MIRI-BASED SEALINK MAKING WAVES

Sarawak-based Sealink International Berhad one of the major integrated service providers in the Malaysian offshore oil and gas industry, yesterday announced an oversubscription rate of 0.03 times for the public portion of 28.37 million Sealink Shares at the company’s balloting session held at the Malaysian Issuing House Sdn Bhd.

Sealink IPO(Initial Public Offering) comprises of a total Public Issue of 113,370,000 new ordinary shares and an Offer For Sale of 15,000,000 ordinary shares at an Issue/Offer price of RM1.25 per ordinary share.

“I am pleased and happy to have received a good response from the public for our IPO subscription despite the subdued mood in the equity capital market. I believe that our subscribers are medium to long term investors who want to participate in the growth and success of our company, hence my board of directors and I will continue to work hard to further improve the company’s performance and consequentially improve shareholder’s value.”, said Mr. Sam Yong, Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Managing Director of Sealink.

“Our foundation and historical performance coupled with our ability to balance good earnings between our ship chartering and ship building businesses augurs well for our future moving forward. In this, we aim to be one of the leading integrated services providers in building and operating a diverse fleet of offshore marine support vessels in the Asia Pacific Region” he added.

In the company’s recently issued prospectus, Sealink have forecasted a proposed dividend payout of 4 sen per Share for Financial Year Ending (FYE) 31 December 2008. The company’s forecast profit after tax is RM50 million on the back of a forecast revenue of approximately RM213.3 million for FYE 31 December 2008.

Sealink is expecting increases in revenue from both its chartering of vessels and contract revenues of shipbuilding arising from sales to third party to RM80.4 million and RM132.8 million respectively for FYE 31 December 2008. This is essentially attributed to the increase of demands for vessels in the oil and gas industry whereby the current construction of 15 vessels in the Sealink shipyards are expected to be completed for delivery and charter services by end of 2008.

“I am confident of meeting the forecast figures for our financial year 2008 as both our 1st and 2nd quarter results have been encouraging.”, added Sam Yong.

In line with its listing on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad, Sealink has plans to expand its current fleet of 29 vessels to 40 vessels in the next 3 years and project to invest in access of RM300 million over this period. For the year, the company has taken delivery of a vessel and will take delivery of another vessel this month. Apart from that, the company also aims to expand and upgrade its shipyard production capacity from 15 vessels per year to 20 vessels per year and increase efficiency through an investment of RM50 to RM 100 million over the next 3 years.

Sealink as ship owner, builder and operator, has 2 shipyards located in Miri, Sarawak. The company’s customers include both local and international companies from the United States of America, Australia, China, India, Latin America, Europe, East Africa, Southeast Asia and Middle East.

Sealink (STOCK NAME : SEALINK) shall be listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 29 July 2008 under the industrial sector.

THE FIRST POLITICAL CLUB IN MIRI

The setting up of PBB Telang Usan Supporters Club was to consolidate the strong unity among party members and supporters in Miri, said its divisional head Lihan Jok, who is also the Telang Usan assemblyman.

“The club will seek to enhance unity among members and supporters in Miri. This is because most of our people from the constituency are now residing in Miri and other major towns in Sarawak. The club will act as an agent to facilitate the flow of information among our people. This is vital in this era of globalisation where the flow of information is very fast. We need to disseminate the correct information fast to our people to deflect whatever wrong perception the people may have due to propaganda aimed at misleading the people,” said Lihan.

He said this at the launching ceremony of the club last night at Dynasty Hotel.

Present were the organising chairman Jau Eng Aran, the political secretary to the Chief Minister Robert Laing Anyie, the PBB Telang Usan vice chairman councillor Simpson Njock Lenjau, the PBB Telang Usan youth chief councillor Dennis Ngau Jok, the PBB Telang Usan Women chief Ezlizabeth Deng and the paramount chief of the Orang Ulu Baram Temenggong Pahang Ding.

About 200 people attended the dinner held at Dynasty Hotel.

The protem chairman of the club is Sgt Major (retired) Standly Ngau. The deputy is Alexander Lian. The secretary is Howard Wan and the assistant is Martha Ngau. The treasurer is Roland Lusat and the assistant is Anyi Ajeng. The publicity officer is John Ngau Jok.

The committee members are Bessie Mujan, Michael Ngau, Kenneth Nyarang, Dominic Ngurang, Anyi Wan Uloi, Agnes Ngau, Winnie Long, Sylvester Luhat, Raynore Lihan and Julian Francis.

Lihan made an appeal to the Orang Ulu intellectual group from the constituency to rally behind the political leaders in PBB.

“Being the backbone of the BN coalition government, we being the minority group in the state can benefit if we are solidly behind the party which champion the cause of all races in the state. We cannot afford to be out of the mainstream of social and political development in the state,” said Lihan.

“We have to have an open mind and become the agent of change for our small community. I urge the younger generation especially the intellectual group to support our political struggle for our people. We are in politics because we want to give service to our people. That is the real meaning of politics. The challenge is the political leaders must know how to use the political power to help the people,” he added.

Meanwhile, in his speech Robert advised the people not to be hoodwinked by the promises of the opposition, particularly the Pakatan Rakyat, who aimed to mislead the people for their political agenda.

“The BN government has an excellent track record of governing the country. Why should we listen to the lies of the opposition, especially with regard to the fuel hike. We understand that this is a global issue and there is nothing much any governments in the world can do about it,” said Robert.

Dennis, in his speech said the formation of the club is timely in view of the political scenario in the country.

“Hopefully, the club will be able to attract the participation of youths in politics. They can actively contribute ideas and suggestions of how best to serve our people through the club,” said Dennis.

Ezlibeth expressed the hope that the setting up of the club marks the beginning of a united collaboration among the party members and supporters in the future.

“We like to see a lot of our intellectuals come forward to play a more positive role in uniting our people for the progress of our people. I advise our people to be patient and resilience in the face of the current crisis which is global in nature,” said Elizabeth.ENDS.

Caption: UNITED WE STAND: Lihan (seated fourth from left) with the club's protem committee and several community leaders. Robert is to his right and Pahang is to his left.

My youngest son accepted Jesus

Last night my 8-year son Timothy accepted the Lord Jesus as His Saviour and Lord. Last night was a special night for our family. Unlike our daily family time of Bible reading and teaching where my three sons Ezekiel, Joel and Timothy read several verses from a chapter of the Gospel of John and later I would teach from the chapter, we had communion after Timothy accepted the Lord Jesus into his life. Just to be sure, we asked Joel to accept the Lord again last night after his younger brother because he said he had accepted the Lord but couldn't remember when. 

PERTOBATAN ANAK MUDA

BREAKFAST ONE MORNING

Yesterday morning I decided to treat myself to breakfast. Usually, I just skipped breakfast and go straight to my prayer closet early in the morning. After sending my son to school at 6am, I drove straight to town but my office is not open yet at 6:30am so I usually spend the early morning alone with God. But this morning I was led to take breakfast. The skipping of breakfast is influenced largely by the increase in the prices of everything-including a cup of coffee, a plate of dry mee (now RM2.50). So I decided to treat myself to a cake costing 70 sen. Before taking my breakfast I took out my Bible (Alkitab i.e.) and read a chapter in public. This action is not to show off- but I usually cahllenged young Christians to read their Bibles in public. Why should they be ashamed to read the Bible in public? So I decided I must practised what I preach and start reading my Bible in public.

run for the needy, anyone?

What does a hotel and an educational institution have in common to cause them to come together, if not their passion to help the less fortunate in society?

Dynasty Hotel under the caring leadership of its general manager Dennis Ngau Jok have been organising a charity event, the Run For Charity joggerthon for five consecutive years and Kolej Fajar, together with other sponsors, has been supporting the event faithfully over the years.

This year, Kolej Fajar has decided to sponsor all the prizes for the event.

On hand to present the sponsorship to the organising committee yesterday was its Chief Executive Office Dr. Peter Tham.

Also present were Dennis, the organising chairperson Fylice Loh and several committee members.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas sponsored the prizes for the top three collectors.

The prizes for the first, second and third top collectors are return flight Miri-KL, Miri-Kuching and Miri-Kota Kinabalu respectively.

Sibuti Member of Parliament Ahmad Lai is expected to flag off the runners on 13 July 2008 at 6:30am and the Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication Lee Kim Shin, who is also the event patron is expected to officiate the closing ceremony later in the morning.
Money raised from the event is for charity work like donation to the Miri Dialysis Centre and festive goodies for the least fortunate during festive seasons like the Chinese New Year, the Gawai Dayak and the Hari Raya Aidilfitri.ENDS.

Caption: 08-7tham9: FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Tham (seventh from left) symbolically handing over the prizes to Dennis while other committee members witnessed.

HEAVEN IS SO REAL-ARE YOU READY?

Last Saturday our church Miri Latter Rain Church invited 16-year Mary to give her testimony for our youths. I had heard of her testimony from brother George. She had close encounters with the Lord Jesus. So I thought it would be life-changing for the young people in our church to hear first-hand about her spiritual experiences. We had planned for her to come and share her testimony last month but postponed a few times. Finally, we were able to have a special meeting last Saturday afternoon. She came with her parents and her elder sister. We had a time of worship before the testimony. First, the father gave his testimony being the head of the family. His testimony was no less extraordinary-from being just a security guard in a bank he is now a bank executive-PRAISE THE LORD. Then the mother shared a little bit. Then the elder sister shared too. Then Mary shared her testimony. About how the Lord brought her up to a beautiful place and revealed a lot of things to her. Her testimony was so captivating that her testimony which came close to three hours felt like just a short while. The youths were so attentive to hear her testimony. As a pastor I can testify that her experiences were real. I observed her sharing and I felt in my spirit that she was telling her true experiences with the Lord. One sign was that she was humble in spite of having this supernatural experience. The fear of the Lord was clearly seen in her life. The Lord told her the time is short for His Second Coming-and she said the Lord is sad to see His people on earth not ready. The message of repentance kept on repeating in her testimony. After her testimony there was a time of ministering. All the youths went to the front to be ministered to. The mother who is a lay leader in her church, prayed for the youths. All of them were slained in the Spirit except for one. The mother also had a burden to pray for me and my wife. Truly God was gracious.