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DAP launches <b>Sabah</b> Dream - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

DAP launches <b>Sabah</b> Dream - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 10:15 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP yesterday launched the "Impian Sabah" (The Sabah Dream) movement to penetrate rural communities in the state after its failture to capture more seats in Sabah in the 13th General Election.

The first project under the movement will target a village under the Kota Marudu seat, which was previously won by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili with just a 842-vote majority.

"We were able to 'destroy' the 'fixed deposit' moniker for Johor and Sarawak, by increasing our votes received significantly … However, for Sabah, we were only able to increase our votes by 3.4 per cent to 35.9 per cent," DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang told reporters at the launching here.

"Hence, it is undeniable that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) must pull out all the stops to increase our electoral support in the state with 26 parliamentary seats, including Labuan."

"Impian Sabah" is the second project under the larger "Impian Malaysia" project and after "Impian Sarawak", which was launched in September aimed at capturing rural Sarawak.

Despite targeting 33 parliamentary seats from the Johor, Sarawak and Sabah — the three states that helped keep a weakened ruling coalition in power in the last polls — PR only managed to secure 14 seats.

Of the three states, PR won only three parliamentary seats in Sabah — Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, and Penampang — with the first two won by DAP.

The first outreach project in Sabah will be a RM25,000 gravity-feed water system at Kampung Samparita Laut in Kota Marudu, where over 200 of its Dusun villagers have no access to piped water and currently depend on the murky river nearby.

The village falls under Kota Marudu, won by Ongkili in the May polls after a four-cornered fight involving DAP, Sarawak-based State Reform Party (STAR), and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

"If not for the splitting of votes with STAR, PR would have own the seat. Hence, every effort must be made in these marginal seats so as to ensure that PR will win these seats in the next general election," Lim added.

However, DAP denied yesterday that it will only be carrying out projects in areas where BN won with minor majorities in the May polls, stressing that its main agenda is to deliver their promises to the rural areas.

"I think votes are secondary …We do make full use of our efforts to assist the people of Sabah. We believe votes will come if you do well. We're less concerned about votes today, more concerned about actually delivering what we promised," said Tony Pua, the DAP national publicity chief.

According to Pua, the second project will be done in Tenom, the parliamentary seat won by Umno's Datuk Raime Unggi by a 3,886-vote majority in the 13th General Election. PR's representative was PKR's Masdin Tumas, who won 5,885 votes.

Sabah DAP chairman and Kota Kinabalu MP Jimmy Wong, Sabah DAP secretary and Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi, Sabah DAP assistant secretary and Likas assemblyman Junz Wong, Sandakan MP Stephen Wong and Sri Tanjong assemblyman Chan Foong Hin, Sibu MP Oscar Ling Chai Wai and Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming were present at the launching.

Wong said DAP would explore, study and identify critical programmes and projects that need to be carried out in Sabah to uplift the well-being of the rural and poor villagers.

"We will organise teams of members and volunteers to penetrate these remote villages to undertake projects such as micro-hydro electric dams to provide electricity, gravity feed water systems, repair works on basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges as well as economic upliftment programmes via sustainable sources of income," he said after the launching of the program.

He said Impian Malaysia agents are required to take part as volunteers in these programmes to bring significant changes to the livelihood of these villagers.

The participation of Impian Malaysia agents in the campaign will make an immense difference to these people, the Kota Kinabalu member of parliament said.

"We will be kicking off the first Impian Sabah project this weekend to build a gravity-feed water system at Kampung Samparita Laut, Kota Marudu, a village that is about a three-hour drive from Kota Kinabalu, including an hour of off-road driving," he said.

According to Wong, Kampung Samparita has a population of more than 200 people who have no access to piped water. These villagers rely on the main river source for drinking, washing, and cleaning.

"In fact, they don't even have toilets because the villagers said there isn't any point in having toilets if there isn't any water. The average drinking water colour looks like Nescafe susu and during rainy days, when the colour turns to 'Nescafe kurang susu', they will collect the rainwater for drinking. With this project, we hope to be able to provide running water to the whole village," he said.

Wong said the project would involve two batches of volunteers from November 30 to December 8 and December 12 to December 21. The volunteers will be staying with the villagers, assisting to connect pipes, burying pipes, cement work, and all work related to building a gravity water feed system.

'Impian Malaysia' or the Malaysian Dream is a movement started by Kit Siang in May after the 13th General Election that envisions a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divisions.

The movement hopes to gather more Malaysian volunteers (including non-party members) to be 'Impian Malaysia' agents for its activities and programs to promote Malaysian identity and consciousness particularly among the young generation of Malaysians.

In September 2013, DAP had successfully launched the first pillar of the movement – 'Impian Sarawak' – and has completed several projects, involving nearly 40 'Impian Malaysia agents'.

Impian Malaysia agents who cannot take part directly can certainly take part in this thrust by attending fund-raising dinners or donating online via https://dapmalaysia.org/donate. They may even run their own fund-raising activities.

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Where is Nur Misuari? Not in <b>Sabah</b> Esscom BorneoPost Online <b>...</b>

Posted: 09 Nov 2013 09:35 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Fugitive Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari has not been seeking refuge in Sabah following clashes between the Philippine Armed Forces and his armed followers in the southern city of Zamboanga, according to Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).

Esscom director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek said he was very certain that Nur Misuari, against whom an arrest warrant had been issued in the Philippines, was not in Sabah.

The leader of a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front that staged the Zamboanga siege in September is rumoured to be hiding from one island to another in the southern Philippines.

"I can confirm that neither Nur Misuari nor any of his men are in Sabah to seek refuge from the Philippine government," Mohammad said.

"I therefore urge the people of Sabah and concerned parties not to worry or make any speculations which can create unnecessary unease.

"Sabah is now at peace, so please do not make any speculations which could affect the Government's efforts to attract tourists and investors into the state," he said yesterday.

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Body to recruit more teachers with <b>Sabah</b>, Sarawak&#39;s help <b>...</b>

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 08:48 AM PST

by Wilfred Pilo, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on November 12, 2013, Tuesday

KUCHING: Yayasan Guru Malaysia Berhad (YGMB) aims to increase its membership by 50 per cent in the next five years, and it has two teachers' unions in Sarawak and Sabah for help.

YGMB inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers' Union (KGBS) and Sabah Government Teachers' Union (KGKS) here yesterday to recruit more teachers to become its members.

Its chief executive officer Wan Munadi Wan Mamat said KGBS and KGKS would also be helping the foundation to explain to new members any issue that might crop up from time to time.

Established in 1994, YGMB has 83,000 members, with 90 per cent of them life members.

It has 8,323 members in Sarawak, which is second only to Perak with 9,734 members.

But the total number of teachers in the country with the MOE is 430,000, and most new teachers are teaching in Sabah and Sarawak.

Wan Munadi said MOE officers and staff were also eligible to become members of the foundation.

"The foundation provides 16 benefits for teachers from the day they joined the teaching profession through the Ministry of Education (MOE) until the day they retire or die," he told a press conference here.

Since 1994, he said YGMB had given welfare assistance totalling about RM12 million to members.

This year, it allocated RM800,000 for members.

Annually, the foundation had been giving out about RM1 million to assist its members, especially the life members.

Also present at the signing ceremony were YGMB deputy chairman Dato Abdul Raof Hussin, KGBS chief Ahmad Malie, KGKS president Hussin Basir, and Malaysia Headmaster Council chairman Ruslan Madon.

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Only two of 23 govt hospital kitchens in <b>Sabah</b> GMP certified <b>...</b>

Posted: 27 Oct 2013 03:58 PM PDT

 

KOTA KINABALU: Two of the 23 government hospitals in Sabah have received Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification for its kitchen.

The kitchen operators from Pitas and Ranau District Hospital received their certificate of appreciation yesterday.

State Health Department director Dr Christina Rundi said the department is currently pushing for all government hospital kitchens in Sabah to be certified with GMP and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) based food safety management system to ensure all food prepared and sold in their premises is safe and healthy.

"Obtaining GMP and HACCP certification is important for the department to ensure our efforts to promote food safety among Sabahans are not wasted. Apart from that, we are also advising all local food operators to obtain Food Operators' Training Programme (LPM) certification, a prerequisite for all businesses that directly handle food preparations and services to avoid and prevent food poisoning," she said.

Rundi said this at the state-level Food Safety Carnival at Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, which was launched by Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah.

She added since the implementation of LPM in 1996 until June this year, a total of 29,391 food operators have been trained in Sabah.

A number of activities have been implemented by the department in cooperation with the Health Ministry and the other related government agencies, including Squad Germ Buster (SGB) and Kendiri or Self Inspection, but Rundi stressed that such activities should be continued to ensure its messages will reach to all levels of the community.

This year, two series of inspection and closing operations have been carried out where 27 out of 128 food premises were ordered to close due to cleanliness reason.

Rundi said that the department would be working closely with the other agencies, including schools, to ensure all parties involved in food preparations follow the rules and put safe food as their priority.

Meanwhile, Yong, in his speech said he supported all the efforts made by the State Health Department to reduce food poisoning cases in Sabah.

A number of activities were organized during the event including choral speaking and food safety quiz for secondary schools.

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Pocket map for visitors in <b>Sabah</b> - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 05:10 PM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: 'My Navigator – Street Mapping' will soon be made available and will serve as a pocket info for travellers and tourists visiting Sabah.

According to Sabah Hotel Association (SHA) president Christopher Chan, the pocket map would be a perfect guide for all travellers, backpackers, tourists who were arriving in Sabah as it provides them with the latest information of eateries, tourist destinations, accommodation and many other touristic attractions in Sabah.

The pocket map will be made available at hotels, motels, eateries, ferry terminals, cafes and so on. They will also be made available to guests travelling on the Star Cruises ships.

Chan added that SHA is fully supportive of the product as it is a helpful tool for tourists while at the same time provides assistance to small operators, outlets and hotels to promote their establishments and services to their prospective clients.

Also present at the event yesterday were East Malaysia Star Cruises marketing manager Vincte Lim and the organising chairman and director of Public Media Group, Darren Yong.

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Review allocation for <b>Sabah</b>, Sarawak DAP BorneoPost Online <b>...</b>

Posted: 28 Oct 2013 10:59 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: DAP Sabah chairman Jimmy Wong wants the Federal Government to review its allocation for Sabah and Sarawak as tabled by Prime Minister cum Finance Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the national 2014 budget.

According to him, the RM476,628 million allocated for infrastructure development in Sabah is not enough.

He also took the government to task for the paltry sum given to Sabah and Sarawak for the construction of the Pan Borneo highway.

"Why must the sum be given in stages? Why can't it be given at one time? You see the government is only allocating RM500 million per year for the road project which costs RM23 billion and scheduled to be completed by 2025.

"With only RM500 million a year, how can the highway be completed by 2025… it would take 40 years to construct the road if that is the allocation we get annually," he said, adding that this does not make sense as Malaysia is supposed to attain a developed nation status by 2020.

This, the Kota Kinabalu member of parliament opined, showed that the federal government is not serious about Sabah's infrastructure development as it has given much more in terms of allocations to infrastructure development in Peninsular Malaysia.

"Sabah and Sarawak must be given priority when it comes to development because without Sabah and Sarawak, there would be no Malaysia … the Barisan Nasional government would not be in power if it was not for the voters in these two states," he said.

Wong also, after scrutinizing the contents of the budget, questioned why the federal government had not included the construction of flyovers in the state capital in the budget for infrastructure.

The allocation is for the Pan Borneo highway which will boost tourism in Sabah but equally important is the flyovers so that the traffic congestion problem in the state capital can be resolved, he stressed.

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