20,000 to participate in Sabah national day celebration

KOTA KINABALU: Up to 20,000 people are expected to participate in the state-level Merdeka celebration to be held in the city centre here on Aug 31. Participants will include 10,000 federal and state civil servants, said State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor, who is also the organising committee chairman of the National Day event. “This year, we will have about 190 contingents taking part in the parade, which is slightly more than last year’s. “In terms of preparations, they are going smoothly, with most things already in place,” Hajiji said after launching the “Negaraku Malaysia, Sabah Tanah Airku” exhibition at Suria Mall here today. The Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin is expected to grace the ceremony on the morning of Aug 31 at the traditional parade venue near the city’s Waterfront. Hajiji also spoke of an eight-day exhibition, which is one of the many special programmes lined up as a countdown to Merdeka day. “I believe it will give the public, especially youngsters, the opportunity to learn more about the history of Sabah and the country, as well as developments achieved by the state,” he said. Eight state government ministries and agencies are participating in the exhibition, namely Hajiji’s Ministry; the Industrial Development Ministry; the Community Development and Consumer Affairs Ministry; the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry; Kota Kinabalu City Hall; the Sabah Education Department; Yayasan Sabah; and the Sabah Archives Department. The exhibition showcases historic Sabah milestones – including events, buildings and personalities in sports, politics, social development and the arts – in various media, including photography and old documents.
 Source: New Straits Times
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UMS student turns remote Sabah village into agro hub

KOTA KINABALU: A recent trip to a remote village in Sabah has inspired one lass from Kuala Lumpur to help the villagers there live a better life. Suganya Subramaniam, 22, said she did not enjoy the journey to Kampung Tudan when she first travelled to the hamlet in October last year. “Other people might not want to travel on the same rocky road again after their first trip because of its terrible condition. “But when the villagers told me that they have no money to treat their sick children, it made me more determined to carry out a project to help improve their livelihoods,” said the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student during a recent press conference at Sabah Tourism Board’s office here. Suganya, a second-year food science student, is part of the UMS team that won the national-level Enactus competition held in Kuala Lumpur recently. Enactus, which operates in 36 countries, is a community of student, academic and business leaders using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a more sustainable world. The UMS students will be representing Malaysia to compete in the Enactus World Cup competition in London in September. She and her team visited village five times to teach the locals how to cultivate mulberry, besides processing plant leaves into tea, food and cosmetic products. To date, 65 out of about 700 villagers have joined the project. Village head Golonius Gibin, 53, said of the village’s young residents were keen to be part of the project. “We are thankful to UMS for getting us involved in the project, which I believe will help our people, especially the jobless youngsters, earn extra money. “Currently, the size of our mulberry plantation is about two acres (0.81 hectare) of and we expect to expand it by another 10 acres (4 hectares),” he said. The village, which is about 50 kilometres from here, has some 1,500 trees that are used to produce tea, drinks and lotions. Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, during the press conference, said the board will promote and market the “Tudan Mulberry” products via its subsidiary Sri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn Bhd. Joniston also said the cultivation of mulberry could also turn the village into a tourist destination. Source: New Straits Times
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Sabah has talented artists among multiracial community

KOTA KINABALU: The multiracial Sabah community with diverse backgrounds has the potential to unearth talented artists. Deputy Chairman of the Sabah Cultural Board Datuk Jaimin Samitah said the Sabah Art Gallery (BSLS) is one of the main platforms for communities around the South West Coast and Sabah in general to showcase their talents. He pointed out that how a simple sketch could be turned into a wonderful art piece. “Paintings and sculptures, and handicrafts among others started off with sketches. And if they are great works, we will share with the public through exhibitions,” he said. He believed there are people who could translate an idea into beautiful arts. It can be said that art covers every aspects of human life. In this modern era, artworks are seen as increasingly important as lovers demand for different dimensions of art forms, he said. “Many think this art is trivial but it is actually one of the earliest areas in which creators produce works for the betterment of society,” Jaimin said officiating the 32nd Annual Choice of Works in South West Coast at the Sabah Art Gallery here, yesterday. “The number of participation is increasing year to year, especially target groups from school students. “This year’s participation has doubled up compared to last year,” Jaimin said. “I understand that the division level has been completed last week and on August 24, the state-level assessment will be carried out by our local artists,” he added. Jaimin also urged BSLS to encourage participants to produce more quality and creative works. “I congratulate those who have been selected to win the prizes and not forgetting to the less successful, do not give up on your goal and continue to work on it.” Jaimin also presented prizes to more than 15 winners including individuals from the open category. Among the winning students were from SM Stella Maris, SMK Shan Tao and SM All Saints. Winners of categories A and B took home RM300 and certificates while for open category is RM1,500 cash and certificate. Also present was the manager and curator of Sabah Art Gallery, Jennifer Linggi Source: New Sabah Times
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Puntung the Sumatran rhino immortalised in painting

KOTA KINABALU: A 16-year-old girl has immortalised the near-extinct Sumatran rhino in her painting. Monica Vun Yi Jing titled her artwork “Kenangan si Puntung bersama alam semula jadi” (A memory of Puntung with nature) to commemorate the loss of Puntung, one of the country’s last remaining Sumatran rhinos. Puntung, a female Sumatran rhino that lived at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu, suffered from skin cancer and was put down in June. Vun said she was saddened over Puntung’s demise, and that she was inspired to produce the painting for the 32th Annual Artworks held in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertua Negeri’s official birthday. “The drawing depicts the endangered species in the wild and the local motifs drawn on Puntung's body represent the various ethnic groups in Sabah. “I spent about RM135 to complete this art within a month and a half,” she said during the prize presentation ceremony at Sabah Art Gallery here today. Vun’s artwork is among 614 entries submitted by students and members of the public from the southwest coast division. Also present were Deputy Sabah Cultural Board chairman Datuk Jaimin Samitah and the gallery’s curator Jennifer Linggi. Jaimin said the event required participants to do study subjects related to the state before translating them into paintings. “There will be 90 artworks to be chosen to be displayed at the gallery. “The public will have the opportunity to visit the three-month-long exhibition at the gallery here after the final awards presentation in September.”
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Fight to protect most vulnerable elephants

KOTA KINABALU: The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre is one of Sabah’s best known tourist attractions and since 2013, it has been the Wildlife Rescue Unit’s (WRU) base in eastern Sabah. “But in recent times, Sepilok has become home to another makeshift family, one the tourists are largely unaware of even as they are startled by their occasional bellows and hoots — baby elephants, a small clan, intelligent, fast-developing toddlers, normally shy behind their larger, more intimidating mothers and aunts, but these elephants’ matriarch is smaller though equally ferocious when it comes to her babies,” WRU vet Dr Laura Benedict said. These baby elephants are orphans, and hidden in the quiet, peaceful depths of the Sepilok’s enclosure, on the fringes of the Bornean jungle, Dr Laura and WRU are all the family they have. “It all started in February 2014,” Laura said. “We rescued two baby elephants from two different areas, Sg Lokan and Sukau Kinabatangan. Like it or not, we have to find a space to keep these elephants; it’s not their fault they are orphaned.” In recent years, elephant-orphan situations have become disturbingly commonplace. The advancement of oil palm plantations and human settlements have fragmented and massively depleted the territories of all Borneo’s wild inhabitants. Unlike most animals, however, habitat encroachment rarely stops an elephant getting where it wants to go. Their sheer size, voracious appetites, dexterous trunks and tough skin, make palm trees simply another food source, that is, until they find themselves stuck in a man-made maze of paths and fences, or face-to-face with an angry, frightened farmer. When a herd of elephants becomes trapped, their lives are in the hands of the people living there. Elephants are a fully protected species under international conservation laws but this has not stopped appalling acts of violence being committed against trapped elephants. In some cases, the adults are frightened away. In their rush to escape, the weak/sick babies are separated from the adults. In other rarer cases, entire families of elephants have been killed. Lone infants, terrified and traumatised, are discovered attempting to wake up their dead parents. As ever great expanses of land have been cleared, the problem has only increased. Since 2013, when a baby elephant called Joe was rescued after his whole family was poisoned, the WRU set about taking in orphaned baby elephants at the Sepilok centre, trying to offer them a sense of community, family, and a safe home. Whilst the orphans are young  and susceptible to illnesses, the WRU are keeping a very close eye on them. Each day, Laura and her colleagues feed, monitor and exercise the babies, but just as important, Laura and the WRU let the babies play. Like all children, these orphans need to grow and learn together, and the best quality of life the WRU can provide is one where the elephants can enjoy growing up at Sepilok. Watching these babies, which collectively weigh over a ton  charging around, falling over, climbing on the orang utan jungle gym, provokes gasps of delight from anyone who sees it. What does the future hold for these orphans? Even Dr Laura can’t say. Without their herd’s nurturing, or experience of the jungle, their chances of thriving in the wild are greatly diminished, but Dr Laura still has hope that they can lead happy, fulfilled lives. “I would love to see them going back to the wild, but there are a few criteria that we have to take into consideration before we can decide what their future will be like,” Laura said. If all goes to plan, Laura hopes there will be a larger elephant care unit for the orphaned elephants incorporated at the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary when it is ready. “Hopefully we can initiate a rehabilitation program for them, and if at all they need to be in captivity for the rest of their lives, we will have to make sure that they will have their welfare taken care of.” Not all elephants the WRU takes in are babies. At the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary (BES) a legend of the conservation world is working with some of the most difficult and dangerous animals in Sabah. In these cases, it is down to Jibius Dausip to take them in at BES, and in doing so, has earned himself the nickname, ‘The Elephant Guru’. Over 35 years, Jibius has worked more closely than anyone with Borneo’s largest animals. “Now, my job is to train staff to handle, capture, and translocate wild elephants,” he said. At BES, Jibius works with adult elephants who are unable to immediately return to the wild. Sometimes, this is because there is no available space; bull elephants in particular need their own territory, and simply releasing adults into the wild can result in animals being forced out of their new home and back into the conflict areas they were first found in. In other, rarer cases, elephants have been known to injure or even kill humans they encounter.  For their safety and for humans around them, it is up to Jibius and the WRU to try and rehabilitate these troubled, displaced elephants. “The more places that are opened for the plantations, for the road building, the more things there are that disturb them,” said Jibius, adding: “So every time they go to this place, it happens, they go to that place, same happens, so the elephant becomes more and more stressed.” Of all the flashpoints in Borneo’s human/animal conflict, the challenges WRU deal with are some of the most difficult to resolve. Who is responsible when an elephant attacks a human? When a baby elephant is orphaned? How to respond to these most charismatic of Borneo’s megafauna when they are more than a beautiful attraction; when they are a crop-destroying pest, or a dangerous wild animal? These are questions Jibius and Laura have long considered. “Elephants are such unique and beautiful creatures, and the Bornean elephant can only be found in Borneo.We really need to find a sound solution so that human communities, elephants and industry leaders will be able to co-exist one day,” Laura said. Neither Sepilok’s elephant orphanage, nor the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary, were the result of long-term conservation plans. They are examples of the WRU’s relentless efforts to adapt to the specific challenges Sabah’s human/animal conflict generates. Can a middle way be found between the development of Sabahan societies, and the preservation of Sabah itself?  The reality of these battles make for difficult reading, and raise deep questions about the future of our natural world, but amidst it all, both Laura and Jibius are positive. “The best thing for me would be future planning,” Jibius concludes. WRU (gets) cooperation from a lot of people, the government, the plantations, because the elephant needs a place to stay. No matter how good or effective the work of the WRU is, that place can and should be in the wild. The brainchild of the then Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr. Datuk Laurentius Ambu (retired December 2014), and the assistant director Dr. Sen Nathan, WRU was created in 2010 in response to an urgent need to address increasing human wildlife conflicts and conservation issues in Sabah. WRU was set up by the Wildlife Department and currently it is fully sponsored by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC). Currently the unit is headed by its acting manager Dr. Diana Ramirez and with 23 staff, the unit has the responsibility to assist the Wildlife Department on: human wildlife conflicts, (rescue and translocations), enforcement, public awareness and others.
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