11Aug

Catch online Borneo Wildlife Warriors series

KOTA KINABALU: There are no scripts, no actors and certainly no props. There are only real people with the penchant to rescue wild animals which are in trouble. The online series, Borneo Wildlife Warriors (BWW) is back for the second season. According to Scubazoo TV (SZtv’s) presenter, Aaron ‘Bertie’ Gekoski, the new season will have six weekly web episodes premiering this coming Wednesday. “The new season will feature sun bears, elephants, orangutans and more by focusing on breath-taking rescues and relocations,” he said. Bertie who is the in-house presenter for SZtv, had also hosted the Borneo Jungle Diaries which offer 10 episodes. “This BWW is a series of continuous effort that concentrate on the rescue unit in protecting the wildlife. “All six episodes are dedicated to Sepilok and the sun bears, Bornean elephants, bull elephants relocation which is in two episodes (Part 1 and Part 2), mother and baby orangutans rescue, mother and baby orangutans release which will be in the last episode (of BWW Season 2),” Bertie said. Bertie said as a wildlife photojournalist, as well as a Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) ranger, he faces “the real adventure” by investigating the threats posed by deforestation, the illegal pet trade and human-wildlife conflict. Head of WRU, Dr. Sen Nathan said the series shows the behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in WRU rescues. “It’s basically a reality show on our wildlife rescues and it also portrays the many wonderful characters within WRU whose members’ great deeds and heroic attempts in saving Sabah wildlife,” he said. Acting manager for WRU, Dr. Diana A. Ramirez Saldivar said WRU are the elite group of vets and rangers who deal with human-animal conflict and for the BWW Season 2, they are tasked with saving Borneo’s wildlife. “WRU is ready round the clock, 365 days a year to deal with human-animal conflict,” she said. Dr. Diana said WRU is a special unit that is created and fully founded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC). It was launched in May 2010 with the task of rescuing and trans-locating distressed wildlife found within the Sabah landscape. WRU now has 18 rangers and four veterinarians, said Dr. Diana during the press conference yesterday. Source: New Sabah Times
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10Aug

State Legislative Assembly 2017

  IMG_9680 YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah together with YAB Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Hj Aman, Chief Minister of Sabah and other cabinet ministers during the State Legislative Assembly sitting held on 7th-9th August 2017 at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly building, Kota Kinabalu. The assembly sitting adjourned on the 9th August 2017. YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Menteri Pelancongan, Kebudayaan dan Alam Sekitar Sabah bersama-sama dengan YAB Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Hj Aman, Ketua Menteri Sabah dan beberapa lagi menteri kabinet yang lain ketika Persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah yang telah berlangsung pada 7hb-9hb Ogos 2017 bertempat di Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kota Kinabalu. Persidangan telah ditangguhkan pada 9hb Ogos 2017 ke suatu tarikh yang akan dimaklumkan kelak.
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10Aug

Orang asli take to the streets to mark day for indigenous people

KENINGAU: Indigenous people from around Malaysia gathered on the streets here for a walk to mark International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Almost all of Malaysia’s indigenous ethnic groups were represented among the 350-strong crowd, who chanted slogans and sang anthems as they marched. The procession started from the Oath Stone at the Keningau District Office and ended at the Keningau Diocese about 3km away. The Oath Stone is a monument built to commemorate the terms under which Sabah, together with Sarawak, joined Malaya to form Malaysia. “We decided to march as a symbolic show of our community’s struggle,” said Beverly Joeman, secretariat director of Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS), the organisers of the event. “And to start the march from the Oath Stone makes it all the more meaningful.” One of the terms inscribed on the Oath Stone guarantees that the traditional customs of Sabahans will be protected and respected. And, in turn, Sabahans will pledge their loyalty to the Government. There was a festive mood throughout the march as police and Rela members helped direct traffic.
At the end of the march, a celebration was held at Keningau Diocese’s Solidarity Hall. It featured cultural performances, traditional sports, traditional food, as well as the unveiling of three traditional knowledge-keepers representing the three regions of Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. The knowledge-keepers are elders in their own villages and will now be tasked with preserving the customs and traditional knowledge of their respective regions. The focus of this year’s celebration is the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), a landmark document acknowledging the unique challenges indigenous peoples face while outlining how governments should treat indigenous communities. International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed on Aug 9 every year. The Star’s R.AGE team was there to document the celebration in collaboration with the young members of the JOAS media team. It will be releasing short videos on the R.AGE Facebook page (fb.com/thestarRAGE) over the coming weeks. Source: The Star
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10Aug

Film featuring Sabah’s wildlife and rescues showing Sept 16

KOTA KINABALU: Borneo Wildlife Warriors, a six weekly episodes of a film production featuring sun bears, elephants, orangutans and others, on breath-taking rescues and relocations in the state will be released starting from September 16. This will be the second season after the completion of its first 10-episode film production, ‘Borneo Jungle Diaries’. The episodes can be watched online at scubazoo.tv. Scubazoo TV is a new online wildlife channel by Asia’s leading natural history filming and photography company, Scubazoo. Its managing director, Jason Isley, said these episodes will be investigating the threats posed by afforestation, the illegal pet trade and more with Sabah’s Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) vets and rangers working to protect endangered wildlife. “There are a few places that evoke the magic and mystery of Borneo: dense jungles packed with enigmatic animals, including orangutans, sun bears and the world’s smallest elephant. However, Borneo’s rain forests – and all that inhabit there are facing colossal threats. Deforestation, illegal wildlife and pet trade and the traditional medicine trade are all threatening the survival of these unique animals,” he said. Isley added the WRU are an elite group of vets and rangers on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to deal with human-animal conflict. Through rehabilitation programmes, relentless rescues and relocations, they are tasked with saving Borneo’s wildlife though their exhausting, often dangerous work is not the subject of the show. “The series shows a real behind-the-scene look at what goes on at our rescues. It is basically a reality show on our wildlife rescues and also portrays the many wonderful characters within the WRU whose great deeds and heroic attempts save the wildlife in Sabah,” he said in a press conference yesterday. All the episodes will also available at SZtv Facebook page. Source: The Borneo Post
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10Aug

Arnab Village in Ranau earns RM300,000 in a year

KOTA KINABALU: The Arnab Village in Kampung Purakagis, Ranau located about 104km  from here, has generated  RM300,000 in revenue through ticket sales after a year of operation. The new tourism product  in Ranau  which is operated by Jubair Juhinin, a graduate of Aquaculture Science from the University  Malaysia Sabah (UMS), has become one of the tourist  destinations  in the district, besides the Mount of Kinabalu, Sabah  Tea Garden, Poring Hot Spring and  the Tagal Sungai Moroli in Kampung Luanti. Jubair, 27, told Bernama  he had never expected his hobby of keeping rabbits would turn  into a business in the rural tourism industry in Sabah  which promised a bright future. Although the business started with less than RM5,000, with minimum facilities and environmental landscapes, he was optimistic the tourism product which was developed on a 0.2-hectare land would bring good returns. Now, upgrading works are underway gradually at the Arnab Village for visitor convenience. “The upgrading works  include  public facilities such as toilets, garden expansion, rabbit stables and building a souvenir  shop. While for the third phase of development, we will focus on building restaurants and accessory shops. “Besides that, we will build shop lots around villages to be rented by traders to sell craft products, food or related products to help them in generating income,” he said here yesterday. Jubair  was met by Bernama  at the Sabah Rural Tourism Roadshow programme organised by the Sabah Tourism Board. The three-day event started last Friday aimed at showcasing Sabah’s rural based tourism products to tourism industry players and the public at large, besides leveraging the expertise and know-how of industry players in packaging and promoting rural tourism experience to the domestic and international markets. Furthermore, the young entrepreneur said there were 400 rabbits of eight species namely, New Zealand White; Standard Rex; Mini Satin; Lion Head; Netherland Dwarf; Lop Ear; Anggora; and Local Breed, that were released to roam around in a fenced area to enable visitors to take photos and videos of the animal. Jubair said he aimed to keep about 1,000 rabbits at the garden early next year. “For the second year, we aim to attract more visitors with revenue of RM500,000 through ticket sales,” he added. Therefore, he said the Sabah Rural Tourism Roadshow  programme had opened an opportunity for him and his team to expand networking. Admission ticket to the Arnab Village for locals is RM3 (children) and RM5 (adult); while for international visitors RM5 (children) and RM10 (adult) The Arnab Village, the first such tourism product in Sabah is open daily from 9am to 5pm. Source: The Borneo Post
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