How is Sun Tzu's writing relevant to us? A general election is like any war - the contestants in the polls must win the hearts and minds of the voters. Indeed, they can all learn something from Sun Tzu’s immortal work, ‘The Art of War’.

“Know your enemy and you can win a hundred battles,” said Sun Tzu. The Sarawak election is no different from a military battlefield, for the players with the most intimate knowledge of their opponents would enjoy a huge advantage over them.

It is a truism that information is power. In any general election, all players will try their best to dig up information on their opponents' campaign tactics and accumulate secret information on rivals to exploit. At the height of election fever, contesting parties will try their best to infiltrate enemy camps using a collection of agents and informants...