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Malaysian GE: In Sabah, voters more excited about hot candidates than hot seats

KOTA KINABALU — Come Malaysia's election season, turning on the charm is part of every candidate's "arsenal" to win over voters. This GE14, however, a group of good-looking, fresh-faced politicians is creating a buzz even among voters previously apathetic towards politics.

Born to a British father and Dusun mother, Parti Warisan Sabah’s candidate for the state seat, Ms Jo Anna Sue Henley Rampas, has what some would call "the entire package".

Born to a British father and Dusun mother, Parti Warisan Sabah’s candidate for the state seat, Ms Jo Anna Sue Henley Rampas, has what some would call "the entire package".

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KOTA KINABALU — Come Malaysia's election season, turning on the charm is part of every candidate's "arsenal" to win over voters.

This GE14, however, a group of good-looking, fresh-faced politicians is creating a buzz even among voters previously apathetic towards politics.

This line-up from both sides of the political divide has renewed interest in the elections, even if for superficial reasons.

In Penampang, a giant poster of a smiling Barisan Nasional (BN) Penampang parliamentary candidate Ceasar Mandela Malakun is literally making women go around in circles and swooning.

"I love going around the Sigah roundabout now… who knows why," said one woman on Facebook, attaching a photo of the poster and a winking face emoji, while another, only known as Botiza, said that many women in Penampang were "losing concentration" when going around the roundabout.

"What about me? I'm already married but yet when I look at the poster, I feel faint. What's up with that? Let's not talk about when it's face-to-face," said Isabella Abah.

At the Lido food court here, 25-year-old Nisa said she heard Mr Malakun would make an appearance at a ceramah and came to see him talk and take a photo with him.

"I heard people talking about him and how friendly he is. I thought I would come see for myself, this is also my area," she said.

A close aide of the 27-year-old Sino-Kadazan lawyer said that Mr Malakun has received many messages from women on his Facebook page, some propositioning him or asking for his contact number.

When asked about his looks affecting his campaign, the ever-smiling Mr Malakun laughed and said: "Got, meh? I wouldn't know anything about that."

In Kiulu, a Eurasian former-beauty-queen-turned-lawyer-turned-politician is also getting a lot of attention, and not just because of her pledges.

Born to a British father and Dusun mother, Parti Warisan Sabah's candidate for the state seat, Ms Jo Anna Sue Henley Rampas, speaks English, Malay and Dusun fluently, and can belt out a mean version of Dusun songs Kosorou Kopo Nangku Doho or Taga Tuong much to the locals' delight.

Photos of her have been circulating for months, but more recently, a video of her singing the song at a karaoke bar has been making the rounds, and people are showering her with praise.

"An Unduk Ngadau beauty with brains! She can do politics, business, her own make-up, she is half British and half Dusun and can sing!" said Facebook user Wenn Nicky.

"I want to move my vote to Kiulu now," said Rosse Nanacey.

Another first-time candidate getting attention for more than just her political ambition is Dr Pamela Yong, the MCA candidate for Luyang.

When the 41-year-old Dr Yong goes around campaigning with a backpack, she could be mistaken for a university undergrad instead of a mother of four.

"Of all the new candidates I've seen this year from BN, I like the Luyang candidate the most. Not only is she a doctor, she's pretty and she is super smiley," said Suzianah Jiffar.

Conrad Paujik said he was initially drawn to Dr Yong because of her looks but after listening to her ideas, he also believed she would be a good candidate for the Luyang seat.

"Yes, she's pretty but that is not her best feature. She speaks well, and she's done a lot of good work before she was a candidate," he said.

Photos of suspects in prison jumpsuits are rarely thought of as attractive, but Datuk Azis Jamman from Parti Warisan Sabah almost made handcuffs and orange look good.

The 44-year-old engineer and Warisan Youth chief might have been hauled up by the anti-graft authorities last October, but images of him handcuffed, clad in orange and showing off his dimpled smile while in court may have raised his profile as a heartthrob instead.

Almost always smartly dressed and carrying his 1.8m-plus frame with confidence, Mr Azis can match his Sepanggar parliamentary seat rival Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan in terms of charisma and fiery speeches.

"I vote in Putatan but I'd love to go watch Azis campaign in Sepanggar. I think he's got a great smile and he looks like he'd be a good speaker," said Watie Ali. THE MALAY MAIL

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