Posts Tagged ‘Sarawak’

Today is Hari Kebangsaan or Hari Merdeka (Independence Day). It is the national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.

Hari Merdekaan 2010

The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress Tun V.T. Sambanthan. Once it became increasingly clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on February 8, 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, for a number of logistical and administrative reasons, it was decided that the official proclamation of independence would only be made the next year, on August 31, 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur.

This YouTube video is the proclamation of independence by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the first prime minister of Malaysia.

The Federation of Malaysia, comprising the States of Malaya, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore was to be officially declared on the date August 31, 1963, on the 6th anniversary of Malayan independence. However, it was postponed to September 16, 1963, mainly due to Indonesian and the Philippines’ opposition to the formation of Malaysia. Nevertheless, North Borneo and Singapore declared sovereignty on August 31, 1963. Indonesian opposition later escalated to a military conflict. Indonesia considered Malaysia as a new form of colonization on the provinces of Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo (bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia), which they laid claim on. To assure Indonesia that Malaysia was not a form of neo-colonialism, a referendum, organized by the United Nations, and the Cobbold Commission, led by Lord Cobbold, were formed to determine whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak wished to join Malaysia. Their eventual findings which indicated substantial support for Malaysia among the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, cleared the way for the final proclamation of Malaysia.

The formation of the Federation of Malaysia was then announced on September 16, 1963 as Malaysia Day. The nationwide Independence Day celebration is still held on August 31, the original independence date of Malaya, while Malaysia Day is a public holiday only in East Malaysia. However, this has caused some minor discontent among East Malaysians in particular since it has been argued that celebrating the national day on August 31 is too Malaya-centric. It is decided that starting this year, Malaysia Day will be a nationwide public holiday in addition to Hari Merdeka on August 31.

The above is from Wikipedia.

To all Malaysians, I wish you a very happy Hari Kebangsaan. May  Malaysia be blessed with peace, racial harmony, religious tolerance, prosperity and unity! God bless Malaysia!

The 2010 Borneo International Yachting Challenge (BIYC) began in Miri, Sarawak on the 24th of this month with 51 yachts  from 14 countries taking part. There are 20 entries from Australia, 6 from UK, 5 from Malaysia, 5 from New Zealand, 4 from USA, 2 from Germany, 2 from France and 1 each from Singapore, Grenadines, Vanuatu, British Virgin Island, Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.

BIYC 2010 Logo

This annual event, now in its 7th year, takes a fleet of international yachts from Miri to Labuan – a distance of 105 miles, and then from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) which is another 65 miles. The regatta finishes in Kota Kinabalu with two races around the Tunku Abdul Rahman national Marine Park on Friday the 30th July, followed by a lavish prize giving dinner at Sutera Harbour Marina Club hosted by Sabah Tourism.

The regatta is a joint effort between the Ministry Of Tourism And Heritage Sarawak, Labuan Corporation, and the Sabah Tourism Board. Other sponsors include Sutera Harbour Resort, Samling Global, Pelita and Park City Everly Hotel in Miri.

Sarawak’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan flagged off the contestants at Marina Bay in Miri. Sarawk’s Assistant Minister of Social Development & Urbanisation Datuk Lee Kin Shin, BYIC Miri Working Committee chairman Troy Yaw and Miri mayor Lawrence Lai were also present at the flag-off.

Marina Bay Miri

This year’s fleet has set a new record for the event. It will also make the regatta one of the largest of its kind in South East Asia. One of the reasons for this dramatic increase in numbers is due to collaboration between the BIYC and the Sail Malaysia Rally – Passage to the East.

BIYC committee member Simon Farmer, who was instrumental in forging this partnership with the organizers of Sail Malaysia, said that given the current state of the global economy and the ever shrinking sponsorship dollar it made sense to combine the two events. He said the number of entries this year proved that this had been a popular strategy.

The Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board and co-chairman of the regatta, Dato Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin expressed his delight with the number of yachts taking part this year and said that Sabah is on target to achieving its goal in becoming the Caribbean of the East.

He said that ‘events such as this are putting Borneo and Kota Kinabalu on the map, and are the perfect vehicle for showcasing the state and its bio-diversity’.

Adlin commented further that over the past 12 months Sutera Harbour Marina and Kota Kinabalu had hosted at least 10 mega yachts of over thirty meters with a combined value of over US$350 million dollars. Among these visitors was the world’s largest privately owned sailing yacht, the 92 meter ‘Eos’ valued in excess of US$150 million.

Sutera Harbour Marina in Kota Kinabalu

“The fact that more and more of these types of yachts are visiting our shores means that the message is getting through to yacht owners and captains that Sabah and Borneo have as much to offer, if not more than the other major destinations around the world. These types of visitors provide a tremendous boost to the local economy and to the global perception of Sabah”, remarked Adlin

Tengku Adlin will take part in the regatta once again this year sailing aboard Farmers yacht in the final two races off Kota Kinabalu. This will be a little different from last year when he crewed on the 120’ luxury sailing yacht ‘Naos’ and was treated to a gourmet lunch. Farmer warned Adlin not to expect the same this year as the boat he is sailing on is a stripped out racing yacht with only the bare essentials. Adlin replied that he was ready for the challenge.

Tomorrow is Gawai Dayak. This is a harvest festival celebrated by Sarawak’s largest ethnic group, the Dayaks, and the Bidayuhs. It is a time for family reunion, renewal of friendship and paying respects to the elders and the departed. The festival is rhapsody of non-stop dancing and merry-making as well as lavish offerings of traditional delicacies and tuak, a wine made from fermented rice, yeast and sugar.

This is how you make tuak. Glutinous rice is cooked and left to cool in a ‘tapan’ or any flat utensils. For every five kilograms of glutinous rice you will need five kilograms of round ‘ragi’ (yeast) and five pieces of thin slice ragi (round ragi for bitterness, slice ragi for sweetness). The yeast are pounded into powder and mixed with the rice after it has cooled. This mixture is then left to ferment in any clean container (jar) for a week or so. Cool, boiled water plus sugar is added to this mixture (10 kg sugar for 20 liters of water) . Depending on your taste, your tuak is now ready but the longer you keep it, the more potent it will be. Gawai Dayak would be less meaningful without the tuak. The tuak is a must, just like turkey is a must for Christmas. Bottoms up!

On Gawai Dayak, it is a ritual to give offerings to the dead through the miring ceremony, an elaborate and often colourful and noisy ceremony performed to appease the gods and the spirits and to ask for prosperity, good health and other blessings from them. The ceremony is performed by passing a live chicken above the food and drink, or other offerings, in a circular motion several times.

Gawai Dayak, particularly at the longhouses, is an unparalleled example of unity and harmony in the country. The longhouse folks welcome with open arms all guests irrespective of race, gender or religion. A visit to a Dayak longhouse during Gawai Dayak is a real eye-opener. The longhouse folks bring out their gongs and drums. Many of them wear hand-woven costumes lavishly decorated with antique beads and silver. Ladies and men in traditional costume perform ngajat which is a simple, rhythmic, strutting shuffle danced in rhythm to the beats of the gongs and drums. Visitors to the longhouses are often invited to join in.

A Dayak girl dancing

An Iban man performing the ngajat

A longhouse usually has dozens of families living in it so you will be invited to visit all the families. Be warned….if you cannot handle too much alcohol, you may end up very drunk as you will be served tuak by every family that you visit.

To all my Dayak friends, I wish you all Selamat Gawai Dayak……Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai!

Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai

Myriam Janeth Abreu Medfina, representing Venezuela, was crowned Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 last night by Sarawak’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan at the Miri Indoor Stadium.

Miss Venezuela Wins

First runner-up was Miss Australia, Kelly Louise Maguire. Miss America, Amy Diaz, was the second runner-up. Congratulations to the winners!

Winners of the Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010

Miss Malaysia, Darcia Marselynna, won the subsidiary title of “Miss Congeniality”. The “Best Talent” title went to Miss Germany, Klaudia Domagalska. Miss Netherlands, Djamila Celina Mercherts, won the “Best National Costume” title.  Miss Mexico, Leslie Ines Quezada Bueno, took home the “Best Evening Gown” title.

Below are photos of 30 of the contestants taken during their stint at Grand Palace Hotel a few days ago. All the photos in this blog post are by the courtesy of Chris Gan of Grand Palace Hotel Miri. Thanks, Chris!

Miss Australia

Miss Azerbaijan

Miss Belarus

Miss Brazil

Miss China

Miss Estonia

Miss Ethiopia

Miss Germany

Miss Hong Kong

Miss India

Miss Japan

Miss Kyrghyzstan

Miss Latvia

Miss Lebanon

Miss Macau

Miss Malaysia

Miss Mexico

Miss Netherlands

Miss New Zealand

Miss Pakistan

Miss Russia

Miss Singapore

Miss South Africa

Miss South Korea

Miss Taiwan

Miss Thailand

Miss Tunisia

Miss Ukraine

Miss USA

Miss Venezuela...she really exudes confidence!

Chris Gan With Some of the Contestants

A few days ago I saw an exotic local fruit at a hawker in front of  the Magnum 4D outlet in Boulvard Commercial Center. The fruit is known as keranji (dialium indum) locally.

The fruits come from a tall, tropical tree which has become a threathened tree species due to its valued hard and compact wood. The fruits are grape-size with thin black brittle inedible shells. Each fruit typically has a hard brown seed but some fruits have two seeds. The fruit tastes like tamarind as it is a type of velvet tamarind.

I remember eating this fruit when I was a small kid so I could not resist buying some. Cracking open the shell and eating the flesh covering the seed sure brought back memories of my childhood in Bintangor, Sarawak.  As kids, we used to eat this fruit and sometimes played a game with the fruits. Two person competed with each other with each holding a fruit between the thumb and the forefinger and pressing the fruit against the other person’s fruit.The person whose fruit’s shell broke had to surrender his or her fruit to the other person. The games kids played, haha!

Miri is aiming at becoming the first green city in Malaysia with May 20 as the deadline. On May 20 this year, Miri will be celebrating its 5th anniversary as a city.

Bird's Eye View of Miri City

Since taking office, Mayor Lawrence Lai has impressed Mirians with his leadership and initiative to transform Miri into a better municipality.  He has been busy visiting many parts of the municipality to listen to complaints from the people and trying to carry out improvements where necessary.

Mayor Lawrence Lai

One of the first step undertaken by the Mayor towards making Miri a green city is appealing to Mirians to lend their wholehearted support to make Miri the first city to say no to plastic bags everyday.

The city council’s “Say No To Plastic” campaign launched on August 30 last year has garnered the support of local hypermarkets and supermarkets that give no free plastic bags on Sunday. With effect from this month, the no-plastic days were increased to 3 days every week from Friday to Sunday.

Say No To Plastic Bag

The city council has always been active in planting trees and plants in the city and the mayor has pledged to plant a minimum of 1000 trees per year. I can see nice landscaping in many areas of the city which makes the city look much more beautiful….kudos to the city council!

The city council is planning to hold landscaping competitions among schools to inculcate the “go green” culture among students. It is also encouraging all government departments and agencies to carry out landscaping too.

A major green project that the city council will implement is the bicycle track from Taman Selera to Lutong in two phases. Under the first phase, the bicycle track will link Taman Selera to Miri City Fan while the second phase will link Miri City Fan to Lutong. The aim of the project is to encourage more people to use bicycles thereby reducing the number of motor vehicles on the road.

Beach at Taman Selera

A View of Miri City Fan

The city council is studying the feasibility of installing solar or LED lightings for the whole city. With about 17,000 street lights in the city, the council is paying over RM7 million in electricity bills annually. It is estimated that the council can save between 60 to 70 percent in the electrical bills. And Miri will also become the first city in Malaysia to have such lightings if the project is implemented.

I wasn’t born in Miri but I have lived in Miri for almost 30 years and have come to love the city dearly. It is in my opinion the best place to live in Sarawak.

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I watched the movie “Avatar” at Star Cineplex at Bintang Megamall. I have only one word to describe the movie: WOW!

Avatar Poster

The sci-fi movie is an incredible animation masterpiece. You find yourself transported to Pandora, a fictional Earth-like moon in a distant planetary system. The beauty of Pandora is breathtaking and will have you in awe!

Pandoran Scenery

The movie is set in the year 2154 on Pandora where humans are engaged in mining the Pandora’s reserves of a precious metal while the Na’vi – the race of sapient humanoids indigenous to Pandora – resist the the expansion of the human as it was threatening the continued existence of the Na’vi and the Pandoran ecosystem.

Jake and Neytiri, the hero and heroine

This immediately brings to my mind the plight of the Penans of Sarawak and their resistance against timber companies encroaching on their customary land and their nomadic way of life. Remember Bruno Manser?

The Penans of Sarawak

Bruno Manser

As the movie progresses, you can’t help rooting for the Na’vi. And you may even clench your fists during those scenes depicting the atrocities of humans committed against the Na’vi and the Pandoran ecosystem.

The movie is truly a visual feast. It is a movie that you will really enjoy. Just go and watch it!

On this day fifty two years ago,  a baby boy was born in a tiny town called Binatang in the state of Sarawak.  Binatang is a Malay word meaning animal. Whoever named that town must have been a animal lover. The town was later renamed Bintangor as the name Binatang has a negative connotation.

Ya, that baby boy is me lah!  I’m really getting old.

I wish to say thanks to my wife and my sons Clarence and Leslie as well as Amanda for their birthday cards and wishes.

Birthday card from my wife

Birthday card from my son Clarence and Amanda

Birthday card from my son Leslie

This morning my wife and I dropped by Jenny Hiu’s house in Taman Tunku to pick up a kilo of “limpeh bahkua” (barbecue dried pork) made in Singapore. Jenny is an ex-colleague of mine in Teck Guan Group in Brunei. She left for greener pasture in Singapore a few years ago and is now attached to an American oil & gas company there. I had asked her to help me buy a kilo of the famous Singapore bahkua (Lim Chee Guan bahkua) a few days before she came back to Miri on Christmas Day for her holidays. Jenny not only bought a kilo of the bahkua that I wanted but she also bought another packet of the “three-storey meat bahkua” ( something like bacon bahkua) for me. And she refused to accept my payment…..okay, Jenny, I owe you a favour.  By the way, your house in Taman Tunku fits the “title” that I have bestowed on you since our days in Teck Guan….I’m sure you know what I mean, hahaha!

Limpeh bahkua from Singapore

Simply delicious...

Did you read the following news article about some leakage a few days ago? What a joke…..hahaha…..rofl!  No, it is not about oil leakage…..it is not about house leakage…..it is about ringgit leakage….leakage amounting to BILLIONS of dollars! All Malaysians particularly those from Sarawak are eagerly awaiting to find out where the other 60% “leaked” to……if only a very tiny portion of this leakage flows to my bank account, I would be an orang kaya di Miri…..hahaha!

Sunday November 29, 2009

Billions siphoned – Sarawak govt steps in

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: The Sarawak Cabinet has ordered an internal investigation into claims made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) that up to 60% of government allocations — running into billions of ringgit — meant for vital infrastructure projects between 2002 and 2008 have been misappropriated.

MACC investigations showed that only 40% of the money set aside by the Government were spent on the projects. The remaining 60% were said to have been “leaked elsewhere.”

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said yesterday the state government’s internal audit department would carry out a detailed probe into the allegations.

“The state government is investigating. We also want the MACC to give us a full and detailed briefing on these claims. We (state government) view these claims very seriously and if such abuse of government funds had taken place, we must find out who was responsible and take appropriate action against them.

“This is government money that comes from taxpayers. If indeed funds from the Government meant for projects for the rakyat and the poor had been misappropriated, the state government wants action taken,” he said yesterday.

He was commenting on a statement by MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Zakaria Jaffar that the MACC had uncovered cases in Sarawak where up to 60% of government allocations had been “diverted’’ away from the projects.

Zakaria had said this in Kuching during an anti-corruption seminar a few days ago. He claimed that the misappropriation of funds took place between 2002 and last year, adding that MACC investigations showed that only 40% of the money allocated by the Government were spent on the projects.

He, however, did not disclose what the projects were or which part of Sarawak the projects were being carried out.

He noted that the projects involved infrastructure constructions for roads, housing schemes and mosques, among other things.

Zakaria said MACC investigations found that many of these projects were poorly-implemented while some had not even begun despite the fact that the Government had already channelled the money for them.

“The MACC found that there were fake claims made by officials and contractors involved in these projects,’’ Zakaria said.

Dr Chan, who is State Industrial Development Minister and State Minister for Agriculture Modernisation, said yesterday that the state government had always been very strict with how allocations from the Federal Government are used.

He said the Sarawak Cabinet had always been transparent with taxpayers’ money.

“I am happy that the MACC had exposed the issue. If they are doing their job properly, we are thankful because this is for the good of the rakyat,’’ he said.

State Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg wants the MACC to give him more details about the housing projects said to be affected by the misappropriation of government funds.

There has been a sharp increase in dengue cases in Sarawak this year when compared to last year. The current year-to-date number of dengue cases in Sarawak is 3247 compared to 1287 in the same period last year.  And Miri has the most cases (704) accounting for about 21.7% of the cases and there have been 2 deaths in Miri. Krokop, Pujut, Piasau and Permyjaya are some of the areas with the highest number of cases.

This is cause for concern. And the authorities are taking action to combat the situation. Fogging has started in many areas and the authorities has warned residents that they will impose a fine of RM500 on residents whose premises and compounds are found to be mosquito breeding grounds.

Dengue can be life-threatening. Unlike malaria, dengue is just as prevalent in urban areas as in rural areas.  Dengue is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquito which feed during the day.

There is a simple dengue treatment that a lot of people have tried and have attested to its efficacy This is how this treatment is carried out. Take 3-4 papaya leaves (use only the leafy part with no stem or sap). Clean the leaves and then pound them and squeeze using a filter cloth to get about 2 tablespoonfuls of the juice. Do not boil the leaves or rinse with hot water! Take a dose of 2 tablespoonfuls once a day until full recovery.  Within a couple of days of taking the juice, the dengue patient will see an increase in their platelet count and overcome the dengue fever.

Papaya leaves....treatment for dengue fever

But prevention is better than cure. Take steps to eliminate mosquito breeding places in and around your house. I have heard of a mosquito trap created by some elementary students in Taiwan and it seems to be a very effective mosquito trap from the comments that I read online. I have not tried it out myself so I cannot vouch for it. There is no harm trying it out as it is very cheap to build one. These are what you need to build the trap:

1 two litre plastic bottle

50 grams brown sugar

1 gram yeast

1 thermometer

Measuring cup

Knife

Black paper

Sealing materials

Steps 1-3

Step 1: Cut the bottle as shown above.

Step 2: Put 200 ml hot water in the measuring cup, add in 50 gram of brown sugar and stir. Place the measuring cup in a larger container containing cold water to cool the temperature till 40 degree Celcius.

Step 3: Then pour the sugar water into the cut plastic bottle and add yeast. There is no need to stir the yeast. When yeast ferments, it produces carbon dioxide.

Step 4-5

Step 4: When you cut the plastic bottle in Step 1, don’t throw away the top part. You will now put this top part upside down into the bottle containing the sugar water and yeast so that it looks like a funnel.Seal the edges of this funnel.

Step 5: Cover the bottle with black paper as mosquitoes like dark places and carbon dioxide. Your trap is now ready to be deployed. Place it in some darker corners. You will see the effectiveness of the trap within a few days.  Remember to replace the sugar water and yeast every two weeks.

I will try to make a couple of this trap this weekend and will let you know if it works. Apparently this trap works well with certain species of mosquitoes and not all mosquitoes.Have a great time catching mosquitoes!