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Borneo Arts Festival to hold recognition awards BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Borneo Arts Festival to hold recognition awards

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:54 AM PDT

LABUAN: The second Borneo Arts Festival (BAF) 2014 kicked off on Friday with several performing arts taking part at Dataran Labuan.

Director of Labuan Corporation Tourism, Culture and Art Department, Mahathir Abdul Hamid yesterday said that several other additional performances were also held to spice up the burgeoning festival.

"One of the new peformances held on the first night of the festival is the fashion show by Cosmopoint College in Kota Kinabalu where its students show their fashion design based on the ethnic groups in Sabah," he said, adding that a few other new performance categories were featured while retaining the other categories during the first edition of BAF.

He explained that the participation in this year's BAF was slightly affected due to the clash of events of the Rainforest World Music Festival and school dance competition in Kuching and other events in Sabah and Putrajaya.

"After getting the feedback, we probably will organise the third edition of BAF in September next year," he said.

Mahathir added that they were still consistent with their objective of BAF, as a platform to gather all the performing artists around Borneo, while giving chances to the local especailly the non-elite schools to show their talents.

"Next year, we are planning to hold Award Giving Programme in BAF to appreciate the performing artists in Borneo," he said.

Mahathir said that the difference between BAF and Labuan Arts Festival (Lafest) is that BAF focuses on performing arts, while Lafest focuses on contemporary art organised by Labuan Tourism Ministry Office.

Meanwhile, one of the participants in BAF, Ary Romoldeo Martin, 17, said that he felt excited at joining his school, SMK Tenghilan to perform at BAF.

"We have around 50 students and 13 teachers coming here for this event. I am happy to be here, as this is my first performance outside of my place and I would get new experience.

"We are performing 'Tulun-Tulun' Dance, a traditional dance in Tenghilan where we are using musical instruments mostly made from bamboos. I play the 'suling' (flute). It is also good to watch other performances from other troupes," he said, adding that some seven other troupes performing during the opening night of BAF.

Meanwhile, his schoolmate, Abi Meil Lisa who played the 'cajon' also shared Ary's excitement at the chance of performing at BAF.

Abi said that he and the musical group members from his school also performed in Taiwan last year.

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Stop pointing fingers at ESSCom – Shafie

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:53 AM PDT

SEMPORNA: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom)  should not be singled out for blame over the recent spate of kidnappings in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone).

Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal reasoned that the onus on Sabah's security did not lie solely on ESSCom alone.

All should play a role in protecting peace and harmony, he said.

"The duty of looking after the state's security must be borne by all, including resort operators, caged fish entrepreneurs and society.

"We must know that kidnappings on the east coast of Sabah had taken place since the 1970s.

"So, it is not fair if we only blame ESSCom because before it was set up in April last year, kidnapping incidents here had already taken place," said Mohd Shafie, who is also Semporna member of parliament.

He said this in his speech at the opening of the Semporna District Semarak Programme with ESSCom here yesterday.

"The most important thing is how to overcome it (kidnapping). I also  warn the community especially the Semporna residents do unite and merge their energies to combat piracy via certain methods and knowledge.

"I also hope the village security and development committees (JKKKs), village heads and even the villagers to become a forward base in maintaining security," Shafie pointed out.

Shafie also urged mosques, churches, temples and any other religious bodies to play their part in ensuring security of the country.

At the event, he also distributed water pumps to residents of five villages – Kg Sejati, Kg Simunul Ice-Box, Kg Air, Kg Bangau-Bangau and Kg Seri Jaya.

Shafie also presented Risda's CSR aid at Semporna District Hospital here on the same day.

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Sumatran rhino Gelogob dies of old age – SWD

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:43 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: "If Gelogob was a young female and she suddenly died, I would be the first person to crucify, but the fact is she was very old."

"When she went to Tabin in 2010, she was still more active than three years later as she took the trip back to the Lokkawi Wildlife Park. She didn't take the trip as well as she did when she went to Tabin three years earlier. In 2013, she seemed to be getting slower, spending more time in the wallow and while she still ate, her appetite was going down. This is a norm even for people as they grow older," said Dr Sen Nathan, the assistant director of the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) when met by The Borneo Post yesterday.

He was replying to the statement made by Land Empowerment Animals People executive director Cynthia Ong recently that Gelogob could have had a longer life with better care, despite her advanced age.

He explained that in December 2013, Gelogob went off-feed and it was that time that the SWD knew that her condition was serious.

Dr Sen said Gelogob wasn't defecating and that four vets – Dr Rosa Sipangkui (SWD), Dr Diana Ramirez (Wildlife Rescue Unit), Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin (Borneo Rhino Alliance) and himself found her to be in pain and restless.

"We believe it was her gastrointestinal and we gave her painkillers, sedatives and 24-hour care. We did rectal palpation to remove her faeces and the block but we realised that the block was somewhere that we could not reach.

"We knew at the beginning that she was in pain … the four of us talked about euthanasia because deep down inside (we felt) we might not be able to save her…but we decided to still try."

Gelogob's life, after that, can be likened to that of patients receiving palliative care, he said.

He then went on to describe the last 10 days of Gelogob's life.

"For 10 days we were there with her. I was there when she died. It was very peaceful. She was asleep when she died," he said.

Hence he was very surprise with Ong's comments recently.

"I am so surprised people can say things when they weren't even there … the reason I know about Gelogob's condition was because I was there for 10 days … it is surprising and I find it amusing that people who were not there seem to know more about her condition than us," he said.

After her death, an autopsy conducted found four kilograms of sand and stone in Gelogob's digestive tract, said Dr Sen.

He said the sand and stone were probably consumed by Gelogob during her stay in Tabin and even in Sepilok.

"It is a fact that rhinoceros consume soil for their minerals and she could have swallowed stones when doing so… So I stand by what I said earlier that the stones were probably from Sepilok and Tabin and they gradually increased in her."

He added that the sand and stones only caused partial obstruction in Gelogob's digestive tract but her old age aggravated the condition.

"It is a norm. Even people suffer from changes in their digestive system as they grow older – the muscle in our digestive system becoming weaker for example," he explained.

As for claims of poor husbandry, Dr Sen cited that if the Lokkawi Wildlife Park had poor husbandry practice, many of the animals there would have died.

"We have three to four orphaned elephants at the zoo. Being young, they are extremely fragile. If the zoo has poor husbandry, these wouldn't have survived."

And on whether the zoo could have done better to care for Gelogob, Dr Sen said  they could have hand-fed Gelogob and looked after her 24-hours a day, but cited that it was a fact that the probability of one dying got higher when one was old and sickly.

"My father died and I couldn't do anything to stop it, and your mother died and there was nothing you could do," he said.

And as for the incapability of government institutions such as the Lokkawi Wildlife Park to care for the Sumatran rhino, Dr Sen reminded that Gelogob has been living in government establishments for more than 20 years before her death.

"I would beg to differ on that. Within the government there are people who are competent to save wildlife, not just NGOs (non governmental organisations)."

Gelogob was captured when she was 17 years old in 1994 and she spent 13 years in captivity in Sepilok before she was transferred to the  Lokkawi Wildlife Park in 2007 and stayed there until 2010. It was then decided that she be shifted to Tabin for rhino breeding.

"We tried to breed and mate her (in Sepilok) but we realised that she was getting too old to be reproductive…when Kretam was captured, we sent her to Tabin. Although Gelogob was old, we engaged with IZW (Institute Zoo Berlin), the world's best large mammals reproductive specialist with the hope of making Gelogob reproductive again."

However, they found that she was simply too old and even with IZW's expertise, she couldn't become reproductive again.

By 2011, Puntung, a young female rhino was rescued and she was kept in Tabin along with Kretam and Gelogob.

Due to the limited space available at Tabin, BORA has insisted that Gelogob be sent back to the zoo, said Dr Sen.

"It was a collective decision. We knew every day that it was a blessing for Gelogob that she lived yet another day. We thought she would die anytime and we were worried she would die during the journey  from Tabin to Lokkawi."

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MP regrets lack of action over sensitive seminar

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:42 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: The recent development relating to the growing inter-racial and religious conflicts in the Peninsular Malaysia is certainly throwing a lot of people from different races into the pits of anger and dissatisfaction, Penampang Member of Parliament Darell Leiking said.

The spillover did unfortunately, he lamented, in some way affect the partners of the Federation of Malaysia, that is Sabahans and Sarawakians who have for decades accepted that racial and religious differences are norms and have always mutually respected each other as a unified people of Borneo.

However, the 'Peninsular Malaysian's bigotry and intolerance' have recently tested the principles of mutual understanding, respect and sensitivity towards other religion under this Barisan Nasional Government's rule is the recent seminar known as 'Kalimah Allah dan Kristologi Nusantara' organized by Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS), Akademi Pengajian Kontemporari UiTM and Warisan Ibnu Aaby, he said.

Several anti-Christian subjects were discussed and more than 1,000 copies of the controversial book known as "Pendedahan Agenda Kristian / Revelation of Christian Agenda" were distributed to the participants of the aforesaid seminar, he claimed.

"As a citizen of the Federation of Malaysia who believes that mutual respect and sensitivity are of prime importance in this multi-religious country, I have asked the Minister of Education (who is also the Deputy Prime Minister) in the recent parliamentary sitting as to what action will be taken against UiTM for organising such a seminar which could potentially create a major misunderstanding between the Muslims and non-Muslim innocents in Malaysia.

Darell in a statement yesterday said, "It is shockingly unbelievable that the Deputy Prime Ministry had confirmed in his reply that such seminar was held for 'academic purposes and for intellectual discussions' hence no action will be taken against the institution (UiTM).

"It is my opinion as am sure of many sane opinion, that UiTM had certainly created a very dangerous precedence which will be replicated by not only other Muslim dominated organisations or institutions but also by the non-Muslim dominated organisations or institutions, all under the guises of 'academic discussion & intellectual discussions' purposes," Darell said.

Darell was of the opinion that the inability of the BN Federal Government to act immediately on this incident is truly regrettable when they could have instead ordered that any such future 'academic discussion, forum or seminar' which involves sensitive religious issues in any public organisation or institution should be first sanctioned by the National Unity Ministry beforehand and that proper and fair panelists representing all views should be invited.

"It is as if they are encouraging this bigotry and hate. After all, this is exactly the reason why the National Unity Ministry was created in the first place," he claimed.

Darell disclosed that in that same reply, the Deputy Prime Minister did state that at the start of the seminar it was emphasised that no religious bashing was encouraged. However, this is an absolute paradox when the subjects discussed in that same seminar included 'Ancaman Kristianisasi /Threats by Christians' and '10 Sebab Mengapa Orang Kristian harus memeluk Islam / 10 reasons why Christians must embrace Islam'.

"It shows their arrogance and we in Sabah and Sarawak cannot be part of this bigotry and arrogance. All this is surely anti-Christian bashing and I urge that UiTM which should be the centre of learning must be heavily reprimanded for conducting such seminar as doing nothing and defending the obvious religious bashing seminar is shaping UiTM into an extremist religious institution!

"This has gone beyond the intention of any fair academic learning institution unless of course by the same definition in the Deputy Prime Minister's reply all other 'Intellectual Discussions" such as a forum reply conducted by Non-Muslim organisations are allowed too,"

"Lest they forgot that there are many 'Bumiputras who are non-Muslims' seeking academic excellence in UiTM and having 'Anti-Christian' seminars like this would surely be extremely uncomfortable and yes, divert away from the true nature of any centre for academic excellence," he pointed out.

But again, Darell said there would seem to be no mutual understanding, respect and tolerance between different races and religions in Malaysia under the BN and this is shown, by the way, of another religion imposing over others at their whims and fancies and the nonchalant written reply by the Ministry of Education (which is headed by Deputy Prime Minister) only proves that.

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Practise tolerance and openness – CM

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:41 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman said the peace the country enjoys would not be possible if its multi-cultural citizens are not tolerant, open and do not make an effort to understand as well as appreciate each other's culture and tradition.

Therefore the state and federal government always give priority to the organization of community based programs to further strengthen the understanding, friendship among the rakyat, he said when launching the Kudat Festival at Sidek Esplanade yesterday.

He pointed out that this is the unique strength of Malaysia and Sabah compared to other countries in the world.

With peace, prosperity and political stability in the country, investors and foreign tourists would have the confidence to make Malaysia as their main destination, he said.

"I would like to stress here that as the Government, we are always committed and will double our efforts to ensure that the peace, harmony and prosperity that we have attained will be maintained for always.

"We cannot deny that there have been irresponsible quarters trying to destroy the harmony that we have but I am confident that Sabahans are matured to think rationally and differentiate between diamonds and glass.

"Here I would like to take the opportunity to invite all Sabahans to work hand in hand with the Government to ensure that the political stability, peace and prosperity would continue for the benefit and interest of all," Musa said.

What is important is that the continued cooperation, support and commitment are needed towards the success of the Government's work for the welfare of the people, he added.

Also present at the event were Special Task Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang, Deputy Minister of Defence Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, Banggi assemblyman Datuk Mijul Unaini, State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman, Kudat District Officer Sapdin Ibrahim and other dignitaries.

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Umno Youth Bureau kept busy with community complaints portal

Posted: 20 Jun 2014 10:52 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: The Umno Youth Community Complaints Bureau has received 273 complaints over its 'fortherakyat' portal made accessible to the people less than two months ago, said bureau chairman Sheikh Ahmad Nafiq Sheikh A Rahman.

He said 40 per cent of the complaints had been addressed successfully and the fastest solution to a complaint was achieved in about two weeks.

"The portal (www.fortherakyat.com) enables Malaysians, wherever they are, to register their complaints with the bureau," he told reporters here on Thursday night. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched the portal on April 25.

Sheikh Ahmad Nafiq had earlier given a briefing on the bureau to Umno Youth leaders in Kudat, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud, Ranau, Tuaran, Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan, Papar, Kimanis, Beaufort, Sipitang, Tenom, Keningau and Pensiangan.

He said complaints had also been received from Malaysian students abroad, and these were usually related to passports.

The bureau worked closely with government agencies in finding solutions to the complaints and problems, he added.

Sheikh Ahmad Nafiq said people in the interior areas without Internet facility could register their complaints with the state community complaints bureaus by telephone. Umno Youth Political Training and Education Bureau chairman Armizan Mohd Ali and Political Cadre Bureau chairman Tengku Zuhri Tengku Abdul Aziz gave briefings on their bureaus to Umno Youth leaders from Tawau, Kalabakan, Semporna, Silam, Libaran, Sandakan, Batu Sapi, Beluran and Kinabatangan. — Bernama

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