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Daud erred, no hudud law for <b>Sarawak</b>, says Baru – BorneoPost <b>...</b> Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

Daud erred, no hudud law for <b>Sarawak</b>, says Baru – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:30 PM PDT

by Jonathan Chia, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on May 1, 2014, Thursday

KUCHING: Sarawak is under no obligation to follow the federal government's decision on hudud law as the state's rights on such matters are clearly enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement.

Lawyer Baru Bian said he was disappointed with Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman for stating on Tuesday that the state would abide by any decision made by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on the motion of the private bill for hudud.

Baru, who is also state PKR chief and Ba Kelalan assemblyman, said Daud's statement showed a lack of understanding of the rights of Sarawak, which are protected under the Malaysia Agreement.

"For Sarawak, the stand is very clear. The first of the 18 points of agreement relates to religion, and it points to the paramount concern our forefathers had about protecting this most precious freedom for Sarawakians," Baru said in a press statement yesterday.

Baru said the stand on religion was one of the pivotal factors in Sarawak agreeing to join the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

"Let there be no doubt that in accordance with the vision of our forefathers, Sarawak remained and should remain a secular state."

Hence, he added, there should be no hudud law for Sarawak.

"Even the former chief minister (Pehin Sri) Abdul Taib Mahmud had consistently rejected all forms of religious extremism in Sarawak. How can we simply follow the prime minister's stand when he is neither here nor there?

"The prime minister's response should be that Malaysia is a secular country as provided in the Federal Constitution and that there is no place for the implementation of hudud law unless the Federal Constitution is amended to allow for it."

Despite assurances given by some political leaders that hudud would not affect non-Muslims even if it were implemented, Baru said he was not convinced as recent developments in the peninsula clearly infringed on the rights of non-Muslims.

"I want to make it clear that we are not opposing hudud for the purpose of rejecting Islam nor are we claiming new rights for ourselves. We are talking about maintaining the status quo under the social contract that was agreed among the partners in the Federation of Malaysia.

"The decision had already been made for us and it is not for Datuk Daud, one or two state governments or even the prime minister, to make any alterations to those rights."

Baru pointed out that the power to amend the Sarawak Constitution or the Federal Constitution insofar as the changes affect the rights of Sarawak belonged exclusively to the people of Sarawak.

"These safeguards were promulgated to ensure that our rights cannot be taken from us without our consent. With such hurdles to clear, it is obvious that the framers of the Sarawak and Federal Constitutions had every intention of preserving our autonomy.

"Why should Datuk Daud just throw all that away by declaring we will follow Najib? Given his (Najib) pathetic track record in controlling religious extremists and bigots in Peninsular Malaysia, we will be led into the dark abyss of racial strife and religious intolerance should we be so foolish as to follow him."

Baru urged state leaders to be more knowledgeable about the state's history and about the state's constitutional rights and be more assertive in speaking up for these rights of Sarawak and Sarawakians so that the harmony in the community would be protected and preserved for generations to come.

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<b>Sarawak</b> Society for the Blind receives RM3,000-rattan - The Borneo <b>...</b>

Posted: 03 May 2014 11:11 AM PDT

by Jeremy Veno, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on May 4, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: The Sarawak Society for the Blind Kuching will be giving more emphasis to their rattan-weaving programme to generate more income.

The programme was given a boost from the state Forest Department which donated seven bundles of rattan worth RM3,000 to the society.

"We promise to make full use of this rattan to produce our iconic rattan baskets and provide more training in basket weaving," said Sarawak Society for the Blind president Dato Dr Hsiung Kwo Yeun during a simple handing-over ceremony at its Kuching branch yesterday.

He also revealed that rattan being a raw material is very hard to come by throughout the whole state, with a market price of between RM18 to RM40 per kg.

Some of their members, he said, have also travelled to the Peninsular with a mission to buy and export the rattan back to the state which turned out fruitless.

"Besides Kuching, other branches in Sibu and Miri are also facing this shortage," said Hsiung, adding that the society has at least 30 experienced rattan weavers under its care, who compete in a local rattan-weaving competition every two years.

Meanwhile, he also said that since 1963, the society has grown and expanded its role to the community by providing training and services.

Besides rattan weaving, its clients have also been trained to provide massage and build wood cages for chicks to be sold to chicken farms.

Since 2006, the society has also been providing a series of training in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) fields at all their branches.

"Now our clients are able to use computers and make friends across the globe, some of them more skilful in using the computer than I am," he said in jest.

Other activities that the society is leading, he added, was awareness and prevention of blindness which besets the rural community which has little access to eye care.

He said the programme is also participated by specialist doctors who provide free eye-check as well as giving appointments and referrals to hospitals for serious cases.

"It is vital to detect eye problems especially in young children to prevent them from being partially or totally blind as they grow up," he added.

During the handing-over ceremony, the rattan bundles were handed over to the society by the Sarawak Forestry Department assistant director Hii Tow Peck who was representing director Sapuan Ahmad.

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&#39;The Rainwater&#39; set to put <b>Sarawak</b> on the silver screen - The Borneo <b>...</b>

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 12:36 PM PDT

by Irene C, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 29, 2014, Tuesday

KUCHING: MBC Film Production Sdn Bhd producer Rafimeer plans to put Sarawak on local TV and in Bangladesh with his project 'The Rainwater', which will hit the silver screen this July.

The Rainwater was partly shot in Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Bangladesh, and the lead actress is Jessy, an Iban lass from Kapit.

"My next projects are a 126 drama series called 'Tourists' and a telemovie called 'Falling in Love in Sarawak' or its Malay name 'Yang Tersayang'. Both will feature 50 to 60 local actors and actresses.

" Tourists is fully in English, while Yang Tersayang is in both English and Malay," he said in an interview with The Borneo Post.

He said both projects would promote the state's tourism and the beautiful places the state has to offer. The filming of the drama is expected to take three years while the movie six months.

Filming for Yang Tersayang will feature tourist spots with over a month of filming in Santubong. Tourists will feature Santubong, Mulu and Sarawak River Cruise, to name a few. Filming will commence as soon as he receives 'green light' from the state government.

On the budget, he said one drama episode costs RM500,000, while the movie would cost RM3 million.

"Tourists is about a tour guide and to dispel myths that tourists are all rich people. It is also to share different interesting experiences and stories. The first episode of the drama is expected to air in November this year while the movie in January in both countries at the same time.

"Yang Tersayang is about a chance meeting between a Sarawakian girl and a foreign boy on the KLIA express trip and falling in love. It will feature a famous Malaysian artiste and those cast would get the chance of a lifetime of working with a famous artiste."

Thus, he is calling on all aspiring actors and actresses to email their full data and photo to mbcfilmproductions@yahoo.com. Audition will be held in mid-May.

"MBC Film Productions always likes to introduce new faces in films and to create new actors and actresses and promote new locations to keep in touch with the young generation. It is also beneficial for the local tourism sector and boost the country's revenue, thus the company is setup here. The company's Bangladesh counterpart is MalayBangla Film Productions (Bangladesh)."

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Feature Sabah and <b>Sarawak&#39;s</b> natural, cultural backdrop in making <b>...</b>

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:47 PM PDT

KOTA SAMARAHAN: Film producers should give priority to featuring the beautiful natural environment and culture in Sabah and Sarawak in their films, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

He said this was because the two state's natural beauty and cultural diversity contributed to the overall beauty as well as uniqueness of the country.

"I want Sabah and Sarawak to be also given priority by film producers and the industry operators in their works," he said when officially opening the Lotus Five Stars cinema, here last night.

Ahmad Shabery said the involvement of many intrepreneurs in setting up more cinemas in the country would provide a bigger opportunity for the industry players to produce and screen more films.

The willingness of the cinema entrepreneurs to make a huge investment in this would enable the public to enjoy watching movies as a recreational activity due to the high visual quality of the films and the sound system, he added. — Bernama

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DAP&#39;s tariff&#39;s campaign a gimmick — Lo - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:35 PM PDT

by Johnson K Saai, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on May 1, 2014, Thursday

KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) views the electricity tariff campaign mounted by the DAP as the worst ever endeavour by the party in the state.

MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang said the campaign was misleading and it reflected the desperation of the party for political mileage.

He added that the DAP was trying to hoodwink the public into believing that the state's power tariff needed to be reduced when it was already the lowest in the country.

"They should display their commitment by showing that they can reduce the tariff in Penang and Selangor first.

"Let me reiterate that the tariff in Sarawak is the cheapest in the country and one of the lowest in the region. The government has done so much to ensure that the tariff remain stable in the state," Lo told reporters after chairing MPP's full council meeting yesterday.

He opined that reducing electricity tariff would be unfair to Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), which has some 4,000 employees.

"In ignorance, DAP recently quoted Canada as one of the countries that offer lower tariff than Sarawak, but what they failed to understand is that Canada is one of the super hydropower producers in the world.

"Canada is the world's third largest producer of hydroelectricity after China and Brazil. They have approximately 475 hydroelectric generating plants across the country producing an average of 355 terawatt hours per year. One hour represents enough electricity to heat and power 40,000 houses."

Lo added that Canada started hydropower development in the 1800s and their plants could generate over 70,000MW of hydropower, while Sarawak only has three dams – Bakun, Murum, and Batang Ai – with combined capacity of slightly over 3,000MW.

"As the DAP loves to put it in percentage, it is just four per cent of Canada's hydropower generation."

He said the study on tariffs in North America confirmed that hydropower delivered the lowest possible prices to consumers.

"Specifically, the lowest prices in North America are found in areas with access to bulk hydropower. This validates the state government's policy to develop Sarawak's hydropower resources and these are the facts that we feel the public should know rather than taking on-the-surface information provided by DAP to mislead them."

Lo said he believed the real intention of the DAP in fighting for tariff reduction was nothing more than to stoke the feelings of the public that the government was unfair.

"To them nothing is fair, but I am sure the people are wise enough to understand the political game that the DAP is playing here. They (DAP) don't mind putting the wellbeing of the people and the state as a whole at stake."

Meanwhile, SUPP Youth secretary-general Councillor Wilfred Yap, who was also present, said DAP elected representatives in the state should learn from the problems faced by Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states.

He said the water issue in Selangor was the best example that Pakatan Rakyat-led government was incapable and incompetent in solving the people's problem.

"They put the blame on the weather when in actual fact they failed to put in place the infrastructure to provide adequate water storage. Before they took over the government they promised to give free water tariff, but now they can't even ensure enough supply of treated water.

"This is one of the best examples DAP can learn from instead of asking for lower tariff in order to get cheap publicity."

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SUPP back from the brink - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 11:56 AM PDT

by Lim How Pim, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on May 1, 2014, Thursday

ROS absolves party of wrongdoing in last TDC, revokes deregistration of branches

KUCHING: Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) has received a letter from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) saying that it is satisfied with the party's reply to its show-cause letter on why the party should not be de-registered following complaints over irregularities in the party's last Triennial Delegates Conference (TDC) in 2011.

ROS has also revoked the deregistration of SUPP's Bekenu and Piasau branches last year following an appeal by the party.

Party president Tan Sri Peter Chin told a news conference after chairing the party's central working committee (CWC) meeting at the SUPP headquarters here last night. The party received two letters dated yesterday from the Home Minister's office and ROS respectively informing them of the decisions.

Chin said a letter which was addressed to the party's secretary-general from ROS informed the party its explanation to the show-cause letter issued under Section 13(2) of Societies Act had been accepted.

"ROS agreed to accept our explanation and therefore, ROS decided not to carry on with deregistering the party."

With its legal troubles over, Chin said the way is now clear for the party to hold its triennial delegates conference (TDC) later this year as planned.

"Tonight, I am very happy to report that a very long-standing issue that the party has been facing has been properly resolved. This long-standing issue has been causing us a lot of soul-searching among our leaders.

"The minister's office has sent us two letters dated April 30. One is addressed to Bekenu chairman, and the gist of the letter is to inform that our appeal for Bekenu branch under Section 18 of Societies Act 1966 has been accepted. It means our appeal is successful and Bekenu is a legal entity.

"SUPP Piasau branch chairman Datuk Sebastian Ting also received a similar letter, conveying to him the same message. So from this day, both our branches are legal,"

He hoped members state-wide would accept and abide by the decisions of the minister and ROS, adding they should not have different interpretation on the outcome of the 2011 TDC.

When asked if he would adhere to Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem's formula of 50/50 leadership representation between his faction and Sibu branch chairman Dato Seri Wong Soon Koh's faction to resolve the party's internal feud, Chin said he never attended any meeting with Barisan Nasional top leaders to discuss the amicable solution.

"I was not there, so I do not know what was being discussed. The present CWC is now being accepted.

"Now this episode is concluded, so I do not think the question of how to divide the CWC needs to be discussed at all."

Chin thanked the chief minister for assisting the party in resolving the long-standing issue.

"His pronouncement that SUPP should not be deregistered has helped the process of appeal and decision-making. So I would like to thank the chief minister for his support for the party and hopefully he will continue to support the party in terms of bringing back the party to the mainstream of politics to prepare for the next state election."

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