SANDAKAN POLLS | Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal is confident the people in Sandakan want Vivian Wong as their elected representative.

Shafie said that at every event during the two weeks of campaigning for the Sandakan by-election, the 30-year-old DAP candidate had received a very warm welcome from the people in the constituency.

“The polling on May 11 is very important for us as it will determine who will win and be elected as the people’s representative of Sandakan.

“I am very confident that all the people in Sandakan will give their support to Wong because I can see that every time she speaks, she receives such a great response from the people here,” he said at the leader-meets-people event last night.

Shafie said the state government understood Wong's aspiration to boost development in Sandakan by ensuring adequate employment opportunities for the people.

“The government will make sure that efforts will be done to develop Sabah as we have the right recipes to go far in the state's economic development.

“We have oil, we have tourism products... so we will make sure that if anyone wants to invest in Sabah, their investment will create employment opportunities,” he said, while expressing hope that Sabah-born Malaysians overseas would return to help develop the state.

The chief minister said it was not easy to transform the state and the country in a short period of time, especially after being ruled by the government that practised kleptocracy for 60 years and taking over the administration during global economic uncertainty.

“However, the government is always aware of the undying opportunities to develop Sabah's economy.

“Therefore, we must have the right mindset to do what is right, even though we are doing it at a slower pace,” he said.