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<b>Sabah</b> ruggers trounce Sarawak in Agong&#39;s Cup qualifier <b>...</b> Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

<b>Sabah</b> ruggers trounce Sarawak in Agong&#39;s Cup qualifier <b>...</b>

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:03 PM PST

by Philip Wong, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 4, 2013, Wednesday

SIBU: Sarawak Rugby Union (SRU) team returned from their Sabah trip heavily battered and bruised after losing to their neighbouring counterparts 19-43 in the qualifying round for the Agong's Cup held at Likas Stadium recently.

SRU chief coach Michael Ting admitted that it was a disappointing outing, especially when his team were rated as the favourite.

"We must admit that Sabah Rugby Union is a better team, more organized and they had a rich crop of experienced players who had played in bigger tournaments. Their team has all the hallmarks of the champion team in the making. We wish them all the best in the Agong's Cup," he said.

With the defeat, Sarawak's hopes of representing the East Zone at the Agong's Cup, to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 10, evaporated.

The last time Sarawak took part in the Agong's Cup was seven years ago.

On his team's defeat, Ting narrowed it down to his players who were mostly young recruits or fresh school leavers up against the bigger and powerfully built Sabahans.

"Our players lacked the expertise, the stamina and the experience to pull through. Moreover, they (Sabahans) also had three Fijian imports while we only had one in the person of Iowane Sovatabua," he added.

Nevertheless, the Sarawak boys did manage to keep their opponents at bay in the first half when they secured a try and a conversion to trail 7-16.

"We missed two precious opportunities midway through the second half when our forwards managed to penetrate the Sabah defense only to lose the ball when the touchdown was within reach. It blew away our chances of any comeback," Ting lamented.

On future plans, Ting said "We are also looking into the possibility of getting more import players from Fijian to boost our squad. We are eyeing for more honors and titles next year and we need to prepare early."

The players, he added, would also have to train more consistently and with a longer training schedule instead of the current practice whereby the players only train together during the final two days.

"We will set things right and the priority will be on the training schedule. All the shortcomings will be looked into and we hope this will further upgrade the standard of SRU players."

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<b>Sabah</b>-Labuan Bridge almost ready to be built – BorneoPost Online <b>...</b>

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:25 PM PST

LABUAN: A new bridge linking Sabah with Labuan Island is timely to cater for the continuous growth of the oil and gas industry and its related businesses, said architect of Labuan Bridge, Sim Sie Hong.

The need for the bridge was long overdue, he said yesterday during a briefing session for the leaders of Malay, Kadazandusun, Chinese and Indian chambers of commerce at Tiara Labuan Hotel.

"When the bridge is completed, the new integrated entreport in Labuan and the Sabah-Labuan Bridge will bring business opportunities to both Sabah and Labuan.

"There will be many economic spin-offs from the region especially in the Kuala Penyu peninsula stretching from Menumbok to Kuala Penyu town and toward Beaufort and Sipitang areas," he said.

Gaya House Sdn Bhd and Shandong Laigang Construction Co. Ltd. have entered into a joint venture agreement to set up a local incorporated company named Shandong Laigang Gaya Sdn. Bhd. to undertake the development of the two projects.

Hong disclosed that the combined asset of the two companies exceeded the value of RM50 billion.

"Gaya House Sdn. Bhd. possess local management expertise and the chairman of the company, Tan Sri Harris Salleh has an outstanding working relationship with the present government of Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan.

"Shandong Laigang Construction Co. Ltd has assets in China exceeding RMB80 billion with a paid up capital of RMB1 billion. Shandong Laigang is also part of Shandong Steel, which is listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

"They are one of the largest steel companies in China. They have been involved in the construction of the longest bridge in China, Jiaozhouwan Bridge, which is 37 Km crossing the Jiao Zhou Bay from Qingdao to Huangdao in the Shandong Province," he said.

He said Shandong Laigang Construction Co. Ltd would undertake the financing and construction of the Labuan Integrated Entreport and the Sabah-Labuan Bridge.

The payment for the project from Sabah government and Labuan Corporation would be in lieu of land of 3,400 acres from Labuan Corporation and 2,000 acres from Sabah for various commercial, residential and marina development.

He said the Sabah government would benefit from 2,100 acres of reclaimed land and the 30 years of operation concession right of the Labuan Entreport and the Sabah-Labuan Bridge to be assigned by the developer.

The overall construction cost of the bridge, port and reclamation of the islands with basic infrastructure are estimated at US$5.4 billion and the overall development cost over 20 years is estimated at US$20 billion.

Hong said the 13Km Sabah-Labuan Bridge would not only benefit Labuan, but also to Menumbok, Kuala Penyu and its vicinity.

Currently, he said there was no problem funding the projects, but they were still waiting for the approval from the Sabah and Federal governments before they can move further in implementing the projects.

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TESCO plans to expand to <b>Sabah</b> - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:50 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, on the invitation of the TESCO, Malaysia retail mall's management, visited the mall's in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur Tuesday.

Musa was briefed by TESCO Malaysia's chief executive officer, Georg Fischer on TESCO business chain in Malaysia especially in the peninsula.

TESCO is proposing its intention to expand its retail business to Sabah.

Among TESCO senior officers present were its advisory board members' chairman, Datuk Seri Mohamed bin Abid, director of board members, Datuk Dr Abdul Malek Hanafiah, director of corporate and government affairs, Azlan Shah Alias.

Sabah's Innoprise chairman, Tan Sri Khalil Haji Jamalul was also present.

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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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