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.

Jewel Tourism

With the world heritage centre Mulu Caves as the anchor, the huge Baram region can be positioned as a premier tourism destination said Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok.

Baram district in Miri Division is almost the size of the state of Pahang is home to the various indigenous tribal groups of the Land of the Hornbill.

“The asset of the indigenous people in Baram is their colourful and interesting cultures. If we can market the culture of our indigenous people in Baram to the outside world, we can attract tourists who are interested in the cultures and traditions of the indigenous people. I believe our people can take part in this industry and will directly benefit from it. Our people cannot possibly take part in oil palm plantation industry because this industry require big capital and expertise,“ said Lihan Jok.

He said this during the presentation of Mesra Malaysia and Tourism Certificates dinner recently.

The dinner was organised by the women wing of the federation of orang ulu associations FORUM). Present were the organising chairperson Kijan Toynbee, the city council secretary Antonio Kathi Galis, the Telang Usan PBB youth chief councillor Dennis Ngau Jok and several heads of associations.

Lihan firmly believed that tourism is the one industry for Baram that is marketable if all the players in the industry play their role.

This is in line with the call by the Chief Minister to have one industry for one division, said Lihan.

With that in mind, he suggested a brainstorming session among the industry players and stake holders in the very near future.

“We are serious in tapping this potential gold mine for our people. A breakthrough can come when there is a perfect collaboration among all the stake holders and industry players,” said Lihan.

Lihan pointed out that the Baram hinterland can complement Miri as the Resort City, drawing tourists from all around the world who are keen to have a tropical adventure in the deep jungle of Baram.

As the tourists trek through the jungle of Baram, enjoying the scenic and virgin forests, they can also learn about the colourful cultures of the indigenous tribal people along the mighty Baram river.

Baram has a lot to offer in terms of historical values.

There are a number of forts in the interiors, legacy of the colonial era. If these forts can be promoted as tourist destinations with some story-telling about their histories, these forts can be as famous as the Famosa in Malacca.

With tales of barter trade between the traders and the semi-nomadic Penans in days of old, Baram has a lot of nostalgia to offer to the outside world especially tourists from Britain.

With the historic Baram Regatta held once every three years, this event can be promoted in the country's tourism calendar.

This year Baram Regatta is held from 15 to 17 August. The first Baram Regatta, held in 1899 was a peace-making ceremony between the warring tribes in Baram in those days.

The first Baram Regatta early turned into a bloody tribal war between the various tribes that came to Marudi to take part in the boat-race when one of the tribal leader was wounded by a member of an opposing tribe.

However, the wounded tribal leader stood up and pacify his men saying it was an accident, thus averting a tragedy from happening on the momentous occasion.

“With all these colorful history of Baram and the diverse and beautiful cultures of its people, I don't see any reason why tourism cannot be as successful as other industries in Baram. We have a lot of tourist destinations yet to be tapped like the Usun Apau,” said Lihan. ENDS.

Caption: TOURISM JEWEL: Lihan (seated fourth from left) with other guests at the dinner.

ONGKILI IN CURTIN

To underscore its commitment to make the country competitive globally,the Malaysian Government allocated RM4.3 billion under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) for research fund, said the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.

“I argued vehemently against any cut in research fund due to the current economic situation during the last Cabinet meeting,and my Cabinet colleagues saw the critical need to continue supporting research work. They were saying don't touch the research grants. So a portion of the intended cut in research fund were put back and hopefully we will continue to be able to support research for the sake of the new economy the country is aiming for which is based on science and technology,” said Ongkili.

He said this when addressing researchers in Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus yesterday.

Present also were the deputy chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, the Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication Lee Kim Shin and the Dean Associate Professor Joan Gribble.

Ongkili expressed satisfaction with the university for its research effort.

Of the eight Curtin's ongoing externally funded research projects, five were funded by MOSTI.

“From what I saw, those are the kinds of things MOSTI are promoting. Your research is right on track and you are right in the centre of thing,” said Ongkili.

He was particularly attracted to the research by the university on Hardware and Software Design of Body Sensor Network Device, funded by MOSTI.

Another research which was particularly relevant to the country was Development of a Compartmented Fluidized-Bed Gasifier for Syngas Production and Power Generation from Biomass (palm wastes).

“I am personally biased toward biomass. This will be the jewel of research priority. Anyone addressing this part of research effort is sure to get millions of ringgit in research funding from my ministry. Every year 1 million of oil palm trees are being cut down and left to waste. If these wastes can be processed into ethanol, so there is a need to carry out research in this area,” said Ongkili.

“I encourage you to move on with your research effort in this university. For the next six months, I will be visiting all the universities who have received research grants from MOSTI, to see the progress of their research,” he added. ENDS with photo.

Caption: 08-8ongkili7: RESEARCH CUTTING EDGE: Ongkili (seated third from left) with the researchers and staff of Curtin. Lee is to his left.

SEALINK DEBUT

Sarawak-based ship builder, owner and operator, Sealink International Berhad and one of the few integrated service providers in the Malaysian offshore oil and gas industry, yesterday made its debut on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

The company floated 128.37 million Sealink shares at RM1.25 per share through an Offer for Sale and a Public Issue exercise.

The company’s Public Issue will raise gross proceeds of approximately RM141.71 million which will be utilized, amongst others for the expansion of shipyards and fleets.

The company will be expanding its current fleet of 29 vessels to 40 vessels in the next three years and project to invest in access of RM300 million over the next three years for this expansion.

The company is also expecting to invest RM50 to 100 million over the next three years to upgrade the capabilities of its shipyards to increase production capacity from 15 vessels per year currently to 20 vessels per year.

Sealink has two shipyards located in Miri to cater to its shipbuilding activities. For the financial year ended 31st December 2007, shipbuilding contributed approximately 73% of revenue or RM118 million and 57% of gross profit or RM34 million.

The company’s chartering of vessels continues to be its focus in drawing long term income stream and currently contributes about 27% or RM44 million to Group revenue.

Sealink’s current fleet of 29 vessels consists of landing craft, multi-purpose vessels, tugboats, barge, supply vessel, utility vessel and passenger vessel.

To-date Sealink’s customers include both local and international companies from the United State of America, Australia, China, India, Latin America, Europe, East Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Sealink’s export market contributed 80% or RM131 million to last financial year’s revenue.

For financial year ended 31st December 2007, the Company recorded revenue of RM162.7 million and RM58.9 million of gross profit. The cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of Sealink's revenue for the past 4 years is 96% while the CAGR of its profit after tax is 60%.

Celebrating the historic occasion of the company were several key board members.
Caption:From Left to Right: Datuk Michael Hardin, Executive Chairman; Wong Chie Bin, Executive Director; Eric Khoo Chuan Syn, Executive Director; Sam Yong, CEO & Deputy Managing Director; Yong Foh Choi, Managing Director.

Golf for Girls

Malaysian Ladies Golf Association (MALGA) yesterday announced that 140 lady golfers from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei Darrusalam have confirmed their participation in the MALGA Golf Challenge 2008-Eastern Zone to be held on July 30 2008 at Kelab Golf Miri (KGM) and July 31 2008 at Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club Miri.

The executive director of MALGA Rabeahtul Aloya Abbas said that the association together with the KGM's lady captain Marilyn Raja Wright and her organising committee has been able to create a wave of excitement for the participants to take part in this unique 2-day regional tournament by getting the support and cooperation of the lady captains from the various golf clubs in the region.

The MALGA president Tunku Dato Seri Jawahir bt Tuanku Ja'afar will also be present to take part and lead this two-day event.

MALGA is also thankful to the local sponsors that has been pouring in sponsorship to support this inaugural event in Miri that includes Proton Persona car donated by Datin Annie Lau, the wife of KGM captain Datuk Jimmy Lau, Modenas motorcycle and holiday packages to Perth by Lau Ki Kiong of Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club.

The prize giving dinner on July 31 will be hosted by Sarawak Tourism Board.

As part of MALGA's aggressive grassroot development programme which is more affectionately known as “Golf for Girls”, a two-day Junior Camp will also be conducted by MALGA's coach Neil Douglas for the juniors from 12 schools in Miri taking part in this programme since last year. Sixty girls from the primary schools have been handpicked last month by the coach to take part and sharpen their skills over the two days.

Rabeahtul also stressed that this programme will not be a success without the support of the local community, the Education Department, teachers, parents and corporate sponsors.

To show MALGA's appreciation to the serious efforts of the local community to implement the programme in Miri, Rabeahtul yesterday handed over 50 junior golf sets to the schools. These golf sets came all the way and sponsored by R & A Ltd Scotland, UK in support and recognition to MALGA's effort in promoting the game among the junior players. ENDS.

Caption:BIG SPONSOR: Rabeahtul (front third from right) receiving the sponsorship from Annie as other committee members look on.

INDIGENOUS CULTURE FOR TOURISM

The huge Baram district in the Miri Division, home to the colourful indigenous tribal people have one identifiable industry that has the potential to attract world attention-tourism based on the unique cultures of the indigenous people themselves.

“The asset of the indigenous people is their colourful and interesting cultures. If we can market the culture of our indigenous people in Baram to the outside world, we can attract tourists who are interested in the cultures and traditions of the indigenous people. I believe our people can take part in this industry and will directly benefit from it. Our people cannot possibly take part in oil palm plantation industry because this industry require big capital and expertise,” said the Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok.

He said this when officiating the Orang Ulu Tradition Dance Documentation Workshop recently.

Present also were the organising chairperson Elizabeth Deng, the paramount chief of the Orang Ulu Miri Division Temenggong Pahang Ding, the executive secretary of Social Development and Urbanisation Council Aisyah Idris, the assistant secretary from the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation Usop Kilat and the researcher from the council Knot Atok.

The workshop, jointly organised by the council and the federation of orang ulu associations Malaysia (FORUM) was attended by about 50 participants from the various ethnic Orang Ulu associations.

Lihan said for the indigenous people to realize the dream of the Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib of one industry one division, they have to focus on what they have at hand, that is their rich culture.

Taib recently said he mooted the idea of “one industry for one division” with the hope of improving the livelihood of the people, particularly those in rural areas.

He urged political leaders in all divisions to identify the industries with the potentials to bring the most benefit to the people.

He was quoted as saying, “We need to bring the people to get involved in our development process, so it be good if we can have one industry for one division,”.

Baram itself had seen the timber industry booming in the early 1980s and now the oil palm industry being carried by giant companies.

But the indigenous people living in Baram especially the semi-nomadic Penans opposed such industries in the past because they felt displaced and marginalised by such developments taking place in their areas.

Touching on the workshop, Lihan said it was timely and appropriate to be held so that a consensus can be reached among the diverse Orang Ulu ethnic groups as to the dance to be performed during official functions like welcoming dignitaries.

“We do not want our traditional dance like the Datun Julud and Liling to be adulterated with the passing of time,” said Lihan.ENDS.

Caption: OUR CULTURE OUR PRODUCT: Lihan beating the gong to officiate the workshop witnessed by other invited guests.