Angie S. Chin meeting up with the people as part of the citizen's inititaive Vote Wisely campaign.
KOTA KINABALU: What do Sabahans really want in this coming state election?
That question has been gnawing at four mothers for over a year who finally decided it was time to find out for themselves.
Angie S. Chin, a Sabahan rural tourism promoter based in Peninsular Malaysia, educator Willva Freddy, a retiree Anna Matin and insurance agent Syafiqah Izzan took time off from their families to spend the September holidays to get answers.
Hitting the road on car rentals, the four Sabahan women covered over 500km from the north to west coast, and into the interior of Sabah to not only find out what Sabahans really want and while sending a message to the people to "vote wisely."
The four mother's standing in front of the iconic Kota Kinabalu Clock tower along Jalan Padang at the final leg of journey to various districts in Sabah.
The women, who formed an apolitical citizen-led movement called "Vote Wisely" believed that Sabah deserved more.
According to Angie, they met up with people during their road trips using a Myvi and a Proton Bezza and carrying with them a “Box of Hope,” that asked ordinary Sabahans; “If you could be Chief Minister today, what three things would you do for Sabah?”
At each stop armed with placards and their Box of Hope, the mothers would go to tamu (local markets), roundabouts and next to busy roads under the noon sun or heavy rain, to hear or to push their message to the people.
"We have collected many answers that were put in the box. It’s handwritten, heartfelt and raw. It paints a picture of Sabahans’ deepest hopes and frustrations," Angie said.
"Many wanted better education and health facilities while basic infrastructure like roads, water and electricity were their common grouses. Most also called for an end to corruption," she said.
"These are the voices of the people. We plan to frame these responses and present it to the next Chief Minister as a reminder of the people’s expectations," Angie said.
Their road trip from Kota Kinabalu took them to Kinarut, Keningau, Tenom, Nabawan, Sook, Sipitang, Kudat, Ranau, Tamparuli, Kiulu, Kota Belud, Tuaran and Telipok ending in Kota Kinabalu.
The citizen initiative by the women at a market in Koita Kinabalu.
Angie explained that being apolitical, they were confronted by supporters of a political party in Tenom while in Ranau, they were asked by a policeman to have a photograph of them with their identity card.
“We don’t mind showing identification, but being asked to pose with our ICs felt like a violation of personal information,” Angie said, adding that in some other districts, police did approach them to find out what they were doing.
She said their trip was self-funded, no logos or flags, just handwritten placards. They stayed at homes of friends in the districts as they moved from town to town.
"Rain or shine, we stood strong in silence — and every honk by passing vehicles we received felt like a small victory,” she added.
As for the journey, she said it was a discovery for them as they found in their chats with the people that many voted based on their families’ traditional support.
However, among the younger voters, they found that they were increasingly breaking free in search for more capable, trustworthy leaders, who "don't turn up just during election time".
The VoteSabah.com online platform gives Sabahans a chance to look up their existing state assemblyman and review their track records as well find out if there were any controversies linked to them.
"We may be just four women with six placards, but we lit a spark. If more Sabahans take even a small step like this, we can create a wave that carries us into a better future,” she said, adding that they hoped to see a generation of leaders who will fight for Sabah and its people and not just their own political ambitions.
“We hope it will have a rippling effect that continues until election day. Sabahans have been denied for too long. It is time to vote wisely and not emotionally," she added.
