Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

SANDAKAN: Sandakan-born Chia Siew Yung (pic), 46, will be contesting in the Sandakan parliamentary by-election as an independent.

The former operations manager, who quit his job this month in his bid to become the first Member of Parliament in the constituency without any affiliation to any political party, said he is confident about his chances of winning as he has support from some non-governmental organisations.

Among them, he said, are the Persatuan Kebajikan Masyarakat Berbilang Kaum Sandakan Sabah (Perkesas) and four others.

Announcing his intention to the media on Thursday, Chia expressed confidence that more NGOs will throw their support for him.

He said he decided to contest in the hope that he could be the “transparent, loud and free” voice of the people in Parliament.

He also said he does not need to come up with an election manifesto as he does not represent any political party.

Meanwhile, Perkesas President Mushie Zulkarnain said the association has 9,000 members, of which 2,000 of them are active.

He confirmed that the association is behind Chia in the coming by-election.

Last week, Parti Solidariti Tanahairku (Star Sabah) announced 50-year-old trained economist, Liew Wean Chee, as its candidate for the by-election.