fighting for the state’s interests at the federal level, such as improving the cost of living, provision of extra subsidies and equality of wages for workers in Sabah compared to workers in Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
Chin also dismissed Jimmy’s claim that the people were bringing their problems to the opposition.
“Actually, the public still come back to us,” he said, adding that he had received complaints that Jimmy could not be reached.
In May 2013, Jimmy garnered an impressive 28,516 votes, soundly beating Chin who collected 9,557 in a three-cornered fight. Liew Hock Leong of STAR obtained 909 votes.
About 70% of the 50,516 voters in Kota Kinabalu comprise Chinese voters while Muslim Bumiputeras account for 15% and non-Muslim Bumiputeras 13%.
In 2008, Chin also contested for the Kota Kinabalu seat but lost to Hiew King Chiew, who was then with DAP. Hiew left DAP to join MCA in 2014.
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