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My youngest son...surrounded by the love of God

Miri has public complaints bureau...

Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) here has set up its own Bureau of Public Complaints and Services ala MCA's Datuk Michael Chong except with a difference.
"Where MCA is a one-man show, ours is a team of 31 party members led by youth chief Lawrence Lai. Our bureau is divided into three units that is the legal unit, the education unit and the public complaints unit. We have six lawyers in the bureau, " said the assistant minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication Lee Kim Shin.
He told this to reporters when he brought members of the bureau on a familiarization visit to the Miri Police District Headquarters yesterday.
Present during the visit were the Miri police chief ACP Jamaludin Ibrahim, his senior officers and Pujut assemblyman Andy Chia.
Lee said the bureau would assist the various government departments especially regarding public complaints.
"With the setting up of this bureau, we hope to facilitate public complaints in a more efficient way by disseminating the accurate information promptly. In this way, a lot of problems could be resolved and misunderstanding averted," said Lee.
In response, Jamaludin welcome the move by the bureau to work closely with the department saying effort to help the public would be more focused.
"Our department's role is to ensure security for everyone in Miri," said Jamaludin.
Lee requested a seminar be conducted for the bureau so that its members are knowledgeable on proper police procedures like making a police report and making a citizen's arrest.
Jamaludin also disclosed the department is currently looking for about 80 individuals to fill the post of police voluntary reserves.
"These police voluntary reserves would only do police work after office hours. Although the deadline have expired, we are opening it again because so far we have only received about 25 applications," said Jamaludin.
Also raised during the visit was the need for big supermarkets in the city to instal CCTV at their parking areas and if necessary at their shopping complexes to deter robberies.
Some members of the bureau also raised the need for a stronger and more visible police presence in busy shopping centres in the city because of late there had been cases of snatch thefts.
Jamaludin also advised kite flyers to take extra precaution when flying kites in residential areas.
"There had been reports of children chasing kites on the roads without regard to their safety. Altough there is no law against kite flying but action can be taken if it endangers public safety like getting in the way of aviation or get in the flight path of aeroplanes," said Jamaludin.ENDS.

Caption: 08-10bureau:COLLABORATION: Lee (seated third right). Jamaludin is second right. Chia is fourth right. Lai is at right.

Only the Greedy says Police chief

About RM128,000 was swindled from unsuspecting victims of a scam known as Court Scam carried by unidentified suspects with six cases related to the scam already reported to the police here.
In a press conference here, the Miri Police Chief ACP Jamaludin Ibrahim said police are still investigating the case.
He explained the modus operandi of those behind the scam to the reporters present.
In one case, the suspect made a telephone call to a fixed line to the victim identifying himself as a police officer from Bukit Aman telling the victim that he was required to attend a court hearing in Kuala Lumpur.
The victim was told by the suspect that his bank account had been used for illegal activities involving Along and illegal money.
The suspect was told that his bank account is now under investigation and he was instructed by the suspect to withdraw all his money from his account and to transfer the amount to an account provided by the suspect.
He was told his money would be kept in the account during the period of investigation and would be returned to him once the case is solved.
To make the scam look bona fide and believable to the victim, the first suspect had his accomplice, this time a woman who identified herself as a public prosecutor from Kuala Lumpur court called the victim advising him to transfer his money to the account provided by the first suspect otherwise the victim would have to attend court hearing in Kuala Lumpur.
The suspect promised to contact the victim once the money had been banked in. The suspect only realised he had been conned when the suspect never call back after the money was banked in.
"In view there are a lot of these cases being reported and this kind of scam had become worrisome, I would like to advise members of the public to be cautious and never to give their money to people they do not know. If you happen to receive such calls, don't entertain and the best course of action is contact the police, the court or the bank as preventive measures to avoid being swindled," said Jamaludin.
"People who are easy preys to swindlers are those who are greedy," he added speaking of those who fell victims to the sweet talks of these predators either online, phone calls and SMS.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, Jamaludin disclosed police had arrested four locals, three women and a man, suspected of having being involved in conducting illegal lottery.
A police team led by ASP Anthony Abell made the arrest in a police raid on the 8 October 2008. Also confiscated in the raid were 12 fax machines, several calculators and writing materials.
Based on police investigation, the amount of weekly betting collected by the suspects in their illegal operation was estimated at RM300,000.
The suspects would be charged under the Open Gaming House Act 1953 Section 4A(a) which carries a maximum fine of RM200,000 or two year imprisonment upon conviction.
This is the third of such cases, said Jamaludin. The first was in January and the second was in August. He also revealed the first and the last case was related.
Police,meanwhile, believed several house-breaking cases rampant in Lutong and Desa Senadin areas lately were solved with the arrest of two suspects, both male, age from 27 to 42 years old on 16 October 2008 at a house in Kg Pengkalan Lutong. A laptop, a watch and a remote control kite were also confiscated. The two suspects would be produced in court tomorrow.

Caption: SUCCESS STORY: Jamaludin (right) showing the fax machines that were confiscated. Also in the picture is Miri CID chief DSP Mohd Zani Che Din.

Angelic beings?

Supernatural manifestations of angelic being during a special meeting in our church. One of the youths took pix from his mobile phone of the worship, not aware it would record manifestations of angelic beings...note that three white spots above the back up singer....

NCR issue

A massive crowd of about 250 indigenous people came for a talk on NCR, Communal Reserve and Traditional Village at the Land and Survey Miri office yesterday.

The organisers had only anticipated about 150 community leaders to attend but it was obvious a lot more people are keen to listen to the talk because it has to do with the future of their land in the interiors.

The overwhelming response was an indication of how close the land issue is to the hearts of the indigenous people.

Organised by the Telang Usan PBB under the chairmanship of Charles Balan Seling, the talk was a bold initiative by Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok to gather the community leaders in his constituency under one roof to hear detailed explanation of issues relating to landownership vis-a-vis the Sarawak Land Code.

For example, when the Miri Resident Ose Murang asked the participants how many understand what is NCR (Native Customary Rights), nearly 90 per cent have no idea what is NCR.

Then Ose began to explain that land cleared and cultivated before 1 January 1958 is considered NCR. He then asked how many understood what is NCR and almost all of the participants raised their hands to indicate they knew.

In his speech, Lihan said tackling the land issue in his constituency became a top priority in his political struggle.

While acknowledging that the land issue is a big problem in his constituency, Lihan, nevertheless, said he would do his utmost best to seek solutions to resolve the issue.

“Since 2006, I had started to find ways to resolve the complex land issue in my constituency by meeting the relevant government departments and ministries. The talk we have today is just one of my efforts to seek solutions to the land issue. I felt the community leaders must have the right and accurate information so that they can explain clearly to their respective communities they represent about government policies and projects regarding land,” said Lihan.

Also present were the Miri Resident Ose Murang, the Superintendent of the Land and Survey Miri Roslan Putit, the representative of the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Land Development Wilfred Jolly, the paramount chief of the Orang Ulu Baram Temenggong Pahang Ding.

According to Ose, a massive 400,000 hectare of land in the Baram district has been earmarked for big development involving oil palm plantation and tree planting. The problem is identifying the boundaries of the NCR landowners, he pointed out.

Ose had set up a Divisional Land and Development Committee in 2006 specifically to look into the land issue in the division.ENDS.

Caption:: MASSIVE TURN OUT: Seated from left: Charles, Pahang, Lihan, Ose, Roslan and Wilfred at the event.

Desa Senadin Home Cell

 

Home Cell at my home at Lot 1549 Desa Senadin every Friday from 7:30pm. Semuanya anak muda!

On the mountain top

 

My "youthful" church on the mountain top overlooking the city..we were there praying for the city..HALLELUJAH

MYSTICAL GARDEN IN BARAM

An enchanting and mysterious Eden-like garden hidden in the deep jungle of Borneo near the Dulit Range in upper Tinjar surfaced again recently after long forgotten since it was first mentioned by Charles Hose in his book Fifty Years of Romance and Research in Borneo in 1891.

The recent encounter with this mysterious garden was narrated by one 52-year Merang Kaling to a tour operator John Barah recently.

According to Merang, a former surveyor with two timber companies it was in 1992 when he set out to trek the upper part of the Dulit Range in search of the valuable jungle treasure “ bird nest and garo” with one Tajoh Ginat of Long Aton.

After two days of jungle trekking, the two of them camped by a small stream. The following day, they continued their jungle trekking, climbing a sandstone cliff for the most part of the day.

To their surprise, they discovered something strange in the deep jungle-a garden with tobacco and brinjal. The garden was only a stone throw away from the summit of the Dulit Range, said Merang.

“There were tobacco plants planted in neat rows. The leaves were 5 inches wide and about one foot in length. At the edge of the garden we saw green round brinjal plants. I noticed that some of the tobacco leaves had been freshly plucked by someone but there was no footprints. All the tobacco leaves were perpetual evergreen, not a single one appear to wilt. The garden was very clean with not a single leave drop to the ground. But the mysterious thing about the garden was that there was not a trail leading to it and no sign of human activity. The width of the garden was about 12 feet and the length was about 2 chains,” said Merang.

After spending about half an hour in the garden, the two of them came down to their camp. That night they slept peacefully. Merang realised that he had chanced across the garden his elders had talked about in their folklore regarding the Dulit Range.

After interviewing Merang about his encounter with this mysterious garden, John found a similar experience that Hose had way back in 1891 where he wrote about his experience in his book called Fifty Years of Romance and Research in Borneo, “ Early next day I ventured to climb a greystone cliff which was directly above us, using ladders and cords made of rattan, and was rewarded for my trouble by finding many things of interest. First we came upon a large cave with a long ridge of overhanging rock. The soil underneath this ridge was very dry, but to the surprise of everyone, tobacco was found growing in several places. We picked some of the leaves, which measured for 4 to 5 inches across and about a foot long. This wild tobacco, growing at the entrance of the cave, appeared to be flourishing at an altitude which I estimated to be 4150 feet. The Punans, who collected this wild tobacco, believe that it was originally planted by the spirits.”

According to John, Merang would make another jungle expedition to unravel the mystery behind this garden in two weeks time hoping to bring some conclusive proofs of the existence of the garden to the outside world.

"I hope to make the journey before the end of this year," said Merang.

It was reported that any attempt in the past to bring back this tobacco leave was futile as the leave simply dissolve or melt away once it was brought out of the enchanting environment of the garden.

I suggested that he take pictures of the garden supposedly built and guarded by spirits. ENDS.

Caption: TALE OF A MYSTICAL GARDEN IN BORNEO: John Barah.

KEDAYAN NCR ISSUE

The Kedayan community in Bekenu are happy that their NCR land controversy has finally been resolved.

“We wish to express our gratitude to the Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib for his swift action in resolving the issue,” said Ketua Kampung Narawi Ariffin.

He told this to the Borneo Post after he led a group of his men to clear one of the four ancestral cemeteries in the disputed NCR land.

“It has never been our intention to go against the government in raising the issue lately. From the beginning we have never approached the Opposition to champion our cause,” said Narawi.

“We will continue to give our undivided support to the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government,” he added.

He pointed out the government acted swiftly by sending officers from the Land and Survey department to check the existence of the four cemeteries.

According to 69-year old Manap Samah the Kedayan community came from Brunei Darrusalam about 300 years ago.

He did not know the exact reason for the Kedayans to migrate from Brunei at that time but he said the original place of the Kedayans was at Kampung Uban.

From Kampung Uban, the Kedayans moved out to various places in Sarawak to as far as Kuching, Sibuti, Miri and Limbang.ENDS.

Caption: kedayan1-OUR LAND: Narawi (second from left) and his men pointing out to their land planted with oil palm trees.

Kedayan2- ANCESTRAL RESTING PLACE: Narawi (centre) at Sg Kabut, Kejapil muslim cemetery.

Kedayan3-BUSINESS MINDED: Kedayan women folks selling a variety of fruits and vegetables at Kejapil Tamu.

Kedayan4-THE PROOF: The map that shows the disputed area.

TALK AT CURTIN U

The students of Mass Communication, Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus sat down for an hour or so listening to talk given by veteran journalists representing the Northern Sarawak Journalist Association (NSJA) yesterday.

The event was a joint collaboration between the university and the association.

Also present were the NSJA president Chai Chon Chin,the Head and Senior Lecturer of the Department of Mass Communication Dr. Joseph Jayaprakash Yesudhasan,lecturer Mawi Taip, the secretary George Bennet Francis, Borneo Post senior reporter Lucas Jalong Bato.

Lucas spoke on the Daily Life of A Reporter while George spoke on Criminal Justice Reporting. ENDS.

Caption: REPORTING TIPS: (Seated from left: Joseph, George, Lucas, Mawi and Chai) with the students.

TOUGH INDIGENOUS MEN OF LONG SERIDAN

Tough indigenous men of Long Seridan came together recently to repair a broken bridge that links their longhouse to the outside world by land.

The bridge was cut off by a timber company operating in the area last April on the pretext of preventing thefts in a timber camp near the longhouse.

After months of waiting for the bridge to be repaired by the timber company on humanitarian grounds, the longhouse community leaders called their young men working in the urban centres like Miri, Bintulu and Kuching to come back to repair the bridge.

The reason being at the end of this year before Christmas there is going to be a big Kelabit naming ceremony in the longhouse. Due to this significant traditional event in the culture of the tribal Kelabit clan, there are expected to be a big influx of not only their own people going back to witness the event, but a lot of outsiders especially tourists are expected to make a bee line for Long Seridan.

Although there is a rural air service to the longhouse, the flight frequencies are not expected to be able to ferry all the people who plan to go back for the occasion.

Hence, the urgency of repairing the broken bridge in order to facilitate a smooth flow of traffic back to the longhouse for the traditional event and also for Christmas at home.

According to the team leader Joseph Maran, three 4WD vehicles from Miri with scores of men took part in the gotong-royong to help their community at home.
“We used about 30 pieces of logs to repair the bridge,” said Joseph.

He wished to thank all those who volunteered to take the time off to do a tough job for their community.

“It is this spirit of self-reliant that is commendable among the men of Long Seridan. It taught us that if there's a will, there's a way. Initially, we were discouraged after failing to get any positive response to get the bridge repaired but we decided to do something ourselves” said Joseph.ENDS.

Caption: BUILDING BRIDGES: Tough men of Long Seridan at the bridge. Joseph is the one holding the chain saw.