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Travelling gets hitzfm <b>Sabah&#39;s</b> Rica creative - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

Travelling gets hitzfm <b>Sabah&#39;s</b> Rica creative - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 11 May 2014 04:18 PM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: HitzFM Sabah announcer Rica gets her inspiration from travelling.

The radio announcer of three years has learnt that creativity is not a skill you can acquire nor is there a formula you can study about.

She pointed out in radio, you need to stay creative and continue to churn up exciting ideas to entertain your listeners.

"I have been searching high and low for fresh ideas daily and learnt from experiences to improve my announcing skills and to plan the next big events for HitzFM Sabah," said Rica.

So how does she get started?

"I 'google' every day. I listen to radio shows around the world, I watch YouTube viral videos, I hang out with the people from the music and entertainment industry. I do a lot of hosting gigs and most importantly I must travel," she said.

Rica disclosed that her most recent trip was to Melbourne and Sydney where she smelled, touched, ate and felt all things Aussie.

She said graffiti is a part of the heritage in Melbourne city where the young and old are into street performing, flash mobs, beat boxing, magic shows, solo artists and band busking, musicians playing, live painting, creating art in every possible way! The town immediately feels so lively with these artistic street performances.

"It was also an eye opener for me at John Mayer's concert in Rod Laver Arena, just pure high quality music entertainment.

"Now that I am back, I am pumped with little ideas waiting to be spun like webs just like Spiderman and bring in new entertainment values to hitzfm Sabah! I am sure to travel abroad soon to experience other new things and get inspired. I share all things fun and awesome on my Facebook and Instagram," said Rica.

Tune into hitz 1-2-4 with Rica every weekday from 1pm to 4pm on HitzFM Sabah 100.8 in KK and 99.8 in Sandakan. Find her on instagram:@ricahitzand fb.com/ricasham

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&#39;Let <b>Sabah</b> BN leadership decide on selection of CM&#39; – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 13 May 2014 10:09 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Pro BN president Zulkarnain Mahdar has appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak not to interfere in the selection of the next Sabah Chief Minister.

Zulkarnain, in a statement yesterday, said Najib must allow the Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership to decide who they think is qualified to lead Sabah in the future. He was of the opinion that even though Umno members make up the majority of the state's elected representatives, it is not the ticket for the Prime Minister to appoint the Chief Minister according to his desire.

"Take for example Sarawak, the Chief Minister was chosen with the consensus of the BN leaders there, it was not the decision of the Prime Minister," Zulkarnain said.

He added that it must be remembered Sabah and Sarawak are part of the components that formed Malaysia together with the Federation of Malaya.

"Therefore, Sabah's rights in all aspects, including the choice of Chief Minister, must be respected. Pakatan Pro BN is hopeful that BN elected representatives of Sabah will be brave to defend the rights of the state," he stressed.

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Call to help alcoholics in <b>Sabah</b> - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 10 May 2014 09:55 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: The Intervention Group for Alcohol Misuse (IGAM) Sabah under the Malaysian Medical Relief Society has proposed that alcoholic beverage producers in Malaysia set up a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics.

Dr Wilfred John Samuel, the deputy chairperson of IGAM Sabah, said that companies which earn money from producing and selling alcoholic beverages should be responsible for the rehabilitation or intervention for those who are categorized as alcoholics in the state and the country.

"There is currently no rehabilitation center for those who are facing alcohol-addiction problems, so alcoholics in Sabah can only be treated at the mental institution here, and that is not suitable," he said.

Dr Wilfred, who was speaking to the Borneo Post after conducting the IGAM Workshop at the Tang Dynasty Park Hotel in Karamunsing yesterday, said that to date, there is only one support group known as Anonymous Alcoholic (AA) for alcoholics in Sabah.

"The AA group is a support group for sober alcoholics and alcoholics who are trying to stop drinking, in which it serves as a platform for them to share and discuss on the ways to stay sober and avoid relapsing," he stated.

However, Samuel said, that the AA group is not enough to help reduce alcoholics throughout Sabah, which is the reason for IGAM to organize the IGAM Workshop every year since 2007 which aims to train local community leaders from different parts of Sabah to become trainers.

"The objective of the workshop was to develop grassroots leaders who would have the capacity to organize community-based alcohol intervention programmes in their respective locality and village," he added.

Over 60 local community leaders attended the workshop, and 90% of them attended the workshop for the first time. To date, the workshop which is held for the 7th time this year, had produced more than 300 trainers for the alcohol prevention programme.

"We also want the people of Sabah to understand the relationship between culture and drinking.

"Sabahans often believe that drinking alcohol is part of their culture. It is true that some races in Sabah like the KadazanDusun and Rungus have the custom of drinking homemade alcoholic beverages, however, drinking until one is drunk is never part of any culture.

"It is the matter of the amount of the drink. For example, if drinking coffee is a culture, it does not mean that people should drink seven glasses of coffee at one time," he explained and at the same time pointed out that Sabahans' mindset of drinking alcohol should be changed.

Other than that, the workshop yesterday also explained the harm and danger of drinking excessive alcohol.

"Being drunk is also called being intoxicated, and toxic is poison, which means being intoxicated is when someone's body is poisoned," Samuel clarified.

Another issue which was highlighted during the workshop was the financial ability of the locals to purchase alcohol beverages.

"The National Statistics Department had ranked Sabah the poorest state in Malaysia. After conducting some research, we found that a lot of the people who have the habit of drinking spent a lot of money in a year for alcohol, and we want to help them stop," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Dr Wendy Shoesmith, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) revealed the figure from her research in the year 2011 that 17% of the population of Sabah were heavy alcohol drinkers, and about 50% of them drink in a hazardous way.

Her research also indicated that 25% of the population in Kota Belud, Kota Marudu, Kudat and Pitas were heavy alcohol drinkers, and half of them drank in a hazardous way.

"The problem we have in Sabah is binge drinking, but only less than 1% of Sabah's population are alcohol-dependent," she said.

The workshop was organized by IGAM in collaboration with UMS and the Sabah State Health Department.

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Yet another kidnap in <b>Sabah</b> waters - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 06 May 2014 11:56 AM PDT

Chinese national managing cage fish breeding company taken captive by 5 gunmen

KOTA KINABALU: Five gunmen abducted a Chinese national manager of a cage fish breeding company in Pulau Baik, Lahad Datu early yesterday, just over a month after a female Chinese national was abducted from a resort off Semporna, highlighting the security challenges Sabah faces.

The masked men, dressed in camouflage fatigues and brandishing M-16 high-powered rifles, grabbed Yang Zai Lin, 34, in the incident which occurred at 2.45am.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said Yang, from Guangzhou, China had been working with the Chinese-owned fish breeding company, Wonderful Terrace Sdn Bhd, since three years ago.

He said the company had been in operation since 2006.

Based on initial investigations, Hamza said three of the five gunmen wore only shorts and the group had earlier arrived in a 200HP speed boat.

"They escaped with the Chinese national after threatening a female worker in Bajau dialect.

"We were alerted on the incident at 2.53am and deployed three marine boats to chase the abductors," said Hamza.

He said security forces from the air and marine units tried to corner the getaway boat before a shootout with the abductors – believed to be from southern Philippines – occurred in the high seas about 6.20am near Pulau Mataking.

"The abductors escaped into international waters through the Alice Reef Waters.

"Our security forces tried to chase the abductors right up to the Philippine border waters but they ceased for security reasons as soon as the abductors entered the Saluag village in Pulau Sibutu," he added.

Hamza said following the incident, the police detained 19 people in Lahad Datu to facilitate investigations.

Eleven of them were of Suluk ethnicity while the rest were Indonesians.

He said only nine of them possessed valid travel documents.

The case is investigated under Section 365 of the Penal Code and Section 4 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, which provides for life imprisonment and six strokes of the rotan upon conviction.

Police believe the gang of abductors could be one of several groups which kidnapped for ransom.

They were also trying to determine whether the group which pulled off the abduction yesterday morning was involved in last month's Singamata kidnapping.

Last November, suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped a Taiwanese couple holidaying in another Sabah resort.

The husband was killed during the abduction while the wife was freed after being held for 36 days on the main Sulu island of Jolo.

A ransom is believed to have been paid.

The eastern part of Sabah — whose pristine dive sites are a top tourist attraction — has seen several kidnappings despite increased security.

Meanwhile, Datuk Yong Teck Lee, former chief minister of Sabah, blasted security forces for their failure to secure the area and warned that it will hurt Malaysia-China relations.

"It is a huge embarrassment to our security machinery as it happened very deep inside Malaysia's territorial waters. The damage (in Malaysia-China ties) will be compounded further," he said. — Agencies

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<b>Sabah</b> CM highlights role of school principals in meeting education <b>...</b>

Posted: 08 May 2014 12:01 AM PDT

SANDAKAN: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has highlighted the crucial role school principals play in ensuring that the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2035 achieves its objectives.

He said the success of the blueprint rested heavily on the competency of the principals as the leaders at the school level.

"We need principals and teachers who are not only trained and dedicated but also creative, innovative and of quality," he said at a dinner last night inconjunction with the conference of Sabah school principals here.

Sabah education director Datuk Jame Alip and Sabah Secondary School Principals Association president Liasin Kaloh also attended the dinner.

The three-day conference up to today had an attendance of 219 principals from the state.

Musa said the Sabah government gave its support and co-operation to the federal government for efforts to raise the quality of education in the state.

He also said that the state and federal governments had started to implement several initiatives and programmes towards realising the national transformation objective. — BERNAMA

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MCA Youth chief lambasted for <b>Sabah</b> security remarks <b>...</b>

Posted: 10 May 2014 09:54 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: The security issue in Sabah is of grave concern to everyone and should not be used as a political tool by anyone, said Sabah Umno assistant secretary Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.

He said instead of criticising and playing the blame game, MCA, as a member of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, should come forward and be constructive in their input to complement the Government's efforts to resolve the problem.

"Referring to people as headless chicken is not the solution. Name calling is not going to resolve the matter," he said in a statement yesterday.

Masidi reckoned that the MCA should be able to differentiate between politics and matters that affect the state's and nation's security.

"This is highly irresponsible. This is not the time to play politics or push other people's agenda," he stressed.

He said nobody wanted these kidnappings to happen, adding that the State Security Council and ESSCom were doing their level best within the given capacity.

He said everyone including the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, the Home Affairs Minister and the Minister of Defense were working hard to overcome the problem and this included putting drastic measures in place.

Masidi said ESSCom was set up with the blessing of the federal leadership and its effective implementation is the joint responsibility of all stakeholders.

"This involves all Malaysians. We should look beyond party lines on this issue. It should be a concern for all including the opposition and all MCA members.

"While the MCA is currently outside the Federal Cabinet, it has not abrogated its responsibility as a member of the BN coalition.

"The senior member of BN should be seen to be part of the solution to the problem rather than becoming another problem within the government," he said.

In Kota Belud, Sabah Umno Deputy Chairman Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak also took the MCA Youth to task for questioning the government's commitment through ESSCom in defending the country's sovereignty and safety of the people of Sabah.

Both Masidi and Salleh were commenting on the recent statement made by MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon who suggested that ESSCom be shut down and full power be given to the National Security Council (NSC) to handle security issues in Sabah, especially kidnapping incidents.

Chong was also quoted by the media as saying that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman should take full responsibility for security issues in the State and the abduction cases that took place in ESSZone.

Salleh, who is also the State Assembly Speaker, said the negative comment from Chong was tantamount to disparaging the contribution and sacrifice made by our security forces who have been striving in maintaining peace and security in Sabah.

"It clearly shows that the MCA Youth Chief does not understand how the government system works including ESSCom. The Chief Minister (Datuk Musa Aman) as the ESSCom chairman personally monitors the situation, so it is unfair for MCA to blame him.

"MCA should fully understand the function and role of ESSCom as well as the actual security situation on the east coast of Sabah before making irresponsible statements," he said after attending a shooting competition organised by RELA in Kota Belud yesterday.

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