S'WAK POLLS On the eighth night of the Sarawak polls campaign, the ceramah at the Batu Kawah seat received turnouts from 500 to 600 people, making it a draw between BN candidate Dr Sim Kui Hian and DAP candidate Christina Chiew.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who could only stay until May 5, campaigned for Chiew, who only won by 543 slim-majority votes in the last election.

In his repeated all-out attack at SJK Chung Hus Stapok gathering, Sim said Chiew will not be able to bring development in the constituency.

Playing the development card again, he said BN government will allocate RM80 million which can resolve the flood problems in the area.

"So, let us make her retire on May 7. Don't worry (for her), she will still enjoy her pension fund as ex-state assemblyperson," he said.

Sim urged the voters to ubah (change), which has been DAP's mascot and slogan since 2011 state election, by supporting Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).

"Time will not wait for anyone, it's timely for us to ubah, give Sim Kui Hian and BN a chance, okay?" he pleaded.

"Okay," shouted the crowd passionately.

In fact, Sim, who opted for a moderate election style during the 2011 campaign, is now attacking his rival fiercely by playing up the development issue, together with a video clip of Chiew's speech, almost on a daily basis.

There is no need for the opposition to play the monitoring role in the state government, as SUPP can take up such responsibility, he said.

Six kilometres away at MCJ, a new township, Lim campaigned for the first time for Chiew, where he urged for voters' support so that DAP can explore the rural seats without any worries.

He asked the urban voters to support DAP which he said lacked resources in order for the rural areas to see a change.

"This may be my last ceramah in Kuching. I need to campaign in other constituencies before my immigration permit expires," Lim said.

Sim, who was defeated by 7,595 votes in Pending in 2011, moved to Batu Kawah.

This is a battle of survival for Sim, who is also SUPP president. It is a SUPP tradition that a defeated party president steps down after the polls.

SUPP has mobilised its resources to conquer Batu Kawah with the blessing of three main BN leaders.

The caretaker Chief Minister Adenan Satem has wooed the voters with the promise of deputy chief minister post, which was left vacant after SUPP president George Chan lost in the 2011 state polls.

Both Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also campaigned for Sim, where the former promised to resolve the local flood problems, while the latter announced RM250,000 for the police force.

DAP serious in winning Batu Kitang

In his ceramah on the first night, Sim received a 700 turnout. Local journalists noticed that the crowd size was bigger than during last state polls.

DAP was put on the defensive where three ceramah in Batu Kawah only attracted a crowd of a few hundreds.

The opposition party, which is contesting in 31 seats as compared with only 15 in 2011, needed to distribute its resources in 17 Dayak seats.

Things have been made more difficult when many opposition leaders from the peninsula were banned from entering Sarawak.

Part of Batu Kawah now falls under Batu Kitang following the redelineation exercise. As such, Chiew's team needs to allocate part of its resources to Batu Kitang candidate Abdul Aziz Isa.

Batu Kitang is a seat which DAP retaliated by fielding its candidate against PKR.

DAP is particularly serious in winning Batu Kitang to prove it has the upper hand over its Pakatan Harapan partner.

"There is no way to back down, we need to win or we will be condemned," said a source.

Compared to her aggressive rival, Chiew seemed to have chosen a softer approach. Her colleague, DAP Pending candidate Violet Yong, had slammed Sim for bullying Chiew.

"I come here to help my sister... she is now challenged by SUPP giant Sim Kui Hian," said Yong at a ceramah.

Three out of five DAP candidates in Kuching were seen campaigning in Miri and Sibu. They are Sarawak state chief and Kota Sentosa candidate Chong Chieng Jen, Pandungan candidate Wong King Wei and Yong.

Since the three seats were seen as safe, they have taken the opportunity to help out in other areas despite tight resources and manpower.

Both Chiew and Abdul Aziz stayed in their respective constituencies as they are facing greater challenges.

Sim, however, is also facing a challenge from independent candidate Liu Thian Leong, a former member of United People's Party (UPP).

Batu Kawah is a Chinese majority seat (60.1 percent) with 16,892 voters.