» »Unlabelled » IEM Sarawak to hold blood donation drive this Saturday ... Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

11:47:00

IEM <b>Sarawak</b> to hold blood donation drive this Saturday <b>...</b> Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

IEM <b>Sarawak</b> to hold blood donation drive this Saturday <b>...</b>

Posted: 10 Dec 2013 09:29 AM PST

KUCHING: Young Engineers Section (YES) of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Sarawak branch, will be holding a blood donation drive this coming Saturday in collaboration with Sarawak General Hospital as well as Hills Shopping Mall.

The drive is expected to create a wider awareness of the importance of voluntary blood donation and encourage more engineers and the public to become regular blood donors.

YES Sarawak chairman Ron Aldrino Chan@Ron Buking said in a press statement yesterday that the purpose was not to attract only new donors but to relay the message of the importance of saving lives.

The drive will be held at Hills Shopping Mall here from 10am to 2pm.

There will also be mini engineering exhibition from 10am till 4pm by higher learning institutions for public viewing.

Also, there will be donation box for the recent Typhoon Haiyan victims in Philippines where all contributions shall be made to the Malaysian Red Crescent (Sarawak Chapter).

As part of giving back to society, a public talk will also be organised during the campaign and members of the public as well as engineers are invited to attend.

This talk is free of charge and members of the institution can claim their professional points during this event by contacting and registering their name through IEM Sarawak Branch secretariat via 082-428506 or email iemsarawak @gmail.com.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

Over 200 NCR land owners stage peaceful assembly – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 10 Dec 2013 11:31 AM PST

KUCHING: Over 200 people staged a peaceful assembly at Padang Merdeka here yesterday with the hope that their rights would be respected and protected by the government.

According to organising chairman, Peter John Jaban, the assembly was done in conjunction with World Human Rights Day and was held for the first time in the state.

"We want to make it into something so that people are aware of their rights. Everybody has rights from the day they were born.

"These people came from all over the places, including Melikin, Simunjan, Bau and Lundu. They are those whose rights to NCR land been taken away from them and those who have been harassed by the police," he claimed when met at the scene.

He estimated the crowd at over 200 even though they expected more.

"The number does not matter. These people are poor but they used all means to come to fight for their rights and to tell the world that they are being oppressed.

"We hope that the Malaysian government will respect the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous People, a declaration that Malaysia has yet to sign. Please, respect our human rights," he said.

Meanwhile, an NCR land rights activist Nicholas Bawin Anggat said that Sarawak had been active in defending the rights of the people, especially where lands were concerned.

"We need to create awareness about the importance of protecting human rights. We must have the courage to defend our rights as no one can do it for us. We have nothing to fear as we are working within the framework of the laws in the country.

"Our rights must be respected and that we too must respect the rights of others. We will continue our struggle until we have no more fears and that our rights remain our rights," he said.

Also at the assembly were villagers from Entangor, Simunjan who claimed that land developers had encroached into their NCR land recently. The villagers have decided to bring the matter to court. They handed over a letter to appoint Baru Bian as their advocate. The letter was received by state PKR vice-chairman See Chee How.

The assembly ended with the people making a short march around the venue (Padang) carrying banners and posters written with human rights messages. The crowd dispersed peacefully and nothing untoward happened.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

UOB expects M&#39;sia&#39;s economy to grow 5.2 per cent next year <b>...</b>

Posted: 10 Dec 2013 11:20 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: United Overseas Bank (UOB) expects Malaysia's economy to grow 5.2 per cent next year, driven by higher exports and benefiting from stronger demand as key global economies recover.

UOB senior economist Alvin Liew said the implementation of tax reforms, subsidy rationalisation and other initiatives in the government's Budget 2014 would bring higher revenues and contain fiscal deficit at 3.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

"Demand for Asian exports will increase with the economic recovery in the United States and a firm US dollar, directly benefiting countries with large export markets such as Malaysia," he told a media briefing on the 2014 Economic Outlook here yesterday.

Liew said the strengthening US dollar would cause the local note to ease to 3.30 against the greenback by the second quarter of 2014, but would not cause extreme volatile reactions.

"We expect a broadly higher US dollar against Asian currencies next year as a result of the Federal Reserve (Fed) quantitative easing taper," he said.

He said the bank was encouraged by measures that had so far been taken by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his cabinet, providing a positive environment for foreign direct investments into the country.

Other indicators of economic recovery, such as the current account, he said it would be better at 4.5 per cent next year due to higher trade growth while fiscal balance would register a narrower deficit of 3.5 per cent.

"Although the Asian currencies are expected to be weaker, the stock market will have more upside.

"If the exports sector is likely to look good, manufacturing-related stocks will be stronger," he said.

On the bigger picture, he said there would be a monetary policy divergence next year, whereby the Fed is expected to be on the tapering front, thus lowering their expansionary, while the Bank of Japan would be adding on more. — Bernama

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

Less &#39;sinking feeling&#39; with foam infill for pontoons — <b>Sarawak</b> Rivers <b>...</b>

Posted: 09 Dec 2013 11:33 AM PST

SIBU: The chance of pontoons in the state sinking will be reduced by about 90 per cent when they have foam infill.

Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) chairman Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn, yesterday said the contract for filling works on the six pontoons at Kapit Wharf here was awarded on Nov 7.

"It has been awarded to a contractor, and the Public Works Department (JKR) will help us to monitor its implementation.

"Work is expected to start soon as the contractor has ordered foam blocks from Kuala Lumpur. We expect the project to be completed in four months' time."

He told The Borneo Post that SRB had also awarded the contract to put foam infill on the five pontoons in Sarikei, and work was also expected to be completed at about the same time.

This formed part of the upgrading exercise for pontoons in the state, he added.

"When all these are completed, it will increase the buoyancy of our pontoons. Minor leaks will not cause any problem. We do not expect it to get submerged unless there is real damage or being torn off."

Sagah, who is State Legislative assembly (DUN) deputy speaker and Tarat assemblyman, said the cost of using foam infill for pontoons in Sibu and Sarikei would cost about RM450,000.

He added that they had completed such an initiative in Tatau, Limbang and Lawas.

"All the pontoons in Sarawak will be fitted with such material eventually, but this will be done in stages as we don't have funds to do it in one go."

On the submerged Pontoon No. 7, he said they hope to refloat it by next week as the water level was expected to subside then.

"But we will be getting feedback from JKR and DID (Drainage and Irrigation Department) to see if the operations of the pump (at the pump house) have impact on that pontoon.

"If proven so, we will move the pontoon to a place where it is needed."

Sagah said in reality the remaining six pontoons were sufficient to cater to current needs here.

On the damaged fender at Kapit Wharf here, he said this would be done together with the minor repair works, including repainting.

He added that they would be doing the repair work on the plank walks to the pontoons as well.

SRB, he said, had maintenance funds to carry out such works.

Sagah said SRB would continue to do upgrading works across the state for the convenience and safety of commuters.

"For example, in Kapit terminal, the upgrading and improvement project will cost about RM4 million. It is now in the design stage."

Meanwhile, Saga disclosed that a technical assistant will be posted here on Jan 2, 2014.

The staff will look after maintenance and has been instructed to do an audit of all SRB facilities here in order to give the best for the public.

"Hopefully, with the technical staff here, it will reduce problems here as he can do immediate follow-up."

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.