Ahmat (third left) unveils a banner to launch the convention on Len’s behalf.    SARIKEI: Women have been asked to equip themselves with new technologies in order to tap opportunities available online. Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh said by being computer-savvy or well-versed with smartphone applications, women would be able to succeed in e-commerce. “As we are heading towards a digital-economy or e-commerce, IT knowledge is not just confined to the youngsters, and smartphones are no longer considered as luxuries, but a necessity for all irrespective of age,” he said in a speech read by Special Affairs Department (Jasa) Sarikei officer Ahmat Adai at the launching of the Kelab Usahanita Berjaya Sarikei (Kuick) Convention recently. He said with new technologies, women could increase contributions to their household income as well as help in nation building. Len said the convention would provide local women entrepreneurs with a platform to develop new ideas and chart an appropriate course of action. He commended Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) Sarikei for organising the convention.

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Principals and headmasters take the pledge to carry out their leadership roles effectively.       BINTULU: Good teachers produce quality students and thus it is vital that they continue upgrading and improving themselves with the relevant knowledge and skills. Bintulu District Officer Mataip Sayu, in saying this, added it was vital that teachers do this in this challenging world without border filled with information and communications technology. “You are facing a great challenge in this new era as you are also competing at the global education arena with unlimited knowledge to explore,” he said at the Bintulu-level Teachers’ Day celebration here yesterday, representing Bintulu Resident Jack Aman Luat. Mataip said with all the challenges and high expectations from parents, teaching was not an easy profession. “Teachers play very crucial role in shaping human capital to be more competent,” he added. He also reminded the parents that educating their children was not the responsibility of educators alone.  Parents play equally important roles in shaping their children’s personalities from a young age. Bintulu Education officer Fred Entau, who also spoke, said teachers’ roles  and contributions would never end as long as their services were still needed. “We are the fighters of educational transformation. With all the challenges awaiting us, I am proud that our teachers are continuing to give their utmost best to the profession. “Teaching is not just a career but it is our service to the people,” said Fred. Meanwhile, various excellence service awards were presented during the celebration as a recognition to the educators for their contribution to the development of human capital in the division. A retired teacher Temenggong Rosli Kamaruddin, 78, received the Tokoh Guru long-service award for his loyalty and perseverance.

  Abang Johari (fifth left) walking along the Jambatan Tandang Sari in Pusa with other VIPs as part of their official inspection and marking the opening yesterday. PUSA: The RM47-million bridge across Sungai Rimbas here is set to benefit 20,000 people living around the area. Named ‘Jambatan Tandang Sari’, the concrete bridge measuring 327 metres long was completed within 36 months, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg when opening it yesterday. “The construction of the bridge will benefit people living around the area and would become the catalyst for further economic activities which will enhance their income. Our focus is also to ensure that agriculture activities are intensified and run smoothly,” he said. Abang Johari attributed the bridge to former Chief Minister the late Pehin Sri Tan Sri Adenan Satem, saying that it was part of the latter’s legacy to make sure that development in areas surrounding Pusa and Maludam is improved. Around 2,000 people attended the opening ceremony. The bridge is much awaited because all this while some rural folks including farmers depended very much on water transportation, the Chief Minister pointed out. He reminded that he is all out to promote IT facilities so that people can get involved in E-Trade more aggressively soon. Thus, he urged the rural folks to start getting involved in E-Trade if they did not want to be left behind by their counterparts in the urban areas. Among the dignitaries present at the function were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim, Assistant Coastal Road Minister Datuk Julaihi Narawi and Assistant Transportation Minister Datuk Dr Jerip Susil.

Saripuddin (front, third right) and Azharuddin (right), together with (front, from left) Baharin, Rosli and Wan Ahmad Uzir in a group photo with 20 motorcyclists who received their Sirim-certified helmets. MIRI: The Transport Ministry aims to reduce the number of road accidents to 2.5 per cent this year, down from 2.7 per cent recorded last year. Ministry of Transport secretary-general Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim pointed this out during a road safety awareness programme with the local community at Masjid Darul Hana in Kampung Tunku Abdul Rahman here yesterday. “We have 18 million active registered vehicles throughout the country and last year, road deaths were 2.7 per cent for every 10,000 vehicles. “We hope to reduce this to 2.5 per cent this year and reach the target of 2.2 per cent by 2020. European countries like Germany and England target zero road fatality. “In Asean, Malaysia is ranked third for road accidents after Thailand and Vietnam,” he said. Saripuddin said Miri was selected for the awareness programme as it shares the borders with Brunei and the number of vehicles travelling to and from Miri is high. He added that road safety must be emphasised, in that many accidents are caused by negligence. From January to July this year, Miri recorded 2,126 road accidents with 25 deaths, four serious injuries, 23 light injuries and 2,074 non-injuries. Overall traffic fatalities in Malaysia stood at an alarming 7,157 last year. “Sarawak recorded 11,670 accidents involving vehicles in 2016, with 268 fatalities and 141 cases of serious injuries. Thus, it is important for all road users to practise safe driving to reduce the number of accidents. “I ask everyone to be more careful, wear safety helmets certified by Sirim, make sure that the road tax for your vehicles are up to date and please, obey the law,” Saripuddin added. There were many activities yesterday including exhibitions by various agencies, talks on motorcycle safety by Miri Road Transport Department (JPJ) assistant enforcement officer Abu Bakar Kalong, road safety tips by Sarawak Shell Bhd road transport operations coordinator and social performance Hamzani Abdullah, and a talk on ‘Road Safety – A Joint Responsibility’ by Ideris Taril from the state Road Safety Department (JKJR). Transport Ministry Association of Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants (Puspanita) patron Datin Sabariah Tokimin later presented donations to 13 individuals comprising those with special needs, orphans and senior citizens from Lambir. Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Marine Department (JLM) director-general Datuk Baharin Abdul Hamid, JKJR director-general Datuk Rosli Isa, JPJ deputy director-general (management) Datuk Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman, Miri Resident’s Office representative Majenah Lass and Miri District Office representative Sharifah Rafidah Wan Razali were present at the event.

Local big bikers and four-wheel-drive club members gather at KM4 Jalan Melekun to welcome the jamboree participants on Saturday. KAPIT: Events such as the Sarawak 4X4 Jamboree can help put Kapit on the tourism map amongst adventurous travellers and nature lovers. Kapit MP Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi said the division has so much to offer in terms of its rich cultural heritage coupled with rugged terrain, rivers and forests. “Events like this Sarawak 4X4 Jamboree can help promote Kapit as a destination for culture, adventure and nature (CAN) tourism. Through this jamboree, Kapit can be better known to outsiders and participants can help promote Kapit as the preferred CAN destination,” he said during the jamboree’s closing ceremony at the Civic Centre here on Saturday. Organised by Sarawak 4X4 Travel and Adventure Club (Sakta), the jamboree flagged off in Sibu on Sept 13 and covered Kanowit, Ngemah, Song before ending here. In total, 480 participants in 175 four-wheel-drive vehicles took part in the event, including those from Switzerland, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei. For Iwan Sakri, a motor vehicle and spare parts dealer from Jakarta, he said the jamboree offered him the chance to visit Sarawak for the first time. He added he and five others from Jakarta spent about RM4,500 each for the trip, a sum he said was considerably cheaper than what it would cost to take part in a similar jamboree in Indonesia. Sakta president Abdul Taip Sobeng, organising secretary Alister Tinggang, political secretaries to the chief minister Tapah Ata and Maurice Giri, and senior government department heads were among those present at the closing ceremony.

"We can no longer think about how to get the people informed and get them to be better recipient of information any more. The time will come when we have to upgrade the quality of grass root leadership because more successful development will only happen if the people at the lower level can become more actively involved in the process. For this reason, the State government is taking steps to change the hierarchy of machinery in the local government with the primary objective to make it oriented towards serving the people at the grass root level. It will engage more people, who can interact with people comprising of young and old people in their own community with a view to bring them to become more active in social and cultural activities. Basically, the jobs of the people, who will be appointed as councilors with local councils, will get the people at the grass root level to be involved in the overall efforts to get the society improving all the time.   For example, they can help to attune the people to the changing way of life from longhouses or traditional kampongs to those in new housing estates that will come up more and more throughout Sarawak. Therefore, efforts must be made to get people to interact among them so that they can accept the changes. Obviously, there must be interactions that can start through interpersonal communication with the people.  That can be achieved through the normal government machinery to be developed at the level of the local government, which is the closest to the people."     First of all I take this opportunity to thank AZAM for giving us the opportunity to get together this evening.  I always consider AZAM as an organization that can assist the government to get closer to the people, who must be involved in whatever task that the government undertakes in the process of economic transformation to uplift their standard of living from the medium to high income economy For this reason, AZAM was the first organization to be set up as soon as I became the Chief Minister of March 26, 1981. Then, the State government under me understood that without a communication tool all efforts on development on sustainable and continuous basis would not be successful as what we had been hoping for. Actually, AZAM was set up earlier than the introduction of the politics of development and the New Reality.  The two concepts were and still are very important in our efforts to develop Sarawak as they emphasise on the roles of the people as the important components in carrying out development for Sarawak. For this reason, we have been able to recognize from the very beginning that communication is very important as Sarawak comprises of more than 5,000 settlements that are scattered over a wide area. They comprise of traditional kampong and longhouses in remote areas that risked being isolated without efforts to establish communication link with them. The first study that AZAM made was to ascertain the roles of Radio and TV in the process of transformation of the people.  The study found out that more people listened to Radio as their sources of information as the people. For example, housewives listened to Radio while cooking, washing clothes or doing other house chores. Of course, TV needed greater concentration and it could not reach, some places until now, certain areas in Sarawak.  For this reason, development communication has become an inseparable component of the overall efforts to develop Sarawak. When we introduced the Politics of development a lot of people were mystified by the idea. Some suggested why not call it Sarawak economic development as it was really an economic development.  But if we do that, we take away the broad understanding of what development really mean; today we better call it the process of transformation.  Development in Sarawak means the participation, which is increasingly becoming the important component of development, of the Rakyat in whatever the government tries to do for them. In the initial stage of development, it was good enough for the Rakyat to accept whatever development being carried for them.  But this cannot remain forever because the Government wants feedback and more enthusiastic response from them. The new requirement will probably emphasize on the re-organisation of the way the people can participate in the process of development; they can even take initiative in making the implementation of development more effective. Therefore, AZAM has to become an inseparable part of the strategy of development and the politics of development.   Politics of development means the economy constitutes one component of it only as politics is the prime mover of transformation.  The nature of our government means that we must make the social component as important part development. For example, the government must know how much the people understand development and react to it. For example, how they can benefit in the process and get greater input from their participation. Therefore, development communication and successful development are inseparable. Obviously, AZAM in co-operation with the traditional media, comprising of the print and electronic media at that time, helped to spread the understanding of development among the people on the ground.   But of course, we did not anticipate globalization of the world economy that requires the State to be more aware of what is going on outside the country, would come too soon. We must be more aware of what is going on outside the country because whatever we do in Malaysia, particularly in Sarawak, we have to export them, most of them any way, to the global market. In fact Sarawak is very much an export oriented country and its contribution towards the National economy in terms of the balance of payment is quite substantial anything between 30% to nearly 50% from time to time within the last 20 years. Therefore, Sarawak cannot focus on internal development only without keeping the people abreast with what is going on in the world. Thanks God we have entrepreneurs in our country, who from the very beginning because of the very nature of their pursuits namely selling timber and later on manufactured timber products have to keep people abreast with what is going on in the world. Later, more and more people grow and export palm oil and undertake many other undertakings.  They have to be aware of what is going on the world. It can be anticipated that Sarawak’s place in the global economy is going to be more exposed.  Therefore, we must appreciate that the new media must come in a more powerful way in influencing the people’s way of thinking. At the moment, it is confined to urban areas but moving into the rural areas. The State Government has taken a plunge to have its own company to get WiFi connection to reach out into the rural areas. The target is to have 50% coverage of the areas by WiFi sometime this year. Therefore, the penetration of the Internet into the society will get more and more with the realization  that the pressure from young  people of ages 20 upward wanting to be exposed to the borderless new media influence; some influences are good and some  so good.  Some of them because of the borderless nature are carrying a lot of outside struggles, which have no relevance to us, into our shores. Some of the one- line campaigns, for example, on how to save world environment, are not relevant to us and yet we find people shouting here and there in our jungles in Ulu Baram. We have from the very beginning preparing ourselves for a more sustainable management of our forests. Obviously, they cannot find substantial flaws in our forests policies, which have been endorsed by ITTO based on sustainable management of the resources. Hence, they begin to take the fate of the Penans without knowing that the Penans only constitute less than 5,000 people and only 500 of them are still wandering in the forests. The fate of the nomadic Penans was blown out to the world to portray the State as neglecting one portion of the population.  Some of the critics would say that the Penans should be preserved like human museums.  The other side, for example, the Human Rights group would say people should not be left in isolation in development, which is being enjoyed by the rest of the society.  Both are right of course, depending on how one looks at it. But the result of it is the conflict of views, which sometimes are hard for the people to reconcile.  Therefore, there will always be a struggle that confuses young people in the new media unless ways can be found to sort out the real picture.  People do not owe to us, at least that is how they feel, to tell the truth or to expose a balanced view between ours, who are affected and theirs who are campaigning against us. This is the nature of the world and to complain will not bring us anywhere.  The best way for us is to build up our participation and roles in the new media.  This means we must learn something new how to approach and interact with younger generation, whom until now are regarded as protected groups of people in schools and sometimes in the earlier part of the universities. They are no longer protected groups anymore. If we protect them, they will be exposed to the new media and probably following more second hand rather than the first hand information based on what they have to live within their own country. Therefore, we have to strengthen what we have been doing for the country.  Our views must dominate the people as they are the ones who will enforce and determine the success of the transformation that must be achieved   for them. And they should not be detached too much from the fundamental path of nurturing and contributing ideas that are relevant and practical for the better development of the society and country. Of course, we cannot completely shield them away from concepts like democracy, transparency and integrity which we have been trying to promote in the country.  But as we all know a country’s structure of democracy really cannot last long unless it is in harmony with its own cultural identity and the basic way of how the people think. There will be the beginning of conflicts of opinions between generations if we overlook the natural process of the generation gap. There will be a feeling that the people, who fight for ideas that may look nice on papers or on the network but destroy a lot of valuable things that keep the country in peace, stable and able to implement the aspirations for the people. Therefore, AZAM and SDI must find a way how to reach out and continuously feed the people with what is going on in the country. For us truth is better than anything else.  We should not take the stand or take side of any particular people even in the government; when the government is wrong, the government is wrong that is all. We must do what is good for the country, which I believe AZAM has been trying to do this all the while.  Any analytical view that reflects  the  best  of the people namely  the accumulation of experience  that  development and the incorporation of the latest methods  of management  and better means of evoking  people’s participation  must be brought into the approach to  inform the people, particularly the young  people.  Admittedly, this is a very hard thing to do. We do not only give out information but interact with the people through machinery all the way down to the grass root level. We can no longer think about how to get the people informed and get them to be better recipient of information any more. The time will come when we have to upgrade the quality of grass root leadership   because more successful development will only happen if the people at the lower level can become more actively involved in the process.    We are in the stage of bringing the transformation to benefit everybody.  It is no longer the same economic model that does not emphasise much on the need for people in the middle income to migrate to high income group; it is alright to have a few people to enjoy the best that they can have.  The emphasis is to upgrade them.  There must be a migration towards from the middle to the high income economy.  The opportunities are there and ways have to be found how to get as many people to pursue the opportunities.   That explains why the explanation for the New Reality emphasizes change as the fundamental that has got to be embraced.  If the people, particularly the older people, do not embrace change they will not be able to work in harmony with the younger generations.  Therefore, when they understand that the process of transformation requires people to embrace change efforts have to be made to expose the idea of development program with more need contents that can be understood at the lowest level. Therefore, development communication must expose to the people what are the opportunities that are available for the change.  Otherwise, change does not   inspire people and opportunities must be exposed as widely as possible and that the opportunities must be incentives for the people to try harder and transform or change through education and training. That makes the process of development becoming more and more the process of participation; it is no longer benefitting only the few rich people.  That is the stage we are entering now. SCORE is a massive redirection of the development of the State from oil and gas.   Therefore, the people must be made to understand there will be change that will bring about opportunities. However, efforts must be made to identify to the opportunities and how they can become within reach of the people. It can be anticipated that when we go for heavy industries, the people’s aspiration will migrate away from the old things that we have been doing for the last 20 years. They will venture out to seek for better job opportunities and trainings in technical field.  That is what SCORE is all about.  More than half of the 1.5 million employment opportunities that will be created in SCORE up to the year 2030 will benefit people who prepare themselves with technical training and education. The State, for example, will need about 50,000 engineers within the next 20 years. This means that the State must produce 1,500 engineers every year.  That is within reach of the present build up of university facilities. But to get the change from the broad spectrum of subject matters that are essentially arts, management and a bit of science to that of heavy engineering migration is not an easy matter.  The State may experience some shortage of trainers or lecturers.  However, we been trying to find solutions to the problems.  So the coordination between getting the solution to be worked out and the people to respond to them requires a great deal of explanation. For example, what are the ambitions of young people, who can go to university or those that can pursue diploma courses in engineering?   Besides, we have to start talking to young people who would like to become fitters, mechanics, carpenters or other technical jobs?  Generally, the minds of young people are still governed by the perception of the old opportunities.  So efforts must be made  to explain to them new opportunities that are growing; the old opportunities will be decreasing in quantity. Therefore, young people must change with the new emphasis on technical education.  We are entering the era of technical education. Some people may have the misconception that technical education requires good mathematic. They think that technical education involves a lot of academics in training. But technical education, at the lowest level, for semi skilled and skilled workers does not require a person master calculus. A person with Form 3 education can be considered for technical education as long as he can recognize the machine or whatever equipment that he will us to do his jobs.  However, he must understand the theory behind the machine to enable him to repair them if things go wrong. Besides, he must be able to work together with other people in the work place.    I believe technical education at that level will be easier for a lot of young people from rural areas.   Normally technical education is regard as something   for the people who are experiencing good educational upbringing in urban areas. But now we must bring this transformation in a massive way throughout the country; that is what we must do.  And communication to enforce the ideas to the people especially at the grass root level must be prepared by now.  Therefore I suggest that AZAM should start thinking about it from now onward. Meanwhile, the State government is about to change the hierarchy of machinery in the local government with the primary objective to make it oriented towards serving the people at the grass root level. The machinery of the local government will engage more people, who can interact  with people in their own community comprising of young  and old people with a view  to bring them to  become more active  in cultural activities.  Basically, the jobs of the people, who will be appointed as councilors with local councils, will get the people at the grass root level to be involved in the overall efforts to get the society improving all the time.   For example, they can help to attune the people to the changing way of life from longhouses or traditional kampongs to new housing estates with more new growth areas coming up throughout Sarawak. These are things that come up more and more from now onward.  Therefore, efforts must be made to get people to interact among them so that they can accept the changes. Obviously, there must be interactions that can start through interpersonal communication with the people.  That can be achieved through the normal government machinery to be developed at the level of the local government, which is the closest to the people. Thus I think AZAM should take into account that the local government must be oriented to become the machinery that can involve the people at the grass root level more actively in the process of development. They can become the new forces of development or transformation of the society through cultural, social and school   activities. Of course this needs a lot of coordination and AZAM can be the centre of them all with the dissemination of ideas. I do not know how complicated things can because I have not thought all of them very deeply yet. It is up to you to work out the details. But I have a feeling you may need a communication institute  to get the interactions  between you and many others like the mass media, people in the Administration, local government  machinery and of course  how to get  people to have the networking between councilors, who will be trained by you  and other active members of the community so that we will find  out  a new approach to  development transformation  that makes people respond to  development and that  makes things smooth for people to change their pattern of life, which is going to be brought about by new development, new economic changes  in their environment and new opportunities for  employment. These are things that will come up for the next 20 years.  Obviously,  AZAM will have to play a more active part,  probably get more professionals  into the strategies  of development communication, for example, on how it can permeate into  the society through the process of  inter-personal communication  and, of course, normal communication. It will not be that hard although speaking about it will make you feel that it will be so.  But it can be as simple as my speech if only you put your mind into it. I am sure you can do it. Thank you very much

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Irwan (right) shakes hands with Dr Sim at the handover of the iM Sarawak Mobile Community Clinic. Also seen is Kuching divisional health officer Dr Azlee Ayub. KUCHING: The iM Sarawak Mobile Community Clinic aims to reach unserved and underserved communities particularly in rural areas. 1Malaysia Sarawak advisory council member Irwan Zulkarnain Muhammad Hasbie presented the iM Sarawak Mobile Community Clinic – a medically-equipped Maxus V80 van – to the Kuching Sinar Cahaya Welfare Association yesterday. Irwan said the vehicle was outfitted specifically to enable medical practitioners to attend to outpatient cases. The initiative was implemented in partnership with Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, the State Health Department and the Ministry of Health. “This project is in line with the objectives of iM Sarawak to help improve the standard of living of Sarawakians. We realise many people living in the outskirts of town have trouble getting transport into town, while others cannot afford to take time off work to visit the hospitals and clinics,” he said. “As such we hope that the mobile clinic will be able to help the elderly and those with mobility problems get medical attention in a timelier and more cost-effective manner.” Sinar Cahaya Welfare Association is responsible for the mobile community clinic’s operations and maintenance.

(From left) Kong, RHB Banking Group group chief operations officer Rohan Krishnalingam and group chief marketing officer Abdul Sani Abdul Murad showing the latest RHB Insurance Mobile App on their smartphones.   KUCHING: RHB Insurance Berhad (RHB Insurance) has launched its ‘RHB Insurance Mobile App’, a simple, fast and seamless way to purchase motor insurance policy and road tax with just a single end-to-end mobile enabled application. The app allows users the flexibility and versatility to complete the purchase of their motor insurance policy in three minutes, the fastest in the financial industry. Customers can now enjoy a seamless experience in obtaining a quotation for their motor insurance policy, and also opt to renew road tax through this app, which empowers them with the ability to obtain comprehensive insurance coverage for their vehicles as well as access round-the-clock auto assistance at the touch of their smartphone screens. “We are confident the RHB Insurance Mobile App will be a catalyst in transforming the way customers purchase and monitor their insurance as well as road tax renewal with just a single app. This effort is in line with our digital transformation programme focusing on delivering value-added interactions, which will empower our customers,” said RHB Insurance managing director Kong Shu Yin in a statement issued from Kuala Lumpur. “We have built our mobile app on a digital ecosystem that will allow our customers, our agents and other business partners to interact with one another in a seamless way. Our target is to generate 10 per cent of our gross written premium from the digital channel in 3 to 5 years,” he added. For the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2017, motor insurance remained the business’ largest contributor delivering 33 per cent of total gross premiums. As part of RHB Insurance’s 40th anniversary celebration, an online survey was conducted involving 2,000 Malaysians to see whether Malaysians truly know Malaysia. The survey revealed that only 16 per cent of respondents were familiar with the hidden gems of beautiful holiday and recreational destinations available in the country. In view of that, RHB Insurance launched ‘Dah Cover Campaign’, aimed at encouraging Malaysians to obtain personal accident and travel insurance coverage, while travelling across Malaysia to discover these hidden gems. To ensure that Malaysians are adequately covered by insurance while travelling, RHB Insurance is also offering a 40 per cent discount on personal accident and travel insurance during this campaign period starting today until Sept 4. In addition, a 24×7 roadside assistance programme is provided in the event of a breakdown or accident for cars insured with RHB Insurance under the Comprehensive coverage. RHB Insurance provides general insurance for retail and corporate customers. It is the 10th largest insurer in Malaysia with 4.3 per cent market share for Gross Direct Premium and ranks Top 10 insurers for fire and Top 5 insurers for medical and health coverage. RHB targets to be among the top 5 insurance providers in the market by 2022.

KUCHING: Welfare homes under the Welfare Department are safe havens for their residents. This was assured by Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, who said there are protocols to follow at these welfare institutions which also serve as  children’s rehabilitation centre and protection shelter. “There are protocols that have  to be observed at welfare homes. Should an incident occur between a staff of the institution and a resident, stern action will be taken against the perpetrator,” she said when contacted yesterday. Fatimah was commenting on a recent case in Petaling Jaya where six children are believed to have fallen victim to the perversion of a 55-year-old man entrusted to ensure the children’s well-being at a home for underprivileged and orphaned girls in Ampang Jaya. She said the Welfare Department had a Children Protection Policy, which is practised by all child institutions as a protocol to provide protection for staff and residents. According to a report in an online portal, the suspected paedophile, who is said to have co-founded the home and was employed as a caretaker, allegedly molested and took nude photos of the girls, aged between 10 and 12, on numerous occasions. He is also alleged to have repeatedly molested and raped a 12-year-old girl at the home. The suspect went into hiding after Kuala Lumpur and Selangor police launched a manhunt for him following police reports lodged against him. He was arrested in Klang on Jan 4 and is being investigated under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.

KUCHING: With the advancement of technologies and digitalisation in many aspects of development, Sarawak can no longer be oblivious to the use of technologies and be isolated as its forests can be seen and remotely monitored from anywhere in the world, says Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg. He noted that at the same time, the advancement of technologies could be used to the advantage as they could be used to manage the state’s forests more efficiently. He cited developed countries like Finland as an example where forest owners could take care of their forest-related business from the comfort of their homes, using the service portal that provides latest information on forest areas in terms of forest stands, stocking and soil types. This service portal, he pointed out, could also suggest possible logging method or other forest management activities for the area as well as providing related income and cost estimates. “As in other industries, information system is one of the technologies that have a big impact on their operation; likewise it also applies to forest management. “Sustainable forest management requires timely and accurate information, and with the advancement of technologies this information is readily and easily available with the snap of your finger. “This would enable the decision maker to make an informed decision,” he said at the opening ceremony of the 18th Malaysian Forestry Conference here yesterday. Abang Johari believed that technologies could also offer options for a more pragmatic approach in conservation of biodiversity, like tracking and monitoring. He said this is also in line with the Sarawak government’s aspiration to become a digital government. “For us in Sarawak, we strive to stay abreast with the latest technologies in the area of forest planning, monitoring and enforcement. Drone, for example, is widely used in monitoring and reconnaissance works especially in areas where access is limited, while geospatial technology is capable of capturing, storing, analysing and displaying geographically referenced information in real time,” he noted. The Chief Minister pointed out that since Malaysia is a signatory to many international conventions and multi-lateral environmental agreements, data on forest and other land uses need to be reported periodically. He said all of these are made possible with the help of technology. He noted that on a larger scale, Sarawak has embarked on information-sharing through ‘big data’ to enable better coordination within state agencies. “Having said that, and with all the advancement of technology that is being used now, it is secondary if the integrity and sanctity of our forests is not sufficiently guarded. “Therefore this is where the focus and emphasis on research and development is vital. “It is my fervent hope that the conference resolutions would capture various issues on research and development, technologies and develop ideas on how we move forward as one to address challenges in forest management at the national, regional and global levels as well as for future collaboration in forestry.” About 600 participants and observers from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are attending the conference. They come from the three regional forestry agencies, various research and academic institutions related to forestry, relevant government agencies and ministries, timber industries and non-government organisations.

Abang Johari (third left) is seen during a photo call after the signing. From right are Olbery, Morshidi, Aavikso, Taveter, and Kadim. TALINN, Estonia: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tallinn University of Technology (TUT) here yesterday. The MoU will pave the way for strategic collaboration between Unimas and TUT to support Sarawak’s transformation to a digital economy. A statement from Unimas said the MoU covers three technical areas of interest for immediate collaboration – research related to e-government (including using requirement engineering to model and evaluate the effectiveness of the digital economy initiative for Sarawak), research related to cybersecurity and blockchain technology, and research related to big data and analytics. “It is hoped that the MoU between Unimas and TUT will further strengthen the relationship between both institutions of higher learning in areas of interest to both parties, and provide support to the state’s digital economy initiative,” said the statement. The MoU also formalises cooperation between the two universities in areas of collaborative research activities, student projects and internships, talks for students and faculty members, as well as development of curriculum and syllabus. The cooperation also extends to the exchange of academic staff and faculty members for research and teaching, and participation in seminars and academic meetings as well as short-term academic programmes. Unimas vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi and TUT rector Jaak Aaviksoo signed the MoU. In addition, TUT School of Information Technologies Department of Software Science Professor Kuldar Taveter was also offered a visiting professor post at Unimas. Among those present to witness the signing ceremony were Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg; State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani; Malaysian ambassador to Finland, Latvia and Estonia Puan Sri Blanche Olbery; and honorary consul of Estonia in Malaysia Col Datuk Harbans Singh. Abang Johari and his delegation also met with Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Urve Palo and key officials from the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ling (fifth left) leads a delegation in paying a courtesy call on Abang Johari (centre) at his office in Wisma Bapa Malaysia. Yan is at fifth right.   KUCHING: PP Telecommunication Sdn Bhd (PPTEL) plans to set up an Internet data exchange hub at a cost of US$20 million (RM80 million) in Kuching to provide the vital link for the state’s digital economy to take off. According to its executive director Dato Stanley Ling Tiung Leng, the private initiative is to tap the state’s huge potential in digital economy as well as the relatively competitive cost energy source, which is crucial for the data hub to operate. “We chose to set up the internet data exchange hub in Kuching because of various reasons. But the main reason is to assist the state in developing its digital economy, which has huge potential. “On top of that, we are also very keen to work closely with the state government under Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg who has initiated various policies particularly on the digital economy,” Ting told the media here yesterday. He also said that to ensure the internet data exchange hub is well connected to the international markets, PPTEL will also lay down an optic submarine cable from Kuching to Singapore, via Batam Island, at a cost of US$40 mln (RM160 mln). Both internet data exchange hub and the submarine cable projects are expected to be ready for service by October this year. “The idea of having international gateway is to provide a direct link between Sarawak and the international market,” he said. Ling also said they would make another link from Kuching to Hong Kong, to be built through collaboration with a few Asean countries. “This particularly link is initiated by CAT of Thailand, and we are chosen as one of the lending parties. The other lending parties are Vietnam telco, Cambodia telco as well as China Telecom,” he said, adding that the project is undertaken by Konsortium THK Cables. Meanwhile, China’s Wuhan FiberHome International (M) Sdn Bhd CEO Jimmy Yan said his company is now doing the necessary marine survey in order to lay down the fibre optic cable between Kuching and Singapore. “We hope that the second link between Sarawak and Hong Kong will be ready for service by 2020.” Yan said once Sarawak is linked to the international internet gateway, the digital economy would work smoothly. “Once we have the international internet gateway in place, our rate will be very competitive. With that competitiveness; with cheap rate and faster internet speed, those who depend on internet service can reach out to the main players throughout the world. “With the ease of doing business through the formation of Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), the speed of digital economy and the CM’s vision of digital economy will materialise.” Yan foresees that once all the necessary digital infrastructure are in place, the state’s digital economy would start booming as early as 2025. Yan also said PPTEL would become a strategic partner with China’s Wuhan FiberHome International, which will supply the fibre optic that PPTEL needs for its submarine cable project.

KUCHING: Sarawak did not make it to the federal list of states having new aided Chinese primary schools (SJKC) because the state does not need this new facility. Pointing this out yesterday was Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon, who said Sarawak already had a high number of SJKC, most of which are having low enrolment. He opined that some relocation works would help Sarawak meet the rising needs of SJKC rather than having Putrajaya approve new ones. “Based on the records that we have, the two states that are in dire need of new SJKC are Selangor and Johor. That is why in the recent list released by the Education Ministry, of the 10 new schools announced, five are in Selangor while the remaining five in Johor,” he said. He made these remarks when met by journalists after handing over special education allocations worth over RM8.8 million to 184 SJKC and 10 national type secondary schools across the state during a ceremony at the state Education Department here. Chong explained that the federal government’s decision to approve SJKC was based on needs and did not mean that other states would not see new SJKC after the recent announcement by the ministry. To a question, he said the licence would not be revoked even if an SJKC was relocated and the Education Ministry would lend a helping hand as far as relocation fund was concerned. He said the ministry would collaborate with the local authorities as well as the relevant developer when it came to school relocation projects. He added that the ministry already had a comprehensive mechanism in place to deal with educational matters including relocation works.

A programm jointly organised by Miri City Council and Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia, Cawangan Sarawak. The event is participated by numerous batik makers from various states. This annual event was held in May in conjuction with Miri May Fest. For more informations, please call: PERBADANAN KEMAJUAN KRAFTANGAN MALAYSIA CAWANGAN SARAWAK   Tel: 082-444205 Fax: 082-440003 ------------------------------------------------- Miri City Council Tel: 085-424111 Fax: 085-435602 Email: mirimc@miricouncil.gov.my @##@Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia, Cawangan Sarawak jointly organised with Miri City Council.@##@Miri Handicraft Centre@##@2014-05-01@##@2014-05-31

KAPIT: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing yesterday expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg for approving development projects worth RM1.472 billion to be implemented under the Upper Rajang Development Agency (Urda). He said as Urda chairman, he is grateful for the allocation which will see Ngemah receive RM101 million, Machan (RM120 million), Pelagus (RM212 million), Katibas (RM210 million), Bukit Goram (RM158 million), Baleh (RM307.5 million), Belaga (RM180 million), and Murum (RM183.5 million). “Initially, the chief minister approved RM1 billion. However, the amount was increased following discussions after we determined that it was not enough. “Baleh is getting a bigger allocation compared to Kapit, Bukit Goram, Murum, Pelagus, Belaga, Song, Machan and Ngemah as the chief minister had previously visited these areas and announced millions of ringgit worth of development projects,” he said during a briefing with community leaders on the development projects under Urda, held at the Civic Centre here yesterday. Masing, who is also Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister, said he was pleased to note that the majority of elected representatives whose constituencies come under Urda were present at the briefing, along with government officers grassroots leaders. During the briefing, he also gave away prizes to the winners of the Urda logo design competition, which was won by Andy Wilson Anderu with the motto ‘Reaching Beyond Boundaries’. Andy won a cash prize of RM5,000 while five others received a consolation prize of RM200 each. Urda, which falls under the Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda), was set up last year covering 41,000 sq km of the upper Rajang areas of Kapit, Bukit Mabong, Belaga, Song, and Kanowit. It covers three parliamentary constituencies – Hulu Rajang, Kapit and Kanowit – as well as seven state constituencies namely Ngemah, Katibas, Bukit Goram, Pelagus, Baleh, Belaga and Murum. Among those who attended the briefing were Recoda chief executive officer Datu Ismawi Ismuni, Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong, Kanowit MP Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang, assemblymen Datuk Ambrose Blikau Enturan (Katibas), Wilson Nyabong Ijang (Pelagus), and Jefferson Jamit Unyat (Bukit Goram), as well as government department heads and community leaders.

Ministry of Utilities Sarawak

Jamit (seated seventh left) is seen at Pasang’s Gawai Dayak open house. Pasang is on Jamit’s right.     KAPIT: Kapit has been praised for continuing to be a shining example of Sarawakian unity and solidarity. Bukit Goram assemblyman Jefferson Jamit Unyat said although Gawai is a Dayak festival, it is also observed by other communities. “During this Gawai, even the shops in Kapit were closed for two days to allow the workers to take a break so that they could return home to join their family members for the celebration,” he said when attending Penghulu Pasang Tubah’s Gawai Dayak open house on Tuesday. “Kapit practises this because the different communities are so close to one another. “We truly demonstrate the spirit of Sarawak in unity and solidarity.” He also called on the Dayak community to continue holding various events to celebrate Gawai Dayak, such as the Kumang Gawai. “The Dayak must continue to uphold their traditions and the Gawai celebration must be held continuously,” he added.

  Chong (fifth left) with Dr Sim (fifth right), Sudarsono (second right) and others pose with the mock cheques during the presentation ceremony. KUCHING: Special government allocations worth over RM8.8 million for aided Chinese primary schools (SJKC) and national type secondary schools (SMJK) in Sarawak were given out yesterday. Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon handed over cheques for RM7.115 million and RM1.69 million to 184 SJKC and 10 SMJK respectively during a ceremony at the state Education Department in Petra Jaya here yesterday. In Kuching alone, a total of 56 SJKC and one SMJK stand to benefit from the special government allocations. According to Chong, Sarawak is the state that has the highest number of SJKC in Malaysia. Because of this, he said Sarawak was also the state which always received the most education funding for SJKC from the federal government. Also with him at the ceremony was Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong, who said Sarawak received a total of RM8.3 million in similar special allocations last year. Of the total, he said RM7 million was meant for SJKC while the remaining RM1.3 million was for SMJK. Manyin reiterated that Sarawak had 1,020 dilapidated schools which required more grants from Putrajaya in order to carry out repair and rebuilding works. He hoped that the federal government would dole out more funds for the state to address dilapidated school issues. According to Manyin, Sarawak needs at least RM3 billion to repair and rebuild all dilapidated schools. Among those present were Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, who is also Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) president; and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research Datu Sudarsono Osman.