Monday February 18, 2008
Replay of 2004 fight
Stories by YIP YOKE TENG
THE last election’s colourful four-cornered battle in Bukit Bintang is expected to recur.
With incumbent MP Fong Kui Lun fixed for DAP and Datuk Dr Lee Chong Meng most likely to be at the forefront again for MCA after his 1995 and 1999 attempts, independent Billi Lim and Malaysian Democratic Party (MDP)'s Wee Choo Keong have publicly announced their interest in running again.
The interesting composition of candidates reflects the constituency’s diverse spectrum of voters and mixed nature of the areas, ranging from the swanky Golden Triangle, the spiritual Brickfields to the seedy Lorong Haji Taib.
A hard fight is anticipated – Dr Lee and Fong are deemed “fixtures” in the area and their faces spring to mind whenever there's a problem. Wee is a former Bukit Bintang MP whose fame is on the rise thanks to his role in the Lingam inquiry.
Lim is a well-liked interesting figure, and the motivational speaker has a good following.
Election is Bukit Bintang has always been filled with drama since the 1990s when “the people's MP” Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who had made the constituency a DAP stronghold and kept it under the party since 1974, left active politics and became a social activist.
In 1990, Wee who was from DAP then won the seat but had to pass the baton to Dr Lee in 1995 when he was disqualified as a candidate for having been convicted in a civil court case involving MBF Bhd.
In 1999, Fong wrested the seat back for DAP and secured the seat again in 2004 with a razor-thin victory.
Both Wee and Lim added colour to the 1999 and 2004 general elections too, though Wee was disqualified in 1999 for contempt of court.
MCA’s female candidate in 2004, engineer Tan Chew Mooi, was also the focus of interest.
Bukit Bintang is anticipated to give yet another riveting episode, after all, it is set against a vivid backdrop that combines the most prestigious, glamorous as well as the most notorious all in one!
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Fong sure of voters’ confidence in him
Wee’s fame on the rise
Out to right wrongs
Let’s start afresh, says Dr Lee
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