Sng keeps mum over his status

KUCHING: Partyless Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng, who is uncertain about his fate in the coming state election, is still tight-lipped over his current status.

Sng, who is also state Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Office, said it was better for him not to comment if his frequent visits back to his constituency was part of his preparation for the coming polls, which must be held by July next year.

"It's difficult to say or not to say (on contesting)," he told reporters when asked to comment on his status after launching the Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) Asia-Pacific Regional Office, here, today.

Last week, Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) president George Chan confirmed that Sng was not among the 19 potential SUPP candidates identified for the state polls.



Chan said he concurred with Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing that seats allocated for the four component parties based on the current arrangement of the state Barisan Nasional (BN) was not negotiable.

Masing had said that Pelagus was not open for negotiation even if Sng, who was sacked by PRS in 2007 due to insubordination, were to be accepted by SUPP and stand in a Chinese-majority area.

In the 2006 state election, he had stood on a PRS ticket and on a BN-Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) ticket in 2001, replacing his father Sng Chee Hua who was the Pelagus incumbent then.

Seen as a promising young Chinese leader, Sng, 31, was retained by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud in the state Cabinet reshuffle in November last year despite being partyless.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin also said that the practice of negotiations and discussions between component parties would continue in the selection of candidates for the elections.

In the last state election, SUPP won 11 of the 19 seats and PRS, eight out of nine seats, contested.

- Bernama