Zainol (left) launching the Ops Gegar and witnessed by Janathan (second right) and Hamzah (second left).

KOTA KINABALU: A joint operation by the Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan Customs Department is a consistent move under the Blue Ocean Strategy to promote better services, said Malaysia Customs deputy director-general (Enforcement), Dato’ Zainol Abidin Taib.

The joint operation, dubbed Ops Gegar, is a brilliant move as it could optimize cost, energy and time-saving for the department, he said.

“Any shortcomings from the Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan Customs Department can be overcome through good partnership within these three states in terms of logistics and manpower.

“This move will also see the Malaysian Customs Department carrying out one of the biggest operations in the country under the 1Customs concept,” said Zainol at the launching of Ops Gegar in Lawas, Sarawak recently.

The launch of Ops Gegar would enable the Customs Department from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan to work hand-in-hand in curbing smuggling activities in the three states, he said.

Meanwhile, Sabah Customs deputy director of enforcement and compliance Hamzah Sundang said the operation, which was organized by Sabah Customs Department, would cover both the land and sea routes involving 74 personnel.

He said the operation was also to prepare all the three departments for the coming Harvest and Gawai festive celebrations.

Also present were Sabah Customs director Datuk Dr Janathan Kandok and representatives from the Sarawak and Labuan Customs Department Hermanshah B. Abdullah and Abdul Razak Basri respectively.

Commenting on the proposal to exempt Sabah and Sarawak from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) made by STAR Sabah chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, Tan pointed out that taxation in the country was a national policy under the purview of the national government, and a question of exemption therefore could not simply be implemented.

“If you ask me, you cannot just single out a single tax regime. You have to understand the overall tax structure in Malaysia and emphasize on balance.

“It cannot be just GST alone because there are other tax regimes, such as income tax, corporate tax, excise duty, and what not. People are not happy paying any tax, but this country is run on a structure and therefore has to look at the overall system.

“So if you’re proposing to exempt Sabah out of GST, my next question would be, what implication would it have on the rest of the structure?” said Tan.

In making such a proposal, a thorough study needed to be done on the benefits and disadvantages on the taxation system of the country, and hence, on the people, said Tan,

“Whatever is suggested, present to the people what would be the benefit of such suggestion, what impact it has on the nation, and what changes will it make to the overall tax structure in the nation, then the people would understand better.

“It cannot simply be done according to a personal preference,” said Tan.

He said although the state government had yet to deliberate on the matter, it was being constantly monitored before any decision was to be made.

According to Jeffrey, the request to exempt Sabah and Sarawak from GST was more than justified due to being the “poorest states in Malaysia despite being rich in natural resources.”

He said in 2012, RM17.88 billion in oil revenue was collected from the two states, adding that Sabah lost another RM24 billion in federal taxes and revenues collected from the state.

He also pointed out that the Cabotage policy was increasing the living costs of Sabahans and was stifling Sabah’s economy and making Sabah an uncompetitive investment destination.

According to the department’s Deputy Superintendent Kalbin Mohd Said, they were from the Philippines and Indonesia.

The 10 boys, two Indonesians and eight Filipinos, are now in Henry Gurney school for boys together with 204 locals in Keningau, while the girl, a Filipina is residing in the Henry Gurney school for girls in the State capital.

Kalbin, who was recalled to give his statement to the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah yesterday, said the state Prison’s department also allows the juveniles to complete their education while serving their sentences.

They are also allowed to sit for the Malaysian government examinations, he said, adding that the government pays for the locals’ examination fees.

“If they score good results, we, the Prison Department Visitor Judge Board, will recommend the individual for early release so that he or she can go for further studies. Early release will also depend on the individual’s behavior while in school,” he said.

Kalbin also told the panel that the management cost for each inmate at the schools is RM33 a day, the same as that of the adult prisoners in the state prisons.

He said that since 2007, the state Prisons Department has spent RM614,355 on the foreign juveniles sent to Henry Gurney.

According to the former Labuan Corporation Investment and Socio Economy Department director Manisah Mahmud, the population census was carried out in September 2010.

Most of the foreigners were trading officers, expatriates and employees with work passes, she said.

She also told the panel that there were two squatter colonies in Labuan, one in Patau Patau and the other in Kiansam.

The major problem caused by the squatter colonies is cleanliness as it is up to Labuan Corporation to do the clearing up, she said.

Its principal assistant director (Non-Communicable and Communicable Diseases) Dr Maria Suleiman, the 75th witness called by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah, further disclosed that the numbers of both in and outpatients were alarming.

“We term them as ‘foreigners’ who comprise those with passports, IMM13 holders and illegal immigrants. The number of foreigners seeking outpatient treatments are recorded at 1, 010, 333 people and inpatients are 295,053 people.

“This is a burden since we do not have enough manpower and there are times when we run out of space and hospital beds until we have to fix ‘camp beds’ to meet the high number of patients,” she said when asked by conducting officer Datuk Azmi Ariffin to disclose the number of foreigners seeking treatment at government hospitals and clinics.

She added that between 2007 and 2012, the department recorded losses amounting to RM21,672,031.58 of unpaid medical expenses by a total of 42, 092 foreigners, compared to the unpaid figures from the locals totaling RM7, 723, 839.23.

“Most of the patients would leave their contact numbers and addresses, but when it comes to collect the arrears, we are unable to contact them or track them down as they do not live at the address given to us earlier,” she explained.

She added that the government also had to bear the cost of implementing measures to curb the spread of contagious diseases such as cholera, viral hepatitis, measles and leprosy which normally occur at squatter colonies, adding that they spent RM200,000 to contain its outbreak in 2011. That year a total of 2,898 cases were recorded.

On other development, she said birth rate comprising foreigners were recorded at 122, 882 babies between 2001 and 2011.

Maria added that there are a total of 22 hospitals statewide, comprising six specialists, 16 non-specialist hospitals, one psychiatry; 11 health offices, 80 health clinics, and 19 mother and child health clinics.

Sabah has 1,495 medical officers, 231 specialists, 4,837 nurses, 3,453 community nurses and 1,187 medical assistants.

Abdullah Yusuf Randiman

CAMERAS are to roll soon on the dark days of World War II in North Borneo.

The Sandakan Death Marches are the subject of a movie to be produced by award-winning director Roger Christian of the original Star Wars fame in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).

The production is expected to cost US$5 million, according to Finas chairman Datuk Mohd Efendi Datuk Hamdan.

And for the production, an academy will be set up here to train the supporting crew, local actors and actresses, he disclosed.

The celluloid project has drawn kudos from a local scriptwriter Abdullah Yusuf Randiman who also hopes local talents will be considered as part of the film crew.

He pointed out that numerous war-time stories could be sourced from the local populace whose parents or grandparents may have had experienced first-hand the deprivation and suffering during World War II.

“The experiences of these elders can be used as the basis to flesh out stories on the war. Their recollections can go a long way to ensuring that the movie script is written and acted out authentically.”

Abdullah said his family has always lived at Mile 7 near Singai Kayu, quite close to the airport and a prisoner of war (POW) camp.

“The villagers, including my parents and their parents, had told us about what they had gone through during the war – and also about the atrocities they had seen committed by the occupying forces,” he said, adding that his mother – Sairah Mardi who was 16 then – had seen and been through the distresses of war enough to last a lifetime.

Relating what his mother had related to him and his siblings, Abdullah said: “Before the war, it seemed that a Japanese couple had arrived in our village.

“They lived on the Pamaguan Peninsula which was uninhabited. Villagers went there sometimes to collect clams and edible
snails but there was no village there.

“The Japanese couple, however, was very friendly but seldom mixed with other people. They would usually attend weddings or some festivities, organised by the villagers. The Japanese man would always carry a notebook with him while his wife seemed very retiring and shy.

“Several months later, they disappeared and nobody knew where they went. And it was not long after that the Japanese landed in Sandakan and burned the seaside town to ashes.”

SAIRAH MARDI: Used to sell foostuffs to the POWs.

Abdullah said his mother told them the Japanese landed in Sandakan without any protest or resistance – it seemed they just landed and walked in.

“She also told us that two batches of prisoners were subsequently shipped in through Sungai Sibuga (Besar).

“My mother used to sell foodstuffs like bananas and tapioca to the POWs. They barter-traded with clothes, blankets, forks and spoons as well as other stuff until they had nothing on but loincloth.

“They were that desperate for food. At times, when my mother and her friends passed by to sell their wares, the POWs – all thin and hungry-looking – would shout ‘sugar, sugar’ or ‘salt, salt’. But, of course, the locals did not understand what the POWs were saying and were usually left to wonder what the words actually meant.”

Abdullah said his mother also related how she and her friends had to bow low to a big pole inscribed with Japanese writings. Those who forgot to do so would be beaten by the local ‘kempatais’ who were locals working for the Japanese army.

“My uncle, who used to work at the airport, said he saw caucasians working there, filling up holes and repairing the aerodrome.

“They were thin and tired, staggering while they worked. By mid-day, they would look like fried prawns and sometimes, one of them would collapse and be dragged to the side. If they died, they would be taken away and buried.”

Abdullah remembers his uncle telling him that the dead POWs were buried in shallow graves and at times, the boars would dig up the earth to get at the remains – flesh, bones and all.

TRACING THE PAST: The two Australians Mitch (third from right) and Bob who visited Abdullah after the war.

He said his grandfather, Pengiran Abdullah, an imam or religious man, used to drive the locomotive, serving the airport, to Sungai Sibuga.

“When the allied bombardment began to regain Sandakan, my mother suffered chest pain and took shelter in Libaran Island but she and the family  were suffering there too. There was no food and the people were suffering from sores due to malnutrition.”

After the war, Abdullah’s father helped the Australians dig up the graves, placing the remains recovered in woolen blankets before burning them.

NOT FORGOTTEN: A memorial for the British soldiers who fought against the invading Japanese army during World War II.

His father also made crosses and painted them white over the graves. The dead captives were identified by their dog-tags, among other means.

“These are just one of the many stories about war atrocities told to us by our parents – and the little historical facts that make up the whole war-time scenario. I’m sure there are many other locals who have information that can be of value to history,” Abdullah noted.

He revealed that two Australians had been to his home before his mother died three months ago.

The Aussies, known only as Bob and Mitch, spent considerable time talking to his mother and recording her voice.

“They were in the army but probably only joined after the war,” Abdullah shared.

He believes these facts could be fleshed out and used in movies about the death march.

He appeals to those wishing to make films on the war years in North Borneo to highlight the ‘local angle’ and use local acting talents.

Abdullah, a keen writer, is also involved in a non-governmental organisaton (NGO) called Berasabah Organisation.

Meanwhile, Roger Christian is hoping to put together a movie on World War II atrocities by September with assistance from his crew of film-making experts.

He said those who attended the academy and are able to meet the criteria such as tenacity and discipline will have a chance to work in the film.

The Memorial Park in Kundasang.

He believes the production can be of great interest not only to the Australians and the British, who were directly involved in World War II in this part of the world, but also to international audience as he will be exploring the humane side of the story.

Christian, who has been here for the last three months, said he learned of the dark episode in Sabah history through reading and speaking to people who have been told about it or who have lived through it.

The forced marches in Borneo – from Sandakan to Ranau – resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 allied POWs during World War II.

Only six Australians survived after escaping with help from the locals.

ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP: (From left) Janrywine, Clarice, Devreny, Saliparjipun and the Kumpulan Budayawan Cultural Troupe ready to entertain the public.

KOTA KINABALU: A special series of Harvest Nights are being held across Sabah in conjunction with the coming Ka’amatan Festival.

Organised by Guiness Anchor Bhd (GAB), the fun-filled night hosted by Saliparjipun will feature live music performances by artistes such as Janrywine J Lusin, Clarice J Matha, Marlleynney Fane J Devreny Disin, Lim Chun Yong and Super Baby.

The public can participate in activities such as lucky draw and karaoke session while enjoying their favourite brew.

Five outlets across Sabah will hold special promotions during the celebration period including Misompuru Café, Tamparuli on May 21, Kedai Kopi 626 Fortuna, Taman Fortuna (May 22), Food City, Kolombong (May 23), Golden Valley, Kepayan Ridge (May 24) and SS Prima, Sandakan (May 27).

These events will kick off at 6pm until late.

GAB East Malaysia assistant trade marketing manager Thompson Chuah said: “Harvest Nights is organised to share the heritage of Ka’amatan with the masses by bringing together the brand and people during this amazing festive season.”

Its director-general Datuk Ismail Ahmad said the initiative was a continuous transformation by the department to improve the quality and durability of drivers’ licences.

He said the move was aimed at addressing problems raised by licence owners, including forging and the quality of current driving licences.

“The introduction of the new design will see a couple of safety features which are not easy to duplicate as well as quality and durability of the card.

“The public who will be renewing their driving licences in August will be the first batch to receive this new CDL card,” he said at a recent meet the public event at the RTD complex in Bundusan.

Also present was Sabah RTD director Mohd Shuhaili Mohd Taufek.

According to Ismail, existing licence card holders are not required to change to the new card, but may do so for security purposes.

“All the security features of the new driving licence card is similar to the present MyKad,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ismail said RTD had also launched the Malaysian Vocational Licence (MVL), which combines three types of licence into a single licence, namely Public Service Vehicle (PSV), Goods Driving Licence (GDL) and Conductor Licence (CL).

He said through this new system, MVL holder only needs to pay RM20 for all the three licences, compared to RM20 for each licence previously.

“This will benefit more than 149,909 vocational licence holders who have both the PSV and GDL licences,” said Ismail.

He refuted the claim by Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala that by implementing GST at 7% would increase the nation’s revenue by up to RM27 billion.

Junz said Idris’ explanation that it followed Singapore’s lead, was not relevant nor was it practical.

Why should Malaysia follow the Singapore’s lead by setting GST at 7%? he asked.

“Don’t compare Malaysia with Singapore because we are nothing like Singapore.

“We are not on par with Singapore in terms of industrial and economic development.

“We are not even close to Singapore’s medical and welfare standards. We are far behind Singapore in education and hospital standards.

“We cannot survive without cars and petrol due to bad public transportation system in Malaysia while Singaporeans can.

“Why should we follow Singapore’s lead on GST but not the others?”

Junz, who is also National DAPSY Publicity secretary, disputed Idris’ claim that the 2020 high-income nation goal could even be achieved two years earlier due to extensive government and private sector economic efforts.

He challenged Idris to show evidence that the countrys budget deficit had shown significant decrease in the last four years under Najib’s administration.

Idris also said that Najib was committed to reducing corporate and personal income tax due to implementation of GST.

Junz said Najib should show his sincerity to the people that he was indeed committed to what he claimed to be.

“Implement the reduction of taxes first,” he said.

The youth must be wise in their usage of the social media and not just simply believe the information that they obtain from the social media, he said at the opening of the state-level ‘Hari Belia’ celebrations here yesterday.

Musa said youths are using the social media to air their grouses and opinions.

“If used properly, it can be a mediumfor generating positive impact through the youth interacting with each other. Social media is also a platform for youths to put up good ideas and opinions.

“However, the youth must be smart in vetting the information on the social media and discard those which are inaccurate, false, lies and slanderous,” he said, adding that they should not listen to what was being said by some irresponsible quarters who only wanted to see the country in turmoil.

Musa added that as the country’s important asset, the youths must improve on their skills and professionalism.

The youth, he added, determined the country as well as state’s political stability, economic progress and social prosperity.

It is, therefore, important for the youth to understand their role as the catalyst of unity and the cradle of patriotism, he said.

He added that both state and federal governments are ready to assist the youth in any way they can, especially in the development of human capital.

The target set by the ministry for this year must be followed by all agencies to achieve five to six per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, he said at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) Kaamatan celebration yesterday.

“I would like to see what we have set for KKIP and the other agencies like Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) and Sedco will be on the right track. This is very important.

“We need to go down, we need to generate more activities in order to have a healthy growth. We have the investment that we had for so long, and now we have to push it,” he said.

Tan said KKIP and the other agencies had been effective in delivering results, but now there is a need for more action to achieve the growth target, which is very challenging especially a slowdown in the global economy.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KKIP, Dr Tarsiah TZ Taman, who also attended the press conference, said KKIP was on the right track to achieve its target.

Tan welcomed the encouraging growth of KKIP and hoped for a better performance from the other agencies, so that everyone would be in the right direction.

Tawau District Harvest Festival Queen Jennifer (seated middle) flanked by Flora (third right) and Jascinta.

TAWAU: Jennifer David was crowned Tawau District Harvest Festival Queen and will be representing the district at the state-level Pesta Kaamatan in Kota Kinabalu on May 31.

The first runner-up was Flora Fabian, while Jascinta Pilos and  Dibbie Victor were the second and third runners up, respectively.

The other finalists were Solius Ingrid Gangkangon, Monny Juni and Rachel Anne Roddy Spisol.

The ‘Tati Tosuau’ title went to Amanda Patrick while Jocelyn Mirasol was Miss Photogenic. Both were voted through Facebook.

Judges were Emily G.M, Dr Loren Adam, Elizabeth Malanjim and Francis Mosidin.

Sabah Umno Wanita assistant secretary Datuk Jainab Ahmad said it was shameful that DAP was still continuing with its cheap tactic of playing on racial sentiments and trying to disunite the people of Sabah in its quest to gain power.

“In the first place, the people know that we in BN stood for the election under one ticket and not based on race or individual component parties. This is unlike the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat (PR); they are not even in power but they already could not unite under one logo.

“Secondly, before it accuses BN, why doesn’t DAP look at its own PR governments in Penang,  Selangor and Kelantan? Even they have their own quota. In BN, whoever is the minister or assistant minister, our role is to serve the rakyat as a whole,” said Jainab.

The Karambunai assemblywoman was commenting on recent remarks by Sabah DAP assistant secretary cum Likas assemblyman Junz Wong who said Sabah BN leadership appeared to be marginalizing the Chinese community.

Junz had questioned if Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman purposely reduced the number of Chinese representation in the state cabinet to punish the community for backing the opposition in the 13th general election.

Jainab, who has been promoted to Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister under the new cabinet line-up, said both the Prime Minister and Chief Minister had taken conciliatory and dignified tones on the issue of the Chinese representation.

“They tell all the YBs to work and serve the rakyat and fulfil the promises made by BN, because our manifesto is a promise, ‘Aku Janji.’ The opposition on the other hand said their manifesto is just

a manifesto, not a promise that must be kept.

“I sincerely hope the people, young and old, know how to differentiate what is right and not be suck in by the lies and hatred the opposition continuously gives to them, especially through the Internet,” she said.

BN managed to retain power after securing a simple majority in the highly anticipated GE13, which saw a further decrease in the number of seats the coalition has in parliament.

The state BN government started a new term with only two ethnic Chinese in its federal cabinet after both MCA and Gerakan, who recorded their worst ever election performance on May 5, decided not to take up any ministerial or other posts.

In Sabah, BN maintained its overwhelming dominance, despite losing a  higher number of seats to PR.

DAP took a swing at the state BN leadership after it appointed only two ethnic Chinese as full ministers in its state cabinet, as compared to three in the previous term.

Jainab, as well as another Sabah Umno leader Datuk Bolkiah Ismail, rejected DAP’s accusation as baseless and a mere attempt to gain political mileage.

“In Semenanjung, even when MCA did not want to be appointed, the PM said  BN serves all irrespective of race or religious background. The decrease in Chinese representation is a non issue.

“My advise to DAP is to stop politicising matters we are not interested in. We want to work but they are only interested in pointing fingers and complaining, not resolving issues. It is BN’s YBs who resolve issues faced by the people.

“What I see is that when people want their problems solved, they go to BN because they know only BN has the sincerity and political will to bring about real changes. Sadly however, some of them turn around and voted along racial lines comes the election, rejecting BN when it was us who seriously worked for them,” she said.

Commenting on his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister (Chinese quota) and Datuk Teo Chee Kang as Special Tasks Minister, he said giving more attention to the Chinese was something that needed to be seen in a wider perspective, especially when the people in Sabah are living in a multiracial community.

“I think it is good for Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman to have appointed Teo, because probably the Chinese in the urban areas  need more attention.

“So you need somebody that is more focused on the needs of the urban Chinese and basically to associate more with the Chinese leaders in the community,” he said to reporters at the launching of the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) Kaamatan celebration.

Tan added that his personal analysis from the outcome of the newly concluded 13th general election was that the Chinese do not have problems, but they just needed more attention.

” The Chinese do not have problems. I do not agree when people say the election results show the Chinese are having problems. No.

“From my own analysis, I think the Chinese probably have more expectations that they probably wanted to be heard much more. I think Musa did the right thing because he knows where the weaknesses are. We need to be more focused to know what kind of attention they need, and he is providing it. So it is a good thing.”

However, as the Deputy Chief Minister for the Chinese quota, Tan stressed that his role was not only towards the Chinese community because there are a lot of things that he should focus on, for example  the business sector which he is very much involved.

He said the business sector was not meant for the Chinese only, because economic development must be done together regardless of  race.

“It does not mean that since I am the Deputy Chief Minister for the Chinese quota,  I have to focus businesses only for the Chinese. Business is for the people; it does not matter whether you are Chinese, Kadazan, Dusun, Murut or Malay.

“So I have a greater job looking at how we can work together to harmonize that relationship when we are aiming for economic growth. I do not think we need to form separate departments. I think we really need to move away from taking a position for a particular community,” he said.

Tan, who is also Minister of  Industrial Development said his statement did not mean that he was not concerned with the Chinese community, but was happy with Teo’s position in helping him address matters affecting the Chinese.

Asked whether two Chinese ministers were enough to handle  Chinese affairs, Tan said Musa had highlighted that the cabinet was working as a team and the number of Chinese ministers was not important because the number of activities was more important than the number of ministers.

“Musa did a lot of things in promoting  Chinese culture, schools, and religious activities. We can see he is working hard for the Chinese community as well.

“I am sure Musa will give more allocation to the Chinese community if there is a need and it is not because of the number of  ministers in the cabinet,” he added.

Also present at the Kaamatan celebration yesterday were Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affiars Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid, Tuaran District Officer Madiyem Layapan and City Hall director general DAtuk Yeo Boon Hai.

Immaculate Lojuki (seated) with Hemy Manjadi (second right), Ashley Selvi Ravindran (left) and Roseanne Tay.

KOTA KINABALU:Lanky Immaculate Lojuki was yesterday crowned the City Unduk Ngadau at the Kaamatan Carnival 2013, outshining 14 other contestants to take the Diamoney crown worth RM8,000, a cash prize of RM4,000 as well as RM3,000 worth of jewellery.

The 20-year-old beauty who towered over other contestants at five foot eight would be representing the city in the state level Unduk Ngadau finals.

The first runner-up was Hemy Manjadi, 23, who received a cash prize of RM3,000 as well as RM2,000 jewellery, a crown worth RM6,000, a trophy, a sash and a handphone. She would also  represent Likas in the state finals.

Second runner-up Ashley Selvi Ravindran, 21, received RM2,000 cash prize, jewellery worth RM1,500, a crown worth RM4,500, a sash, a trophy, a handphone and would be representing Tanjung Aru in the state finals.

Meanwhile, third runner-up Roseanne Tay, 22, received RM1,000 cash prize, RM500 jewellery, trophy, a sash and the right to represent Inanam, while fifth placed Pathlyn Leosie M Mikat received RM500 cash, RM500 worth of jewellery, a trophy and a bouquet.

Three subsidiary prizes were also awarded at the event, with Immaculate taking Miss Personality title that came with RM1,000 worth of jewellery.

The Favourite and Aramaiti title went to Ryannie Neils Yong, 18, while the Miss DiGi title went to Stacey Elev Baritus Gungkit.

The Batch 13 students during their graduation ceremony yesterday.

KINARUT: If it weren’t for Montfort, Alex Johnny, 20, won’t be relishing the moment of triumph of finally completing his vocational training in metal fabrication and graduating in front of his proud parents who had traveled nine hours just to get to Miri.

For a long time, gaining an education was but a faraway dream made harder to achieve due to the distance between his village, Kampung Long Apu in Miri, Sarawak and the nearest school.

“I am from the Kenyah tribe. We are a small tribe belonging to the Orang Ulu group. I am 20 years old and I am the youngest of five siblings,” he said when sharing his testimony in front of beaming parents and proud graduates as well as the present trainees and educators at the training institution ran by the Montfort brothers.

“My father works in a timber camp, and my mother is a housewife. My father’s salary was not enough to for the upkeep of the family, so my mother helped out by selling homemade cakes and kuih-muih (local cakes),” he said.

He explained that his family was always moving because of his father’s work.

In describing how difficult it was to reach his village, Alex said that from Miri, it took nine hours to reach it.

“I have to get a ride to Kiloten camp to reach Pekan Lapok. From there, I have to take another transport before I can reach Miri. Going back to my village is more difficult. If I arrive there late at Kiloten camp, I will have to spend the night at the hut near the check point because there is no transport at night.

“From the check point, I will hitch another ride on the timber lorry to reach the junction to my village and from that junction, I would need another ride. It is even more difficult when it rains because the road gets muddy. The road is very dangerous because it is a logging road, which is only used by big lorries to ferry heavy timber. That is why my family seldom go to Miri town to get our food rations,” he said.

And due to the long and arduous journey, going to school became a problem for him.

“It (the school) was very far from my village, therefore, I have to stay at the school hostel as a boarder. I only attended Form I for a month, and then I quit in order to help my mother. I started to envy my friends who went to school and decided to study again. So my father sent me to Form 2 the following year. Again I stopped after some time due to the same reason. My parents then gave up on me due to my irresponsible attitude. But I kept running away from school because I missed my family a lot,” he said.

He said that he began working at a timber camp as a scaler, earning RM600 a month, when he was merely 16 years old.

“It was a tough and dangerous job. I felt the pay was not enough. I had a lot of time to think at the camp because there was no entertainment to distract me. I told myself that if I continued to stay at the camp, I would not gain anything and will have very little future.”

Fortunately, his aunt, a Carmelite Sister in Miri, initiated an idea that he should go back to school and enrolled him on a course in Montfort at Kinarut.

“The sisters sponsored my ticket to come to Kota Kinabalu for Montfort. It was my first time coming out of my village and I felt happy, excited and nervous. It was like a dream come true. I was so touched when my family, uncles, aunts and cousins came to the airport to send me off.”

He added that before arriving to Montfort, he had almost no knowledge on the facility and only knew that it was a good school that would teach him English and that he would be well cared for by the missionary brothers.

“I was too excited to ask questions because I only wanted to go back to school. I know how hard it was to work and I want to get a certificate in order to get a better job,” he said.

As he was used to hardship, he found it easy to adapt to Montfort’s strict environment. Moreover, he was determined to attain his certificates and prove to his parents and those who have helped him that he can achieve his goal.

“I learned a lot at Montfort. I received my Level 1 and Level 2 Certificates in Metal Fabrication. I obtained my Green Card from CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia), 6G training at The Welding Institute (TWI),” he said.

And in terms of character transformation, he said he had improved in his respect for others and had become more responsible.

“I also learned how to uphold safety as the most important aspect in industrial skills training. Our faith formation nurtured me to be strong in my faith and taught me to pray always…although there were times when I missed home and my family, I prayed for strength to go on.”

Mary with supporters at Tawau Airport on Friday night.

TAWAU: Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching is ready to implement her first agenda on getting an international franchise varsity for the Tawau community, which was stated in her manifesto.

Thanking Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for giving her the opportunity she urged the people not to have any doubts as she would not be biased towards race or religion but to be concerned and achieve greater success.

Mary told the media this in a press conference after her arrival at Tawau Airport from Kuala Lumpur, on Friday night.

“I’m always being professional and would definitely work as a team to get my manifesto realized for the greater interest of the Tawau community. I would look into establishing an international franchise varsity in Tawau in the coming future.

“It is not just a university but a research center for agriculture that would be set up in the university,” said Mary.

She would also strive hard to ensure that the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 would be implemented successfully to meet its objectives. It is a transformation plan to improve the quality of education in Malaysia.

More than 100 members and supporters welcomed the arrival of Tawau-born Deputy Minister Datuk Mary Yap at Tawau Airport.

Tan (third left) and Jainab (third right) lead the VIPS in launching the KKIP Kaamatan celebration yesterday.

KOTA KINABALU: There is no end of Gerakan as the new blood in the party is in the process of growing to make a comeback in the next General Election.

Its vice-president Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah said if the party put up its resources together, it could build a stronger team in the years to come.

“There will be a big surprise because Gerakan is now generating new blood and coming back stronger. I am saying it now because history tells us when someone is weak and beaten, the person will come out with new blood and come up.

“Gerakan has many quality people who are knowledgeable. I believe they can contribute to national growth. So I do not think the 13th General Election is the end of this party because we are not packing up, we are not destroyed,” he said.

The national-based party, which contested in two Sabah state seats in the May 5 election, won both Tanjung Papat and Elopura in the Sandakan parliamentary constituency.

Tan, who was also appointed as a deputy chief minister, said he was in a ‘cooling period’ after the election, thinking on the next move by the party. The party lost many seats in Peninsular Malaysia, causing its president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to quit from his post.

“Over the last five years before the 13th General Election, I had said that I would not be able to perform at all because I was from a local party and after that I joined a national party.

“Some people said if Au Kam Wah and I were contesting under Gerakan, there would surely be two ‘telur’ (zero). That was what people said to us, but we worked hard and we won two seats instead of ‘telur’ (zero),” he said.

Tan stressed there are many other young leaders in the peninsula who are better than them and who can do the same (succeed) in the next election.

He said he wanted to contribute to Gerakan, to build up the party and play a role to serve the people even though some of his friends in the party are not holding any posts in the cabinet.

Tan said, by the end of the day, the people would see the end product of quality leaders who could contribute to the development of the nation.

“People now have more expectations of quality YBs who can perform, and I agree with that. This is a test for us after winning the election. I believe the line-up in the state and federal cabinet has the quality to perform to expectations.

“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman are also confident that we can perform, and we will perform,” said Tan.

The graduates were specialized in their respective fields of automotive mechanic, welding, carpentry and refrigeration air-conditioning mechanics.

Director of MYTC, Brother Francis Chua told reporters attending the event yesterday that all the trainees had been offered jobs, although it was up to them whether they wanted to take up the offer.

“But most have ? some have been offered to work in Kuala Lumpur, some in Labuan and some in Kota Kinabalu,” he said.

He added that in the past, some of their trainees had even got job opportunities in Singapore but due to immigration rules in that country, youths from Sabah could no longer go there to work.

“Some of our trainees are now working for off-shore companies in Miri, and I hear that they are doing well,”  he said.

Madingkir inspecting the proposed new car park site at Jesselton Point, adjacent to the SESB substation on Thursday.

KOTA KINABALU: There will be an additional 180 parking lots for the city soon.

Disclosing this here yesterday, Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir said he hoped the Land and Surveys Department (LSD) would issue the approval soon to enable the City Hall to enter the site and start works on the new parking lots.

Madingkir inspected the proposed new car park area at Jesselton Point adjacent to the SESB substation on Thursday.

Madingkir said the City Hall had already applied to the LSD for the said land to be vested in the City Hall for car park usage.

Meanwhile, the Mayor said the City Hall was also waiting from the LSD to create another parking lot area in the vacant space in Karamunsing near the Palace Hotel.

He said once the approval had been issued, it is expected that an additional 100 over car parks would be built in the area.

Also present during the site visit were City Hall directors, Alijus Haji Sipil, Ir. Lee Tet Fon, Noorliza Ag. Alip and Kalvin Liaw, together with DBKK Holdings Sdn Bhd executive director Kenny Chan and Robin Milip, a representative from the LSD.