Batu Sapi by Election

The Batu Sapi by-election will be held on November 4 following the death of Member of Parliament (MP) Datuk Edmund Chong Ket Wah in a traffic accident recently.

The contesting parties are Ansari Abdullah of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Datin Linda Tsen of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) representing the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and Datuk Yong Teck Lee of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

The results are difficult to predict. First of all the PBS candidate seem to be despised by many Muslim voters if news reports of what transpired during nomination day is true. Reports say crowds appeared demonstrating against Datin Linda's candidacy through PBS.

And when nominations were announced many newspapers showed Datin Linda Tsen being carried by members of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO)'s female youth wing.There were no PBS flags to be seen nor did PBS supporters turn up in huge numbers carrying flags and wearing party shirts. This is if photographs appearing in local newspapers and footage on television captured every detail correctly.

This is a sharp contrast to the PKR and SAPP candidates, both of who were carried around and celebrated by their respective party members draped in party colours and carrying their respective party flags.

But then again the prospects might not be too bright for both PKR and SAPP as both are in the opposition. And both parties contesting in the same battle would probably split the opposition votes and give a win to PBS. Furthermore both Ansari of PKR and Datuk Yong of SAPP are not locals of Batu Sapi.

Then there are also those who are superstitious who say that SAPP might win. This is because a jetty built in a strong BN area collapsed while the PKR candidate was making his rounds and caused him to fall in the sea. They say that this means PBS contesting under the BN symbol would fall because a jetty in an area it it is strong has collapsed. And these superstitious lot also say that PKR would fall as their candidate had taken an early fall.

There is also the question of the possibility of illegal citizens having big role in giving PBS and BN a win. AS we all know, Batu Sapi has become a Muslim-majority constituency over the years thanks to the influx of illegal immigrants who have since obtained citizenship through the back door.

Therefore the Batu Sapi fight is an equal battle for all three parties. May the best man (or woman) win.

Mee Goreng Basah

It might never occur to us that food in Malaya with the same name as that in Sabah could be very different. However what is interesting is that though some of the food in Malaya and Sabah might share the same name, they may actually be different.

For example, a reader told the North Borneo Herald that he had visited Lahad Datu a few years ago and ordered his favourite Mee Goreng Basah. Now, in Malaya Mee Goreng Basah means stir-fried noodles with extra soy sauce, giving the noodles a wet look. However when this reader had the Mee Goreng Basah sent to his table, he was surprised to see pale looking noodles soaked in thick gravy.

This serves as a lesson to us all, that the next time we are in Malaya, Sarawak or anywhere else and order our favourite food, make sure we ask what it is. Anyway the North Borneo Herald believes such diversity adds more colour to the already colourful cuisine of Malaysia.

As for the reader who sent his story to the North Borneo Herald, he said that the Sabah version of Mee Goreng basah was very tasty indeed.

Send your stories to: northborneoherald@gmail.com

Malaysia Wins Gold Medal Through Sabah

Sabahan weighlifter Arrico Jumitih from Manggatal won the gold medal in the 62kg category of the weightlifting competition at 19th Commonwealth Games currently being held in India.

The best thing about his winning is that Arrico was wearing a shirt with the Sabah flag! This should not be an issue as everyone knows that Sabah is part of Malaysia. When English athletes wear their England shirts, it does not make them less British. So what is the fuss. Kudos to Arrico and kudos to Sabah!