16Oct

Local artist’s painting to feature on corporate stamps

KOTA KINABALU: Local artist, Josrie Haral, won top honors in the Sketching Competition for his painting of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Building which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next March. Josrie’s rendition of one of the city’s last remaining British colonial-era buildings won the first prize worth RM1,000 and will be featured on corporate stamps by Pos Malaysia to commemorate the centennial of the historic STB building, which was a former post office. “It gives me great pleasure to extend my warmest congratulations for Josrie Haral for his breathtaking landmark in the heart of the city,” said STB Chairman, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai at the prize-presentation ceremony yesterday. He said Sabah Tourism was fortunate to have the heritage building as its headquarters, noting its address is also the official 0km of Kota Kinabalu, attesting to the building’s central location. Joniston presented prizes to the other winners of the competition including Chong Jun Hao at 2nd place, winning RM800 and Mastini Asap who won RM500. Consolation prizes were also awarded to five other participants who each won RM100. “The artworks of all top 8 award-winning sketches will be displayed for public viewing at the STB building for one month before being featured at the Sabah Art Gallery,” said Ar. Arnold Kwan Chee Hung, Chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Architects Sabah Chapter (PAM). Among the committee of judges evaluating the artworks include Curator of Sabah Art Gallery Jennifer P. Linggi, Arnold, Joniston, and organizing chairman Ar Patrick Vun. Earlier in his speech, Joniston expressed his appreciation to PAM for organizing the competition earlier this month which saw 36 participants consisting of artists and students joining to appreciate and observe the STB building – a priceless heritage of the city. Artists were given a period of one week to complete their sketches. The competition was also held in conjunction with PAM’s annual Borneo Architecture Festival where many other activities were held around the city, including a “Kiosk Design Competition” at DBKK as well as the International Design Conference next week. The STB building is one of the three buildings here gazetted for conservation and heritage. Located on Gaya Street, it survived the bombing by Allied Forces during the Second World War in Jesselton when much along the same street was destroyed. The other colonial-era buildings are the Atkinson Clock Tower, which still stands and the Lands and Surveys Department building (later converted to the Department of Social Welfare) but was destroyed in a fire in 1992. Only a few columns remain on the site in front of the Suria Sabah shopping mall. The STB building underwent restoration in 1989 and it was officiated open on January 19, 1991, to house STB. Source : New Sabah Times
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
13Oct

CM sees creative industry potential

KOTA KINABALU: Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman has expressed confidence that the creative industry can grow into a dynamic sector in the future. The Chief Minister said this sector has an important role to support the needs of the community in both urban and rural areas, and that its growth is the hallmark of a maturing society which values its creative roots and culture. In his speech at the launch of a seminar on ‘Nurturing Sabah’s Rural Creative Communities’ at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort here yesterday, he said the development of the creative industry locally needed to focus on the various strengths and advantages that Sabah has in terms of creative resources. The text of his speech was delivered by Special Tasks Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang. “Sabah is well recognised as culturally diverse with vast resources in the fields of performing arts, visual arts, film and handicraft. “The state also has a substantial pool of creative talents who have consistently proven their abilities at national level, as well as actors and film-makers currently involved in the screen industry locally and nationally,” he said. And, he also said Sabah was also an internationally-established tourist destination, particularly in nature tourism. Sabah’s assortment of world class natural attractions, abundance of flora and fauna and unique wildlife, he said, also made the state an attractive destination for documentary projects and commercial photography, apart from film making. The Chief Minister added that the three main niche areas Sabah could focus on were cultural heritage, performing arts and creative media. “This ‘uniquely Sabah’ approach will provide the best prospect for us to position the state in the national and global creative industries market,” he said. Musa added that although most of the measures surrounding the development of the creative industry was centred at urban areas, most of its creative assets could be considered to be ‘rural-centric’ and particular key ‘creative place’ strengths that existed in rural areas could attract creative workers. Rural innovations, he said, could be driven by urban demand and the creative industry often dispersed a range of creative products, services and experiences that had been pioneered in urban areas but new to the economy of many rural places. Musa also said developing creative industries in rural areas generated potential for sustainable high-quality enterprises and employment opportunities and would contribute to rural diversification. Growth in such products and services, he added, correlated to rising levels of disposable income and better education. “Hence, the role of creative industries in rural areas must be more widely acknowledged and better understood by local governments in order to pursue innovation policies and plans aimed at rural development. “In particular, policy should routinely integrate the creative industry in plans for town centre re-development, as well as tourism strategies and marketing initiatives to help attract and retain skilled and creative individuals. “In tandem with this, the development of government institutional support can be driven by groups in the creative industry. “Some of the strategic measures of the government to develop the sector have taken off such as in creating a talent pool to support the sector successfully. “And, this includes work through the creative industries cluster under the Working Committee on Nurturing Human Capital in Sabah co-chaired by IDS and SEDIA which has progressed positively and shown encouraging results,” Musa said. According to him, policymakers have been interested in the creative industry given its size and growth and that its impact had been clearly demonstrated through its contribution to economic growth of certain countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. This industry, he said, had also been identified as the cornerstone in the transformation of economies in places like New Zealand, South Korea and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, he said the seminar was relevant, especially when the success of our State’s development efforts today partly hinge on grass-roots participation. This will be an opportune time for the government, private sector and related stakeholders to work closely to intensify sharing of knowledge, thoughts and insights on how we can continue to enhance our efforts and resources towards the development of an exciting and potential new growth sector for Sabah. He also said the first multipurpose community theatre or Black Box Theatre in Sabah had been established and was gaining popularity among Sabahans and tourists alike. In addition, he said the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), expected to be completed by next year, would include a world standard Performing Arts Centre to cater for regional and international concerts and events. “There is an increasing number of creative events such as the on-going community awareness project, Sabah Glow, which was successfully organised by IINSCAPE recently”. Yesterday’s seminar was organised by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and in collaboration with the Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (SPArKS). Also present were IDS chairman Datuk Clarence Bongkos and chief executive officer Datuk Hasnol Ayub as well as the president of SPArKS Roger Wang. Source : New Sabah Times
By Inside KePKAS, , , Comments Off
Read more...
12Oct

Malaysia’s largest marine park holds first island-based Marine Turtle Festival

KUDAT: The first island-based Marine Turtle Festival within largest marine park in Malaysia, Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) was recently organised by Tigabu Youth Club (Kelab Belia Tigabu – KBT) and WWF-Malaysia. TMP is located within Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu districts in northern Sabah. TMP is a global symbol of how we can collectively commit to serving nature and humanity, benefiting both the environment and local communities. The area has rich marine biodiversity and is home to elusive dugongs and endangered marine turtles as well as other regular visitors such as migratory whales. Diverse habitats ranging from mangroves, seagrass beds to coral reefs contribute to the rich marine biodiversity. This in turn provides food security for not only 85,000 inhabitants dependent upon it, but also the more than 120 million people in the Coral Triangle region. Tigabu Island hosted the festival this month to highlight turtle conservation work being done in the Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Island complex. The first island-based turtle hatchery was launched on Tigabu in TMP to raise awareness on turtle conservation and threats such as fish bombing and use of poisons like cyanide. Officiating at the launch, Banggi Island assemblyman Datuk Mijul Unaini praised KBT and youths for taking the initiative to conserve marine turtles. Meanwhile, KBT member Absan Saman said he wanted one of the world’s most endangered creatures to continue to thrive around Tigabu and TMP. Agreeing with this, KBT chairman Sulaiman Amir invited the community of Tigabu to work together to protect marine turtles for future generations. The Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Island complex includes the three named islands and Mantabuan Island. KBT identified these areas as turtle nesting sites back in April 2017, and supported recommendations for the TMP Management Plan. KBT works with Sabah Parks for the protection of these turtle nesting islands and their surroundings, and work to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, including bomb fishing. KBT takes on the role of collaborative manager to protect habitats in TMP under the WWF-Malaysia Marine Programme. WWF-Malaysia Kudat team leader Joannie Jomitol said support from Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and Sabah Parks together with WWF-Malaysia’s continuous engagement with the Tigabu community enable KBT members trained as Honorary Wildlife Wardens and Park Rangers to start land-based turtle conservation activities. “They patrol and monitor turtle nesting beaches at Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Islands complex and set up a turtle hatchery on Tigabu Island.” From April to September 2017, some 15 turtle nests have been relocated from the islands to the hatchery; 14 of the nests have hatched and hatchlings were released. The two types of turtles nesting there are Green turtles (770 eggs) and Hawksbill turtles (315 eggs). Melvin Richard from SWD and park manager from Sabah Parks, Fazrullah Rizally Abdul Razak were touched to see the Tigabu community come together to protect and conserve turtles. Their effort was supported by the Village Development and Security Committee chairman Jasni Matoha who wanted to see marine turtles protected in the area.  The TMP is a vast area, and community assistance for enforcement agencies is needed to sustain the biodiversity and marine resources at the park. It is hoped that this festival and turtle conservation activities will spark awareness among the communities of TMP of the importance of taking care of the marine environment and natural resources around them. Source : Borneo Post
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...
10Oct

Promoting tourism through photo contest

Tawau: Photographs are one of the best methods to enhance public awareness on environmental conservation, said Green Tawau Action Committee (GTAC) spokesperson Dr Wong Jia Lih. "One of the contributors for the State's economy is tourism, but if we fail to protect the environment, it will affect the sector," he said during the closing of a photography competition. The competition themed "Sabah's Natural Beauty", participated by 32 photographers from Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau, was organised by the Tawau Photographic Society (TPS) and GTAC. The competition, Wong said, would help create a sense of appreciation among the public on the environment, including foreign tourists. "The availability of cheap airfares and tourist-friendly infrastructures will enable Sabah to continue witnessing an influx of tourists who are attracted to our flora and fauna." On GTAC, he said, the body promotes efforts to make a greener Tawau through tree-planting programmes with the cooperation of non-governmental agencies and schools. "The body led by Larry Koh @ Rahim Abdullah has managed to plant more than 6,000 trees since 2012 along Jalan Apas," he said. Meanwhile, TPS Chairman Ho Lee Ngiew commended GTAC's huge contribution through the competition, especially in introducing Sabah to the world through photographs. "This is in line with the efforts of promoting Sabah tourism through interesting photographs of our flora and fauna," he said. Source : Daily Express
By Inside KePKAS, Comments Off
Read more...
09Oct

Sabah economy takes flight

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s economy is gaining traction with the increasing number of tourist arrivals at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here, says Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. The Transport Minister said between January and August this year, tourist arrivals at KKIA stood at 5.3 million as compared to 4.7 million in the same period last year. “This is an increase of more than 13%, a double-digit growth that is impressive by any measure,” he said after opening the state MCA annual general meeting yesterday. Liow said his ministry was prepared to engage more airlines to use KKIA to fly more tourists into the state. He said Sandakan airport was also being upgraded to complement KKIA. “The runway is being extended from the current 2.1km to 2.6km at a cost of RM80mil. “This will enable the airport to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing 777 or Airbus 330,” he said. Liow, who is also MCA president, said the Federal Government, through his ministry, was also doing all possible to make Sepanggar Port more efficient as part of its long-term measures to reduce costs of goods in the state. MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who was also present, said the Government was responsive to concerns of Sabahans such as scrapping the unpopular cabotage policy, paving the way for the port to be “busier than ever”. “Sepanggar is now essentially an open port and this will help to drive Sabah’s economy,” Dr Wee added. Recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the scrapping of the policy that limits the shipment of goods from the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak to only Malaysian-flagged ships, effective June 1. The 30-year-old policy has been blamed for the higher costs of goods in Sabah. However, the policy will still be applicable to cargo shipping operations within Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. Dr Wee said the Opposition had spoken out against the policy when it was in place but then voiced its disagreement when it was being removed. He said as such, Sabahans should be wary of their tactics which were mainly to stir up the people’s emotions. “Their leaders claim to want to protect the rights of Sabahans but they have shown time and again that what they say and do are two different things,” he said. Source : The Star
By Inside KePKAS, , Comments Off
Read more...