SUNDAY-9TH MARCH 2008- DAP WINS BANDAR KUCHING

DAP wins Bandar Kuching
KUCHING:
The DAP retained its Bandar Kuching seat with a larger majority this time round. Its state secretary, Chong Chien Jen, trounced his Barisan Nasional opponent Alan Sim Yaw Yen by 9,952 votes. The winner polled 22,901 votes to Sim’s 12,949 votes. The voter turnout was 35,850, or 68.13 per cent, in the Chinese-majority urban seat of 53,216 voters. As an unknown in the 2004 election, Chong had won by only 2,041 votes when he defeated Wee Kok Tiong to wrest the seat back from the BN. Chong’s win yesterday was also a record of sorts as it was the largest margin of victory secured in the constituency. “I didn’t expect such a big victory. Chong said as he made his way to the tallying centre at the Dewan Masyarakat in Padungan here to hear the official declaration of results. Sim, who was shocked by the margin of defeat, said it came as a surprise even though he had gone into the race as the underdog. His mood was in contrast to that in the morning while visiting the polling centre. When asked- about his chances of winning then, he had said: 1 have a good feeling about this and I hope my feeling is correct. Sarawak United People’s Party central working committee member. Lily Yong, said the people had sent a “strong message to the government with the defeat.