A relatively unknown sleepy little sub-district nestling in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, Kiulu is in the spotlight because of the anticipated showdown between the former holder of a prestigious beauty title and an ex-journalist.
- Law graduate, former Sabah Harvest Festival queen, singer, model
- Mixed Dusun-British parentage
- Wife of a doctor from Kajang
- Mother and uncle were involved in politics
Law graduate Jo-Anna Sue Henley Rampas, 29, was the former Unduk Ngadau (Sabah Harvest Festival) queen, a high-profile event in Sabah.
She also used to be a singer and model.
The Parti Warisan Sabah candidate and deputy chief of the party’s Wirawati wing, Rampas is touted to contest in the state seat against incumbent Parti Bersatu Sabah’s Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
She is likely to pose a stern challenge for Bangkuai, who won the seat defeating PKR candidate Rhodes Panilau with a razor-thin majority of 44 votes in the 2013 elections. The four-cornered fight included a candidate from Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and an independent.
Warisan party sources said that Rampas is the likely choice for the seat, although Panilau, who is with Warisan now, was also being considered, The Star reported.
Born to an ethnic Kadazandusun mother from Kiulu and a British father, she has been going from village to village since April last year.
The wife of a doctor from Kajang, Selangor, Rampas comes from a family where politics is no stranger – her mother was involved in the now-defunct Parti Akar while her uncle Louis Rampas was the PBS assemblyman before Bangkuai took over.
The state seat is likely to see contestants from local native-based parties Sabah STAR and Parti Cinta Sabah, with independents expected to join the fray.