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
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06Oct

Firm, UMS to develop village into tourist attraction

KOTA KINABALU: Kampung Tambisan could become the next major tourist destination in Sabah. Tambisan Travel and Tours Sdn. Bhd. managing director Antin Ismail said the village in the interior of Lahad Datu boasts rich flora and fauna, which was what inspired him to promote localsˇ way of life and culture. ¨I think the activities carried out by locals in Kampung Tambisan can be developed into a tourism product. ¨With the involvement and positive acceptance of the community towards the importance of tourism, we have decided to help develop the industry in Kampung Tambisan,〃 he said in his opening address at the letter of intent signing between Tambisan Travel and Tours Sdn. Bhd. and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). In addition to raising awareness on the role of tourism in preserving and conserving the environment, the collaboration is also to implement community-based tourism in Kampung Tambisan as well as to provide a guideline, he added. UMS Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy Dean, Associate Professor Dr Raman Nordin, said community-based tourism was a form of sustainable tourism that could positively impact the lives of locals and improve socio-economy. ¨I believe with cooperation from the local community, Tambisan is able to succeed in the project and serve as an example to other community-based tourism models in other places,〃 he said. Dr Raman also expressed hope for a stronger collaboration such as through a memorandum of understanding, so that all parties can benefit from the initiative. Source: Borneo Post
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05Oct

‘Nurturing Sabah’s Rural Creative Communities’ seminar

KOTA KINABALU: The Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) (or IDS) in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung of Germany (KAS), and in collaboration with the Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu (SPArKS) is organising a seminar entitled Nurturing Sabah’s Rural Creative Communities. Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Hj Aman has been invited to declare open the one-day seminar on Oct 12 at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa, here. Executive Director of IDS, Datuk Mohd Hasnol bin Ayub in a statement said the Creative Economy is today recognised as a leading sector in generating economic growth, employment and trade. He said the creative industries are seen as a key component in a new knowledge economy – capable of delivering urban and rural regeneration, often through initiatives linked to utilization of cultural heritage that leads to increased tourism. “In Malaysia, the Government is embarking in creative industries strategies through the National Creative Industry Policy (Dasar Industri Kreatif Negara, launched in 2011),” said Hasnol. “While in Sabah the Sabah Development Corridor Blueprint has emphasised the importance of the creative industries in order to achieve some of its key objectives.” The study on the development of creative industries in Sabah has also been initiated by the State government, he said. He added that although the national and state strategies are primarily focused on developing a creative class synonymous with an urban lifestyle and amenities, the success of the “Creative Economy” idea in Sabah is also dependent on the important role and success of rural and non-urban regions. These locations can offer a different collection of amenities that can be equally attractive to a subset of the creative class, and create self-sustaining rural creative communities. “Creativity, especially in culture, traditional heritage, and tourism assets, coupled with a vast rural area are essential keys to Sabah’s unique and distinctive identity,” Hasnol said. “In exploring the untapped potentials of rural creative communities, Sabah could position itself to boost their contribution in terms of income generation, employment and by extension, poverty reduction.” About 150 participants both from public and private sectors, NGOs, industry players and related stakeholders are expected to attend the seminar. Those interested to participate in the seminar may contact Lailah Chung or Marianne Kiob at 088-450500. Source : New Sabah Times
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26Sep

Sabah benefits from strong M’sia-China ties

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is benefiting much from the strong bilateral ties between China and Malaysia, said newly assigned Chinese consul-general to Sabah, Liang Caide. He said the relationship of the two countries have opened many opportunities with Sabah seeing a surge in Chinese tourist arrivals. “Our relationship is growing at a rapid pace with exchanges in culture and education aspects being carried out extensively. “The tourism sector is also moving fast with Chinese visitors coming to Malaysia including Sabah,” Liang said after paying a courtesy visit on Head of State Tun Dr Haji Juhar Datuk Mahiruddin at the Istana here yesterday. According to Liang, Malaysia received 2.2 million Chinese travelers last year, and the number is expected to increase to three million this year. “For Sabah, the State had played host to 318,000 Chinese tourists last year and we are expecting the number of tourist arrivals from China to touch 415,000 this year,” he said. Liang who arrived in the state capital on Sept 13, said that the success was made possible due to the good and strong ties between both nations. He also disclosed that Sabah and Zhejiang Province will sign a memorandum of understanding to seal the sister city ties between Kota Kinabalu y and Hangzou in November. The understanding was reached in July. “The sister city tie will again create a new step forward between Malaysia and China as another platform for us to bring our relations to another level of friendship,” he said. The sister city tie-up will also give opportunity to investors to come to Sabah. It has been reported that Malaysia and China can achieve their goal of US$160bil (RM694bil) in bilateral trade in the next two years According to China’s data, bilateral trade between the two countries totalled about US$100bil (RM433bil) last year. Liang is the second Chinese consul general after Chen Peijie who served from Jan 30, 2015 until July 9 this year. Source : New Sabah Times
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13Sep

Locals to fully run proposed island resort in Semporna

KOTA KINABALU: A booming tourism industry is nothing if locals do not benefit from it, said Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming. Speaking at the Maritime Environmental Security Workshop 2017 yesterday, Pang said the local community must be involved in the development of tourism in the State, in order to generate income and improve their standard of living. In line with the government’s plan to gazette 10 per cent of Sabah’s ocean as protected areas, Pang said management of the areas should include locals. “To gazette the areas is easy, but we need a holistic approach on how to manage them. We, in the Anti-Fish Bombing Committee have been working in overdrive to present to the government a holistic approach that’s not only to stop fish bombing, but also on how to manage all the gazetted areas and the proper way to manage them. “The direction we’re going to go in from now onwards is community-based management. “The Malaysian government has set aside quite a good amount of financial assistance for cooperatives, and I have approached a community in Larapan, which is a small island off the north of Semporna. “I think they (the community) know what is happening, and they, too, know that they cannot continue with the way they live and their practices. The problem is they do not have an option. “Even though tourism is so prosperous, the ones making money are all the big guys and the impact of the tourism industry is not felt by the local communities. When that happens, there’s no way to change their (locals’) livelihood,” he said. To ensure locals also enjoy the fruits of Sabah’s lucrative industry, Pang said the government was in talks to build a resort on the island of Larapan. The proposed resort will be fully run by locals with about 50 rooms, which can accommodate a projected maximum of 150 patrons. “Running at 100 per cent capacity with a maximum of 150 pax, we are looking at RM150,000. “Even if the resort runs at 60 per cent capacity, which is much lower than what Semporna is now doing, it translates into approximately RM10,000 a day, or RM300,000 a month that will go to this community,” he said. However, Pang said the initiative to improve locals’ lives would not stop there. Guidance will be given in order for the community to manage their resources sustainably. Other than paying salaries, Pang said the money from the proposed island resort would also be channelled towards education to ensure a better future for the next generation. He further said measures would be taken to entice locals into looking after the environment, through inspections conducted on houses around the island to check on the cleanliness of its surroundings. “Incentives will be given to locals who manage to maintain a certain standard of cleanliness. The higher the level, the better the incentives. “This is how I believe we should go forward and if this idea works, it’s going to be repeated on other islands because I want locals to benefit from tourism,” he said. Meanwhile, Benny Chung of Borneo Spatial Planning in his presentation said locals have been given the opportunity to improve their livelihood through aquaculture. “We provide them with training of farming techniques and we teach them how to breed fish fries to maturity. “We also have other marine products like scallops and seaweed that we can introduce to supplement their income,” he said during his Alternative Livelihoods in the Semporna Priority Conservation Area presentation. Together with Janet Goh and Khoo Mum Huah, Benny said the key to eradicating or reducing poverty of poor fishermen was by identifying villages that were willing to join the programme. “Once we provide them with the equipment and materials, we will guide them on how to breed the fish. “After these fishermen are willing to come and buy the fries and breed them, our cooperative will undertake the duty of buying back the fish so we can then export them to the Hong Kong market. “We will then assess the farmers on a case-to-case basis and see how they can adapt. After one or two cycles, I think they can grow from small operators to medium operators and if they are keen with our training, they can even grow to a commercial scale,” he said. Source : Borneo Post
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