The Chinese form almost 40 per cent of the total electorate in the Gaya parliamentary constituency with Kota Kinabalu city, the Sabah state capital, right in its heart.

Yet, in the just-concluded by-election yesterday, their turnout was the lowest among the three predominant racial groups the other two generally categoried as non-Muslim bumiputras (mainly Kadazandusun constituting 33.3 per cent) and Muslim bumiputras (Malay, Bajau, Bugis, Suluk, Sungai, etc constituting 21.64 percent).

Overall, the turnout at a little shy of 45 percent in Gaya was, according to the Election Commission last night, the lowest in a Malaysian by-election. Compare that to more than 70 per cent in the Pendang parliamentary by-election in Kedah recently.

Although Barisan Nasional candidate Liew Teck Chan, 54, a vice president of former Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee's Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), won with nearly 12,000-vote majority, relegating his DAP's opponent Hiew King Cheu, a 50-year-old civil engineer and business consultant, to way behind in second place with only 3716 votes, and Parti Keadilan's 50-year-old lawyer Christina Liew to only 2613 votes (she lost her deposit), it didn't seem to bring much inner comfort to SAPP leaders, especially Yong.

This time, according to SAPP deputy president Tham Nyip Shen, the Chinese turn-out was only around 34 per cent or about 6000 of the Chinese votes out of a total of about 19,000 votes.