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Aidan defends Abg Johari’s election as bona fide Saberkas chief BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Aidan defends Abg Johari’s election as bona fide Saberkas chief

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 05:21 PM PST

KUCHING: Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg was legally elected by members as Saberkas president; a fact which nobody should dispute, stressed the state youth body's vice-president Datuk Aidan Wing.

Aidan said this in response to Piasau assemblyman Ling Sie Kiong's statement that the president was "old".

"Our president is young and rightfully elected. We are happy with him. We can see that he is working very hard to bring changes to Saberkas," he said at a Christmas charity event at the Salvation Army Boys' Home and The Salvation Army Children's Home in Jalan Upland, organised by Saberkas Batu Lintang branch yesterday.

He added that Abang Johari had actively brought changes to Saberkas such as by increasing the number of branches in the state (one branch at each state constituency).

He said as a lawyer, Ling should know what was appropriate to say and what was not.

On the event, Saberkas Batu Lintang branch chairman Patrick Tan, who was present at the event, said: "At this time, Saberkas Batu Lintang branch never forgets to show its love and care towards the less fortunate, especially during Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Gawai and other festive seasons."

He also said mutual respect for each other's culture had been the hallmark of this country.

"Whether they are rich, poor or handicapped, we are always reachable by showering our assistance and care for them," he added.

Also sponsoring items for the goodie bags distributed to the children was Babygirls Enterprise.

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Online passport renewal can ease congestion

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 12:01 PM PST

by Geryl Ogilvy Ruekeith, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 20, 2013, Friday

KUCHING: The state Immigration Department welcomes and looks forward to the extensive revamp of its My Immigration System that will allow the renewal of passports online by next year.

State immigration director Datu Robert Lian believes the system will significantly ease queues and reduce waiting time at all the department's offices nationwide.

The system would also free up more counters especially at its headquarters in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar here, which are normally congested during school holidays and festive seasons, he added.

Despite not receiving any notification yet on when the system would be implemented here, Lian said the initiative demonstrated the department's high commitment to improving its service delivery.

"We have yet to be briefed on this new online system but we welcome the move nevertheless as this would provide more convenience for passport holders to renew their travel documents. Service delivery to our customers remains our main priority," he said when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday for his comments on a report published in a national English daily.

The report quoted immigration director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad as stating that the online passport renewal would allow citizens to collect their travel documents at any of the department's offices nationwide after it had been processed online and paid for via credit card.

Alias was also quoted to have said that travellers could even collect their passports at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) before proceeding to check-in for their flights, and that the department would set up a branch at KLIA's main terminal to enable customers to make new passports or renew their travel documents immediately.

He said the new features would significantly reduce the time spent on renewals and the revamp, to be implemented by next year, would cut the crowds at immigration counters, making the holiday rush for passports a thing of the past.

On another matter, Lian mentioned that the public need not bring along their passport-size photos when applying for new passports from March next year as the state Immigration Department was currently equipping its offices statewide with a camera-linked system to take photos of applicants.

He also pointed out that the department always strove to do its best to handle the high volume of customers during holiday seasons.

"The Immigration Department would normally experience significant increase in customers during festive seasons and school holidays.

"During this period, we carefully manage the leave of our personnel to ensure sufficient number of staff is on duty. I am happy to report that we have managed to meet demands throughout the year."

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Jais comes down hard on breakers of halal conditions

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:38 AM PST

by Wilfred Pilo, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 20, 2013, Friday

KUCHING: Halal-certified eateries must strictly comply with provisions of the Syariah law to give Muslim customers peace of mind.

Explaining that the halal certification is an assurance to all Muslims that the food are prepared in accordance with Islamic principles, head of Halal Development Unit of Sarawak Islamic Religious Department (Jais) Asmawaty Ahmad warned that offenders would be dealt with severely.

"Failure to comply means the eatery is breaking the law," she said to reporters at a press conference after a surprise check on one of the famous seafood centres in the heart of the city on Wednesday night.

"It also means heavy fine and penalties to the offenders who break this law and their licence will be revoked," she said.

On their check at the centre, Asmawaty disclosed that they found two halal-certified eateries there kept non-halal ingredients together with halal food in the refrigerator, which were later confiscated by Jais.

"One of the food ingredients was cooking sauce that did not carry halal logo," she said.

She added that the ingredients would be sent to the Chemistry Department to check their contents, and the offenders would be brought to court after obtaining the results.

The operation was jointly conducted with officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism.

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Nabbed for suspected drug possession

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:36 AM PST

MIRI: A law enforcement personnel was apprehended Wednesday evening at a budget hotel here on suspicion of drug possession by a team from the police CID.

He was caught around 5pm in a room of a budget hotel with a female acquaintance following tip-off from the public.

Police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong confirmed the arrest.

"Police found substance believed to be syabu on him during the raid," Mun said.

The case is being investigated under Section 12(2) 1952 of the Dangerous Drug Act.

The 33-year-old suspect has been brought to the central police station here to facilitate police investigation. In the meantime, he is relieved of his
duty.

Police are also investigating if the suspect is involved in several mugging cases here.

Police sources disclosed that the suspect has been suspended from his duty.

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Two defy the odds to secure fine pass in PMR

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:36 AM PST

KUCHING: For 15 years, Daryl Raphael has faced numerous challenges in life due to his hearing impairment.

However, the Iban lad from SMK Datuk Patinggi Haji Abdul Gapor believes in working hard to beat the odds despite his impediment which he saw as no reason for failure.

Refusing to let his disability obstruct him, Daryl put in extra effort and dedicated himself to his studies, he reaped the rewards of his tenacity and hard work when the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) results were announced yesterday.

He scored 2As in Mathematics and Integrated Living Skills, 4Bs for Bahasa Melayu, Science, History and Geography and a C for English.

As a beaming Daryl stepped on stage to receive his PMR results from Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah and State Education director Datu Abdillah Adam, the auditorium erupted into cheers and applause.

Though he could not hear the accolades, he returned the gesture by waving both his hands depicting clapping in sign language.

"I am extremely thankful to my parents, teachers and friends who were my pillars of strength and constantly gave me the encouragement to never give up," he mouthed and gestured to reporters when met.

"It is because of them, I am motivated to study hard and show that as a person with disabilities (OKU), nothing is impossible as long as you put your mind to it.

"We must be confident in what we do and tell ourselves that we can do it. By thinking positively, we will one day accomplish our dreams," he said.

The cheerful lad, who is the eldest of three siblings added that he aspired to become a scientist or teacher in the future.

Meanwhile, also joining Daryl in obtaining excellent PMR results in the students with special needs category was Watson Manda Edwin.

At the age of 9, he suffered from glacoma and was afflicted by visual impairment ever since.

Nevertheless, the Iban lad from SMK Batu Lintang who obtained an A for History, 2Bs for Bahasa Melayu and Science and 4Cs for English, Mathematics, Geography and Integrated Living Skills took the bull by its horns and learnt to be independent in his studies.

"Mostly, I do my own studies because I am the only one in the family with visual impairment.

"But even though my family does not read Braille, my parents and siblings are always there to support me and offer me encouragement as do my teachers and friends in school," he said.

"They often advise me that even though I have a disability to just try my best in whatever I do," added Watson, who hails from Balai Ringin.

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Focus on closing urban-rural schools gap — Fatimah

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:35 AM PST

KUCHING: More emphasis should be placed on ensuring the gap between students in urban and rural schools is closed.

Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said more efforts should be made not only by teachers but also parents.

"The commitment and cooperation from parents in instilling the love for learning in children is equally important to provide a conducive learning environment that would narrow down the gap between urban and rural students," she said during the announcement of the state-level Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) results by state education director Datu Abdillah Adam yesterday.

Fatimah noted that the gap between urban and rural schools is getting smaller.

"In addition, there is improvement in terms of scoring straight A's and obtaining minimum Ds in all subjects in the rural area," she said.

In terms of State Average Grade (GPN), this year's PMR results saw a decrease from 2.70 last year to 2.68 this year for urban school candidates whereas the GPN for rural school candidates fell 0.07 from 3.05 last year to 2.98 this year.

"This is the last year to sit for PMR as from next year it is replaced by the secondary school-based assessment test (PBS).

"The new test will cover four core subjects namely Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics and Science where students will be evaluated based on their understanding and mastery of the subjects," she said.

For other subjects such as History and Geography, students will be assessed based on their coursework and projects while they would also be required to perform in sports, co-curricular activities, psychometric tests and physical education.

"The new system will be holistic education which ensures that by the time the students leave school, they will have a balanced education.

"We want our school system to be the best not only in Malaysia but the whole region," Fatimah said.

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