When Dr Patau Rubis was assistant minister in the Sarawak cabinet from 1987-1995, he was unable to run his thriving private medical clinic in Kuching. Among those he roped in to help him managed Klinik Sri Tongga was his cousin and a ENT specialist Dr Tiki Lafe.

Patau was a member of the Sarawak cabinet under the Sarawak National Party (Snap) quota. Soon, he also brought Tiki into Snap and encouraged him to partake in active politics.

patau rubis In 1995, Patau left the cabinet following longstanding and unresolved differences with Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. Forced out of the BN, the Bidayuh doctor and former deputy director of the Sarawak Medical Services then established the opposition State Reform Party (Star) the following year.

However, Tiki did not follow Patau into the opposition. He stayed put in Snap and remained loyal to the chief minister and the Sarawak BN.

Patau was both a state assemblyperson (Tasik Biru) and a member of parliament (Mas Gading) at the time he set up Parti Star. In the 1996 state election, Patau was defeated in Tasik Biru by Snap newcomer Peter Nansian.

Tiki’s loyalty to the Sarawak BN paid off for him in 1999 when he was chosen to contest against Patau in Mas Gading in the elections that year. That was the first time the two Bidayuh doctors and cousins squared off in Mas Gading.

Dr Tiki not replaced

The coming March 8 polls will see the third contest between the two respected sons of the Bidayuh community in Bau, a satellite town 25km outside Kuching ( photo ).

bau town 270405 main street Soon after Parliament was dissolved on Feb 13, there were talks that Tiki, also deputy minister of regional and rural development, would be replaced. That Tiki was still on the BN-SPDP list, as one observer points out, appears to indicate that someone in power and position wants this fight between the two Bidayuh cousins to continue.

The observer reminded Malaysiakini why Tiki was chosen over several other senior Snap leaders to challenge Patau in 1999.

"It was obvious that there was this ‘ambition’ to allow the Bidayuh cousins to fight and split their families and the Bidayuh community in general," he said.

Cruel as that may be, he pointed out that this has always been the way some Sarawak leaders operate in order to exercise control and dominance over those they govern.

Among the Dayak community in Sarawak, the Bidayuhs are considered the most affluent. Over the past two decades, many professionals had emerged from within the community. The Bidayuhs are also said to be more politically conscious and articulate among the bumiputera groups in Sarawak.

Come March 8, the constituents of Mas Gading will get to choose between the two old foes and two independents.

But the real contest is between the two Bidayuh doctors as the independents are not likely to make much headway in the four-way bout.

dr tekhee tiki lafe On Sunday’s nomination day, Dr Tiki humbly told reporters that he was not taking any of his opponents lightly "because everybody was equally strong when it came to the ground".

He was quoted by the Borneo Post as saying that "one’s biggest mistake was to underestimate the strength of one’s opponents, and taking things for granted".

Tiki called on voters to turn up in full force as independents could also break up the BN votes.

For the record, Tiki defeated Patau in the 2004 general election with only a 2,712-vote majority.

Meanwhile, the Star president who is contesting on a Snap ticket for the second time has a grander plan in mind.

Declaring his mosquito party Star as the ‘new Snap’, Patau said all former Snap members would be inducted into Star should Snap lost its on-going legal battle against de-registration.

Why contest under Snap?

In the event that Patau wins Mas Gading in Round Three, that could become a reality as an elected legislator will certainly carry more clout.

Observers generally agree that this is the best chance for Patau and the 12-year-old Star to make a headway in Sarawak politics, principally due to what they describe as Dr Tiki's lacklustre performance over the past nine years as an MP and cabinet member.

Not surprisingly, the Star president’s plan to use the Snap symbol did not go down well with a group of Snap supporters in Bau.

On Monday, a group of Snap supporters in the constituency said they would be voting for the BN as they felt that Patau was only trying to smear Snap’s name.

Bau Snap pro tem chairperson Frankie Nyumboi said he would be telling his members and party sympathisers to vote for Tiki instead.

Nyumboi told the Borneo Post that he had come to the decision to throw his support for Tiki because he could not agree to Patau contesting as a Snap candidate.

"I am only speculating. But I think he doesn’t want to dirty his party symbol in case he loses," Nyumboi said of Patau’s decision to use the Snap logo when he should be using his own Star symbol.