Gong Festival 2014

241014 YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun launching the 2014 Gong Festival at Matunggong's Open Hall on 23rd October 2014. This is an annual festival listed in the Sabah Tourism Calendar to attract more visitors to the small district of Matunggong. Seen in the photo, YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun visiting one of the exhibition booths at the festival. YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun telah merasmikan acara Pesta Gong 2014 bertempat di Dewan Terbuka Matunggong pada 23hb Oktober 2014. Acara tersebut merupakan acara tahunan yang telah diletakkan dalam kalendar pelancongan Sabah yang bertujuan untuk menarik lebih ramai pelancong ke Daerah Kecil Matunggong. Kelihatan dalam gambar, YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun melawat gerai-gerai pameran yang ada bersempena dengan acara tersebut. 
Read more...

‘Today’s govt policies must benefit future generations’

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 17, 2014: A government policy, especially that concerns the environment, must not only benefit the future generation, but also get its appreciation. Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun in disclosing this said the state government should therefore take into consideration the needs and importance of conservation when drafting the policy. Responding to Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) president Hamzah Rahmat’s call for the state government to seriously look into efforts for environmental conservation, Masidi welcomed the view. He added it would defeat the whole purpose of promoting the country as an eco-tourism destination if half of its conservation policies were breached. “I am not criticising what the State Government has done, this is just a mere reminder to self and also Sabahans to please consider the needs and welfare of future generations when drafting any policy. “We need to realise that our action today will haunt us forever. We may not feel the effect for the next one or two decades, but we have to think forward and draft a policy that will serve a long-term solution that will benefit our children and their children in the next 30 or 50 years,” he said when launching the Asia Pacific Eco-Tourism Conference (Apeco) 2014, here, today. He said there were “unpopular” policies made today, but he believed that as long as it was executed well, it would work. “What we think is popular may not be the right decision. What we really need is the right policy and ensure it is executed well.” He said the State Government had been working hard to ensure balance between development and nature conservation, which among others had set that 55% of Sabah be retained as protected forest. “We are moving towards that and I believe that through education, we will be there.” He said although logging was the largest contributor to the state’s economy, last year’s decision to revoke licenses for the industry showed the State Government’s sincerity to protect the environment. The revenue dropped from RM2 billion to RM110 million. “This is an example of an unpopular decision, but it did bring positive impact to other industries, such as tourism which clocked RM6.3 billion in revenue, over RM4 billion more compared with what we had received from logging.” Masidi was also optimistic that although this year was not a good year for Sabah’s tourism industry, he believed it would be able to pick up pace in time. “Our performance shows a 10% increase in the first five months this year. And I am confident that Malaysia will be able to meet its 28 million tourist arrival target and collect RM76 billion from the industry.”
Source: The Rakyat Post
Read more...

“Dirgahayu Tuan Yang Terutama” Special Exhibition in conjunction with the 61st Official Birthday Celebration of the Governor of Sabah

151014_2 His Excellency the Governor of Sabah, Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Haji Juhar Bin Haji Mahiruddin and Yang Amat Berbahagia Toh Puan Datuk Seri Panglima Hajah Norlidah Binti Datuk R.M. Jasni attending “Dirgahayu Tuan Yang Terutama” Special Exhibition in conjunction with the 61st Official Birthday Celebration of the Governor of Sabah, Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Haji Juhar Bin Haji Mahiruddin  at the Sabah Museum on 14 October 2014. Tuan Yang Terutama Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Sabah, Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Haji Juhar Bin Haji Mahiruddin dan Yang Amat Berbahagia Toh Puan Datuk Seri Panglima Hajah Norlidah Binti Datuk R.M. Jasni  berkenaan menghadiri Pameran Khas "Dirgahayu Tuan Yang Terutama" sempena Sambutan Hari Jadi Rasmi Ke-61, Tuan Yang Terutama Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Sabah, Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Haji Juhar Bin Haji Mahiruddin bertempat di Jabatan Muzium Negeri Sabah pada 14 Oktober 2014.
Read more...

Program Sekolah Rakan Alam Sekitar (SERASI)

151014_1 YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun receiving a cheque with the amount of RM100,000 from SHELL Malaysia's representative, YBhg Datin Lucy Wong for the “Friends of Nature School Program 2014” (Program Sekolah Rakan Alam Sekitar (SERASI) 2014) on 14 October 2014 at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah office. SERASI is one of the major programs for Environment Week’s annual celebration in Sabah. YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun menerima cek sebanyak RM100,000 yang disampaikan oleh wakil daripada SHELL Malaysia, YBhg Datin Lucy Wong sempena dengan Program Sekolah Rakan Alam Sekitar (SERASI) 2014 pada 14 Oktober 2014 bertempat di Tingkat 7, Kementerian Pelancongan, Kebudayaan dan Alam Sekitar Sabah. Program Sekolah Rakan Alam Sekitar (SERASI) merupakan salah satu program utama bagi sambutan tahunan Minggu Alam Sekitar (MASM) di Sabah.
Read more...

Fruitful visit to San Francisco: Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun on Wednesday concluded his trip to San Francisco confident the attempt to woo tourists from the United States would yield results. "We had a first meeting with their tourist agents there. It was more of a explanatory session, which went very, very well," he told the Daily Express, here. The move marks the Sabah's foray into the American tourism market, involving a three-way meeting between Masidi's delegation, travel agents from San Francisco, and an Asiana Air regional manager. In the meeting, he said they also put up suggestions to improve and ease connectivity for travel from San Francisco to Kota Kinabalu via Aseana. Masidi said their work was further made easy after realising there is a Malaysian-born amid the group of travel agents who is well versed on Sabah. "That would be an advantage for us at least in terms of promoting Sabah," said Masidi, adding that Sabah Tourism Board will provide the necessary aid once the group of visitors from San Francisco starts to come in. On Sept 15, Masidi announced the trip to San Francisco to woo visitors from the Pacific Coast of America, in what he said was a change of strategy away from the traditional Chinese market. He made his trip on Sept 25 and returned to Kota Kinabalu on Oct 2, which included a stop at the City of Portland where he witnessed a memorandum signing between Kota Kinabalu and Portland as sister cities. Masidi had warned of the significant drop in Chinese national arrivals following jitters brought on by security concerns in the East Coast and the disappearance of MH370. Sabah experienced a 47 per cent drop in the number of arrivals from China in the first six months of 2014 compared to the same period last year. Source: Daily Express
Read more...