13Feb

Selling Sabah to the world

Tham Yau Kong wore loin cloth during winter in London, cycled thousands of kilometres, trekked jungles across borders -- all for promoting tourism. His exploits have won him many accolades, but to the 50-year-old tour operator, the bigger reward is in seeing people from around the world arriving in Sabah to seek adventure.

A tour guide for more than 20 years, Tham still walks, climbs and cycles along routes he charts for his guests, mostly adventure seekers.

An adrenalin junkie before venturing into the tourism industry, Tham scaled Mount Kinabalu over 500 times, Mount Trusmadi (Malaysia's second highest peak) over 100 times and trekked the "Borneo Triangle" that links the Kelabit highland people in Long Pasia (Sabah) Long Bawan (Kalimantan) and Long Semaduh (Sarawak).

As his reputation grew, so did his desire to introduce Sabah to the world.

Many people from abroad began seeking his service or advice. They included popular reality show producer Mark Burnett who launched the Survivor show, followed by the Eco Challenge in Sabah.

Tham walked 1,135km for three months from Kudat to Limbang in Sarawak, circumvented 385km around Mount Kinabalu and hosted Australians who came to pay their respects for their fallen heroes in the "Death March" from Sandakan to Ranau during World War Two.

He was instrumental in retracing the route used by the Japanese to force some 2,700 prisoners of war to march nearly 300km between 1942 and 1943. Only six survived to tell the story, with recollections from locals who assisted the prisoners in their escape.

Source: New Straits Times

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13Feb

MoU to create wildlife corridor for Malaysia’s largest wildlife reserve

The state government, represented by the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium. This agreement lays the foundation to improve a wildlife corridor between Tabin – Malaysia’s largest wildlife reserve and adjacent conservation areas.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve is one of the last areas on Borneo where large wildlife still coexist.

This includes the Bornean Rhino, Bornean Elephant, Orang Utan, Banteng and Sun Bear.

But Tabin is almost completely isolated from other forests and surrounded by oil palm plantations.

“Connecting forest fragments is an integral part of our strategy to secure wildlife habitat in the long term,” said Dr Laurentius Ambu, director of the SWD.

The director added that it was necessary for the SWD to be active in promoting the reforestation work throughout areas with wildlife as corridors and forest patches are much needed for wildlife connectivity.

“At present there is an increase of reforestation work within wildlife landscapes in Sabah and we want them to be successful not only for the benefit of wildlife but also local communities who close to these areas,” said Laurentius.

The wildlife corridor will facilitate the migration of critically endangered wildlife through the newly established Segama Corridor Conservation Area.

It is hoped that eventually this will lead to a narrow but continous corridor from Tabin up to Kulamba Wildlife Reserve, another important refuge for endangered species.

“To save endangered wildlife suffering from habitat fragmentation, we need to establish a network of protected areas of a sufficient size and quality.

This will prevent inbreeding of currently separated sub-populations and help to maintain healthy populations.

Tabin is absolutely crucial for the long-term survival of many threatened species and needs to be reconnected with adjacent forest land.

The outcome of our efforts will be a connected conservation area of more than 200,000 hectares, nearly twice as big as Tabin is today,” Robert Risch, one of the directors of the RFF.

In the MOU the State Government reassures that the restored area will remain protected excluding any conversion or logging in the future.

This emphasises the commitment of the government to wildlife conservation in Sabah and convinces donors to become involved.

“Our approach is to plant a wildlife corridor with many different local canopy and fruit trees that occur in natural forest.

Although this may sound evident, the concept of planting trees in high diversities is not practised in most reforestation projects.

Our project in Tabin and the surrounding area use a seedling stock that is high in species and genetic diversity to accelerate the regeneration of the original ecosystem,” shared Dr Philippe Saner, one of the directors of RFF.

Leipzig Zoo from Germany and private donors financially support this reforestation project.

“We support the forest restoration project of the RFF because we have a holistic conservation approach.

Conservation is not just focussing on certain species, it means also taking care of their natural habitat,” said Dr Joerg Junhold, director of the Leipzig Zoo.

Source: Borneo Post

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13Feb

25.3km pedestrian walkway, cycleway

A 25.3km pedestrian walkway and cycleway project from Tanjung Aru to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will begin by mid-2012. Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir, who announced the RM38 million three-phase project yesterday, said it is among plans to be implemented this year to beautify the city.

The first phase of the project will be implemented at Sabah Port and Likas Bay, the second phase at Tanjung Aru, Sembulan and Central Business District (CBD), while the third phase at Tun Mustapha building and UMS.

The pedestrian walkway and cycleway project will include among other facilities bicycle shared path, bridges, decks, covered bicycle parks, children playground, lighting, benches, public toilets, showers and lockers.

Tender for the first phase is expected to be available in April this year, Abidin said during the flag-raising ceremony in conjunction with the 12th City Day celebration at Padang Merdeka here yesterday.

In addition to the pedestrian walkway and cycleway, City Hall will undertake the second and third phases of Sembulan River beautification project, starting from the end of phase one near Sembulan River bridge till Wisma Muis.

He said this year will also see the upgrading of public transportation system or city bus, as well as the building of a bus terminal at Jalan Kepayan.

In addition, City Hall has begun the cleaning of drains in and around the city to overcome flash floods during heavy rain, he said.

Abidin also pledged to expand and duplicate the 5K programme, namely Kebersihan (cleanliness), Keindahan (beauty), Keselamatan (safety), Keteraturan (orderliness) and Kesejahteraan (well-being), to other towns, as well as increasing awareness and enforcement of the anti-litter campaign.

Last year, Abidin said City Hall successfully implemented several programmes as planned, including launching the 5K Programme in Menggatal, ‘greening’ the main roads, upgrading and beautifying city landscape, implementing phase one of Sembulan River Beautification Project and setting up of lay-by stops for buses and taxis in the city.

He said City Hall would be focusing on City Hall Strategic Plan 2011-2015 this year by implementing the projects stated in the plan.

He vowed to overcome the weaknesses in City Hall’s existing service delivery system.

“I urge all City Hall staff to facilitate and not frustrate in delivering your services.

“City Hall staff should stress on efforts to promote creativity and innovation in executing daily tasks,” he said.

Meanwhile, apart from the flag-raising ceremony yesterday, a marching team competition was held and it attracted 23 contingents.

The Health and Urban Services Department took the top spot under City Hall category, while the Department of Corporate Affairs and Engineering Department were second and third respectively.

In the secondary school/higher learning institution category, SMK Perempuan Likas was first, followed by Kolej Aseana and SMK Likas cadet in the second the third places respectively.

SK Sri Gaya and SK Tanjung Aru took the first and second places under the primary school category, while Persatuan Penjaja Bumiputra Barat and Hume Concrete (M) Sdn Bhd took the first and second places under the association and private sector category.

Also present were Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datuk Edward Khoo Keok Hai, Puspanita Kota Kinabalu branch president Datin Florence Malangkig, Mayor of Kota Kinabalu sister city Yongin, Kim Hak Kyu, president of Municipal Council of Penang Island Hajah Patahiyah bt Ismail and City Hall director-general Datuk Yeo Boon Hai.

Source: Borneo Post (by Chok Sim Yee)

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13Feb

First Sabahan primatologist

A local Sabahan, Andy Martin Ginal Martin, has become the first fully qualified primatologist in the State. Martin, a research assistant at Sepilok, underwent a two-year course at Oxford Brookes under the full sponsorship of the Orangutan Appeal UK and has already received accreditation from the university.

When interviewed at the Sepilok Orangutan Appeal UK cocktail party at Rasa Ria Resort recently, Martin said that as a Sabahan, he felt the education he gained was important to further his expertise in the field.

“For now in Sabah, there is no one doing this private conservation. We are Sabahans, we have the orang utans and we still depend on people from the UK and elsewhere to conduct studies for us,” he said.

He acknowledged the Appeal for their role in making his graduation a reality.

“I wouldn’t be able to do it without their support because financially it was impossible to continue with my study for more than one year in the UK.”

Martin said among the important things he had learnt from his academic stint is that he needs to look at conservation from the point of view of education.

“We need to send the conservation message to the world because now in Sabah, we have a lot of programmes but educationally, we still need outside experts to explain the knowledge,” he explained.

As a primatologist, he also commented on the survival of the orang utan in Sabah.

He said that he believed the orang utan in Sabah still have a future and it is crucial for everyone to work together and cooperate to accomplish the objectives and researches in the field.

Martin also said that the most urgent need for the survival of the species now is to protect the forest, the habitat and their population in the wild.

“There is also an urgent need to reduce deforestation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sue Sheward, the founder and chairperson of Orangutan Appeal UK, said that it is important for Sabah to have its own people as primatologists.

She commended Martin for his tenacity in continuing with his study despite the disasters that befell upon his family.

“In the midst of it, his family house was razed by fire and his father suffered serious burns and was very ill, but Andy went on.

“He received an extension and was able to complete his degree. We are glad that now he has passed his degree and is the first Sabahan to be a qualified primatologist and I feel he will make a difference,” she said.

Source: Borneo Post

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13Feb

Sabah tourist arrivals up 13.6 pct in 2011 to 2.84 million

Tourist arrivals in Sabah last year rose by 13.6 per cent to 2.84 million compared to 2010, said State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun yesterday. He said the figure not only exceeded Sabah Tourism Board’s (STB) arrival projection of 2.63 million, but also achieved its 2012 projection of 2.75 million.

According to him, the industry contributed an estimated RM4.98 billion, proving the importance of air accessibility for the industry.

“It was an unpredictable year-end with the flight issues. However, I am pleased to say that Sabah recorded double-digit growth every month since March last year.

“This consistency of growth shows the strong demand of visitors coming to our state either for leisure or business with 96 per cent arriving by air,” he said in a statement here.

Masidi said the strong markets that contributed to the figure were China (including Hong Kong) which grew by 37.6 per cent, Australia (33.3 per cent) and Japan (18.4 per cent), despite the recent Japan tsunami crisis.

Domestic tourists recorded the highest number of visitors with 1.99 million or an increase of 17 per cent compared to 2010, he added.

Meanwhile, Masidi remained optimistic for this year, despite being a challenging one with Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) recent route rationalisation.

“The rationalisation will especially affect the Japan and Western Australia markets.

“There are now no direct flights between Sabah and Japan, while for Australia, Sabah Tourism Board is working hard with other airlines to continue offering Sabah holiday packages,” he said.

He said MAS should have continued to develop the Kota Kinabalu-Perth route as there was very strong growth at 33.3 per cent of Australian arrivals in Sabah last year.

“I am sure the route would have eventually been very profitable for MAS in a relatively short period of time,” he added.

This year, Masidi said, the state government is targeting regional and domestic markets and would be working closely with local industry players to improve the product quality as well as introducing attractive holiday packages during the low season.

“We are also looking into collaborating with three-star and four-star hotels to offer affordable holiday packages during non-peak season to achieve the 2012 projection of 2.93 million visitors.

Source: Bernama

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