KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has increased its annual grant for the Kinabalu Shell Press Award from RM40,000 to RM50,000.
In announcing the increase, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said it reflected the good ties between the state government and media fraternity in Sabah.
He said the state government was prepared to raise the annual grant for the award because it recognised the important role the media played in disseminating information to the masses on the government’s programmes and policies.
“The state government appreciates what the media has been doing in Sabah, that is, to reach out to the public and provide accurate information, particularly on the government’s development programmes.
“This really helps a lot in ensuring that whatever we planned for the people can be implemented smoothly,” he said when receiving a courtesy call from the Kinabalu Shell Press Award organising committee led by its chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, at Wisma Innoprise, here, today.
The RM50,000 grant for the 19th Kinabalu Shell Press Award marks an increase of RM10,000 received from the state government last year, and was also in keeping with the Chief Minister’s pledge to continue supporting Sabah’s most prestigious award for the media fraternity. The total prize money for the 11 categories is RM105,500.
Bangkuai told Musa that the award had been receiving strong support from the state government ever since its inception in 1993 when the then Chief Minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan approved a grant of RM12,000.
“Since then, it has evolved to become the state’s premier journalism award,” he said.
Musa again has agreed to be the guest-of-honour and present the awards at the event on May 13, making it the ninth consecutive year he has not missed the event.
Bangkuai also briefed the Chief Minister on the record 274 entries received for the 11 categories compared with 186 in the previous year. The highest number before this was 214 for the 17th edition of the award.
He said the increase was partly due to the introduction of a new category for Entertainment News Reporting introduced last year, as well as the alignment of the eligible published works for judging with the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) press award.
The Kinabalu Shell Press Award is a tripartite partnership between the Sabah government, Shell Malaysia and Sabah Journalists Association. – Bernama