13Feb

Praise for bonding KK folks with city’s history

The community heritage exhibition "Bonding With Gaya Street" earned praises from Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir at its launch, here, Saturday. "This programme is connected to City Hall's vision, which is to make Kota Kinabalu a Nature Resort City, a firmly developed city, friendly as well as peaceful by 2020.

"It also gives the younger generation an opportunity to gain an insight into the uniqueness of Gaya Street through exhibits which showcase its social history, lifestyle and culture, old buildings and shophouses, significant events and incidents, which have influenced the community along Gaya Street throughout the ages."

"I believe visitors will have the opportunity not only to see the natural beauty of the city, but also a chance of looking into the lifestyle pattern of its community as well as gather bits and pieces of its history as they go along the exhibits," he said at the Lintasan Deasoka in conjunction with the 12th City Day celebration.

Daily Express is a co-sponsor of the event. The first headquarters of Sabah Publishing House, the publishers of both the Daily Express and Overseas Chinese Daily News, were among the street's pioneer establishments.

Madingkir reminded patrons and business proprietors along Gaya Street to maintain the cleanliness of the city. He also suggested repainting and renovations to be done on buildings along the street, where necessary, in order to lift the image of the city as well as ensure the buildings are safe.

Earlier, Organising Chairperson Datin Fazar Arif said the focus was on Gaya Street because it is the origins of Jesselton and Kota Kinabalu.

Thus the project is named 'Bonding with Gaya Street'. Part of Gaya Street was also known as Bond Street in the old days.

"We are all very familiar with Gaya Street but we just don't look around, we tend to take it for granted. So this exhibition is about slowing down and noticing the details.

"Our objective is to celebrate community and celebrate community history which goes back to the beginnings of Gaya Street as we know."

She also credited the North Borneo History Enthusiasts (NBHE), a fairly random group of bloggers comprising Sabahans from all walks of life.

"It's not like we're learned academics but it's very much based on love of history and stories as well as collecting stories and old photos from people of Gaya Street."

She said the first shophouses were built along the area called Bond Street that would later be re-named Gaya Street. The event also saw the soft launching of the NBHE book titled "Bonding with Gaya Street".

Also present were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr. Yee Moh Chai , City Hall Director General Datuk Yeo Boon Hai, founder of the NBHE group, Justin Sunam Wong and Madingkir's wife Datin Florence Malangkig.

Source: Daily Express

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13Feb

Local authorities urged to highlight uniqueness of their areas

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman wants local authorities to identify and highlight the potential and uniqueness of their respective districts at the international level.

“This includes historical aspects of a place, the uniqueness of ethnicities and sub-ethnic groups, various cultures, potential for tourism and other efforts and programmes which can generate income, strengthen cooperation and unity,” he said at the 2012 Tawau International Cultural Festival.

In his speech, which was read out by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin here last night, he commended the commitment of local authorities for an event which showcased the culture of 26 ethnicities in Tawau, including food, dance, traditional costumes and wedding customs.

“This festival is a good medium to foster ties between leaders and the community to uphold our cultural heritage, unite and strengthen understanding as well as respect among our community of various races, religion and cultures,” he said.

Musa said that in the regional context, the festival’s theme ‘Kebudayaan Untuk Kedamaian Serantau’ (Culture for Regional Peace), also played a big role in reviving the spirit of goodwill and togetherness among neighbouring countries.

Source: Bernama

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13Feb

North Borneo Railway steam train service back on track again

The North Borneo Railway steam train service is back on track after an absence of six years.

"This is the only one of its kind in South East Asia which I think Sabah should leverage on, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun at the re-launching of the North Borneo Railway here, Saturday.

The North Borneo Railway is a joint venture project between Sutera Harbour and the Sabah State Railway Department, which was temporarily closed in September 2005 due to the upgrading works of the railway track.

The three-hour train service will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays from Tanjung Aru to Papar.

Masidi said Sabahans should be proud that despite the developments and the modernisation of the transport industry, the State has somehow managed to save one of the last remnants of colonial transport.

"I believe that this is going to be a winner and be very popular among tourists just by looking at all the amenities and facilities that are served on board," he said, adding that it is very important that the standard of service is maintained continuously.

"I have always advocated that there are things in Sabah that we need to maintain for instance old shop houses in Tanjung Aru, which we need to strengthen the structure and convert into something that we can actually add value to what we already have.

"We have to keep in mind that development is not just about building tall buildings, its about the convenience of the people, you need to look beyond the building itself to appreciate what you are going to put into the city.

"If the city is congested with buildings, obviously traffic jams will follow next and at the end of the day, your intentions of wanting to enrich the city would actually backfire because people will stop patronising the city," said Masidi, adding that is why the same principle should apply to a product like this North Borneo Railway," he said.

On the recent opening of an 'upside down' house in Tuaran, he said, there is a need to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas to continue to interest people in the tourism industry in Sabah.

On whether his Ministry will promote it as a tourism product, Masidi said as long as it complies with the safety standards there is nothing wrong with it.

"For me its not just about being upside down, its about creativity and that's what we need, it's not about doing the same thing over and over again but trying to do something new because the same thing all over again will only give the same result," he said.

In another matter he said: "I am very happy to announce that we may have exceeded our projected tourist arrivals of 2.63 million, however, we're still counting and we may have reached a figure of somewhere between 2.75million."

He also assured that his Ministry is working very hard to go for alternative routes following Malaysia Airlines' decision to cut a few routes.

"I went to Shanghai in December to meet up with China Eastern Airlines and immediately they have started their charter flight service to Kota Kinabalu.

"Hopefully by the end of this month, I will again go to Guangzhou to meet the China Southern Airlines and again its my sincere wish that they will come and start their service in Kota Kinabalu," he said.

Also present were Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir and Sutera Harbour Resort Chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Kamil Jaffar, among others.

Source: Daily Express

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13Feb

Insight into human-crocodile conflicts by satellite tagging

A satellite tagging project has been started, to tag selected male crocodiles in 10 main rivers of Sabah, as part of an on-going project to gain insight into human-crocodile conflicts.

So far, two Kinabatangan river crocodiles have been tagged by the Sabah Wildlife Department, through its Wildlife Rescue Unit and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), the latest being a 3.6 metre saltwater crocodile named Lais, on January 27.

DGFC director Dr Benoit Goossens said most human-crocodile conflicts involved large males of the species.

By tagging these animals, long term seasonal movements can be established, which would then help determine how lack of food may be forcing them to consider humans as a source of protein, he added.

“We plan to focus on 10 main rivers in Sabah and fit satellite tags on the male crocodiles in each of these rivers.

“We will also carry out surveys and collect samples to identify patterns of gene flow between the rivers and also to get an overall picture of fertility within the population,” said Goossens who is also leader of the Kinabatangan Crocodile Programme, in a press release issued yesterday.

The 10 rivers are Klias, Padas, Paitan, Sugud, Labuk, Kinabatangan,Segama, Kalumpang, Kalabakan and Serudon, with emphasis on two rivers with different degrees of human pressure — the Kinabatangan and Paitan.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu attributed the recent successful tagging of the crocodile in the Kinabatangan river to both the Wildlife Rescue Unit and DGFC’s hard work. Ambu said the Wildlife Rescue Unit, funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort and Le Meridien Hotel, has been extremely active since its creation.

DGFC Manager Mark Rampangajouw said a camera set up in the cage had allowed the project team to catch good shots of the crocodile as it took the bait and moved into the trap.

The satellite tagging project is currently funded by the Chester Zoo in Chestershire, UK and DGFC.

Source: Bernama

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13Feb

Founder of Orangutan Appeal UK receives British MBE award

Sue Sheward, the founder and chairperson of the Orangutan Appeal UK, has been included in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List and was awarded with an MBE for her work in protecting Asia’s endangered primates.

In an interview held during the Sepilok Orangutan Appeal UK cocktail party at Rasa Ria Resort here on Monday evening, Sheward said she was overwhelmed when she received a letter from the House of Commons informing her that she had been recommended for the Queen’s Honours List in 2012.

“I thought it can’t be true so I phoned the office to ask them if they sent me the letter. They confirmed, so it wasn’t a joke,” she quipped.

The award for the cause of the orangutan would help open doors across the world, she said, adding that it will definitely open more doors in the UK and Europe.

“I hope it will open more doors here and in Asia,” she said.

She also felt that there was a need to explain to the people on the important work the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Appeal are doing.

“Let’s hope that it encourages more people and companies to show their green side,” she said.

Additionally, the award is testimony of her work with the apes of Asia, particularly the orang utan is recognised.

“The orangutan is such an endangered species, it is important worldwide.”

Prior to the knowledge that she has been nominated for the award, Sheward was contemplating retirement.

“But now I can’t. I have to continue to do it,” she said.

Sheward also commented on the European debt crisis and how it is affecting the people’s attitude towards charities since people do not have much money to give away.

“So the level of donation tends not to be so high.”

To generate more fund, Sheward said that they are focusing more on companies and are trying to encourage them to donate to the work of Appeal.

She explained that companies stand to benefit if they donate since they can claim for tax exemption against the donation.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, meanwhile, congratulated Sheward for the recognition accorded upon her for her work in Sabah.

“The fact that she is recognised and honoured shows that what we are doing in Sabah in the conservation of the orangutan is on the right track.

“We always have complaints about how our orangutans are disappearing and how we are not doing enough and that oil palm is killing the orangutans. There has been flying allegations of our conservation efforts but if the British government has honoured her, then we must be doing right. To us, this is an international stamp of approval from the world on what is being done here and for the Appeal,” he said.

Also present at the event was Datuk Mike Steel, the adviser for the Orangutan Appeal UK in Sabah.

Source: Borneo Post

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