05Sep

Hotel staff show artistic talents

SANDAKAN: Associates of The Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan initiated a drawing competition to commemorate the 61st Malaysian Independence Day. The theme, which is based on this year’s theme ‘Sayangi Malaysia Ku’ received an overwhelming response and the three external judges, Roslee Jaafar (professional art and culture), Emilina Gustin (head of dental unit) and Eva Mohamad (Zumba instructor and teacher), were captivated by the final products of the talented staff. Roslee complimented the hotel’s general manager, Peter Padman, for having such a motivated and joyful team of employees while commenting that he was in awe of the 10 final artworks which expressed so much detail and love by the associates for their much adored country, Malaysia. When asked why this drawing competition was organised, Peter said that his team had been working so hard over the past few months with so many new implementations within the company, and with the ongoing integration of Marriott International with Starwood, he felt that his fellow colleagues could do with a break from the daily routine which had somewhat been quite stressful lately. He added that the associates, who were a team of Malaysians, expressed so much passion and love for their country through the drawings and it was brought to reality that a picture does paint a thousand words. The competition, which was open to all 10 departments of the hotel, was won by the Human Resources Department, led by Haeruddin Nurdin, the Human Resources Manager. Their painting represented the various cultural and ethnic groups of the country who live in perfect harmony from the North to the South, from Perlis to Sabah. The various colours were explained in detail as to what it represented, while not forgetting the meaning of the Hibiscus as the National flower and the iconic KLCC tower that showed the progress and development of the country over the 61 years.   Source: Borneo Post Online
By Inside KePKAS, , , , Comments Off
Read more...
04Sep

Two-hour ROR POP-UP event by Future Alam Borneo team in city centre

KOTA KINABALU: The Future Alam Borneo (FAB) team behind the Borneo Rhythms of Rimba (ROR) Wildlife Festival dropped over to the state capital over the weekend from Sandakan and set up a roving environmental ROR POP-UP stage in the city centre, at the old Social Welfare building. With the objective of bringing environmental awareness to the public, and supported by the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry and Kota Kinabalu City Hall, FAB curated a short two-hour programme on marine conservation issues here in Sabah. With the collaboration of WWF-Malaysia and Scubazoo Images, the event projected large visuals on the wall of the abandoned building, courtesy of a high-powered laser projector from Panasonic. Video footage featured the beauty of Sabah Borneo’s marine biodiversity, as well as shocking images highlighting the issues of turtle poaching, shark finning, and plastic pollution in Sabah oceans. The evening also saw musicians Hezekiah Asim, a sape player from Sarawak and the electronic sounds of Avery Fos (a Sabahan & Bruneian duo) complement the visual messages. Dr Robecca Jumin, Head of Marine Programme, WWF-Malaysia Marine Programme who gave a short presentation that night, enthused, “This collaboration between creative musicians and conservation work made the message even more emotional and impactful tonight.” The ROR POP-UP event was a precursor to the upcoming Borneo RORWildlife Festival to be held next month on Sept 15-16 at Nexus Resort & Spa, Karambunai, with an international list of world-renowned conservationists, creatives and musicians; all in Sabah to help the state promote its natural heritage to Malaysians and to the world. Anton Ngui, Chairman of Future Alam Borneo, added at the end, “We hope there will be more opportunities such as these to share and engage with our fellow Sabahans as we look to preserve our unique natural heritage.”   Source: New Sabah Times
By Inside KePKAS, , , Comments Off
Read more...
04Sep

No plastic straws, polystyrene food packaging in cafeteria

KOTA KINABALU: Institut Sinaran pledged to phase out plastic straws and polystyrene food packaging from its cafeteria in honor of the 2018 “Beat Plastic Polution” World Environment Day. Institut Sinaran CEO Yong Pik Hua said plastic products were low cost and vast in its range but were detrimental towards the health of living beings and the environment. She pointed out that 91% of the world plastic waste are not recycled and takes 500 to 1,000 years to degrade. “The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recognized vinyl chloride, the precursor to PVC, as human carcinogen (a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue),” said Yong at the Institut Sinaran Environment Day 2018 closing ceremony at the campus grounds here yesterday. “The danger of plastic pollution should be incorporated in our school curriculum so that we can fight the plastic pollution more effectively. We at Institut Sinaran are also joining this fight. “Today, I am delighted to announce that the institute’s cafeteria will eventually phase out the usage of plastic straws and the use polystyrene food packaging,” she added. As part of its environmental efforts, Yong said 110 students and staff collected a whopping 125kg of rubbish while running the Institut Sinaran Environmental Run at Likas Bay on July 28. Besides that, she said the institute organized a talk on the major detrimental impacts of the little plastic drinking straws on August 6 whilst 68 of its students and staff planted 158 forestry Urat Mata Beludu, Kapur Paji and Seraya Tembaga seedlings at the Pusat Sejadi Recreational Forest Kawang, managed by Sabah Forestry Department on August 18. Attended by Deputy Chief Minister and Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Christina Liew, a total of 188 students from 10 schools throughout Sabah participated in the three contests, “YB Minister, we have something to say”, Choral Speaking and Environment Video, organized in conjunction with the Institut Sinaran Environment Day 2018. “On behalf of the Board of Governors and the Sinaran families, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for YB’s (Liew’s) support in providing us a total amount of RM20,000 as financial support for the Institut Sinaran Interschool Environment Day activities. Today would not have been possible without YB’s assistance,” said Yong. “To Hap Seng Properties Sdn Bhd, we are also very grateful for the financial assistance you have given us,” she noted. Kota Kinabalu Hakka Association chairman Datuk Jimmy Yong Kyok Ming, Institut Sinaran Board of Governors chairman Fong Tet Kong, Sabah Environment Department director Tunku Khalkausar Tunku Fathahi, Sabah Environmental Protection Department deputy director Vitalis J Moduying, Hap Seng Properties general manager David Wan and Kota Kinabalu Hakka Association fourth vice chairman Ling Kon Pau were also present during the closing ceremony.   Source: Borneo Post Online
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
03Sep

Church parishioners collect 315kg of rubbish in Tawau

TAWAU: The Holy Trinity Catholic Church parishioners collected 315kg of rubbish during its 3K Run, Walk & Plog organized by the Parish Human Development Committee on Saturday. Plog or plogging – collecting trash while walking or jogging – is the church’s first such program in conjunction with the World Day of Prayer for Care of the Creation. The event was participated by 225 parishioners from the Filipino, Chinese and Indonesian Pastoral Community, Neocate, EMC, Parish Youth Apostolate, altarboys, Legion of Mary, BEC Megah Jaya and outstation chapels from St Stephen, Tass, St Paul, Balung and St Francis of Asisi, Gudang 4. St Stephen collected 65kg of trash which was the highest collected and earned them a prize. The event that started at 6.30am to 10am saw trash being collected along Kuhara, Guru, Mawar and Melati Roads. Parish priest, Monsignor Nicholas Ong said 2.2 billion Christians prayed for care of the creation on that day and called on parishioners to take care of the environment. He also called on the parishioners not to wait for others, and start taking care of the environment by saving energy, water and practice organic fertilizing. The church, he said would be getting water tanks to collect rain water for watering purposes and urged the parishioners to come and listen to talks on how to care for the environment on September 26-28.   Source: Borneo Post Online
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
03Sep

Divers mark National Day with conservation message off Sabah waters

KOTA KINABALU: A group of divers spread the conservation message by replanting coral in Sabah's popular diving spots off Semporna. The divers from award-winning dive operator Scuba Junkie also marked National Day celebrations in waters off Kota Kinabalu as they drove home the need for greater marine conservation awareness. Scuba Junkie director Ric Owen said that Mabul Beach Resort was also chosen as the site by launching a new coral transplanting project at the Scuba Junkie house reef. "Our oceans face many threats, and we do what we can to protect the amazing biodiversity of Sabah for future generations to enjoy.
"The new coral transplanting project is something we have planned for a long time – and something we want to nurture for future generations to enjoy," he said.
He said that the event held simultaneously on Friday (Aug 31) was a great day for all his staff who also unfurled the Jalur Gemilang and Sabah flags underwater. He added that Scuba Junkie has a dedicated conservation arm, Scuba Junkie SEAS, which carries out environmental and conservation projects at all of its bases. Scuba Junkie has won numerous awards for environmental endeavours – most notably BlueGreen 360 Dive Operator of the Year for 2017, as well as WildAsia awards in the past. Source: The Star Online
By Inside KePKAS, , , Comments Off
Read more...