Sarawak shines at Asean PR Excellence Awards

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Snowdan (back row, third right) joins Prita (back row, third left) and Ibrahim (back row, second left) in showing thumbs-up as they pose for a group photo with the Asean International PR Excellence Awards Diamond winners.

KUCHING: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak has clinched the ‘Diamond Award’ for ‘Best Government Public Relations (PR) – Asean Category’ at the Asean International PR Excellence Awards.

Asean Public Relations Network (APRN) president Prita Kemal Gani and Institute PR Malaysia president Dato Ibrahim Abdul Rahman presented the award to Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan and Asean International Film Festival and Awards (Aiffa) 2019 festival director Livan Tajang, who accepted the award on behalf of the ministry.

The awards ceremony at a hotel here yesterday also witnessed Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) bagging two ‘Diamond Awards’ – the ‘Best PR Programme – Asean Category’ for its ‘Mat Weavers’ programme, the ‘Best PR Campaign – Asean Category’ for its ‘Electrifying Sarawak and Beyond’ campaign.

SEB executive vice-president (corporate services) Aisah Eden received the awards on behalf of Sarawak’s energy corporation.

The winners of four other award categories were also announced – Audrey P Petriny of Indonesia won the Diamond Award for ‘Best PR Practitioners – Asean’, PR Organisational International Awareness ID Vietnam (Best PR Agencies – Asean), Mix Magazine of Indonesia (Best Print Media Company Supporting PR and Communications Industry), and PR Newswire of Vietnam (Best Online Media Company Supporting PR and Communications Industry).

In his speech, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah expressed his admiration for the determination of those working in the PR industry.

“The world seems to be moving at a faster pace than before and people these days believe what appears on their handphones, regardless of the source of information.

“Everyone with a handphone is now able to receive news or information and this makes the job of PR practitioners all the more challenging.

“What you do on a daily basis to manage the reputation of your organisations and agencies in the midst of all these digital technology is no mean feat. I strongly admire your determination, your drive and your persistence,” he said in a text speech, read by Snowdan at the event.

The Asean International PR Excellence Awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the ‘Kuching Communique: The Asean International PR Conference’, which was attended by around 200 PR professionals, government PR personnel and the academia from Sarawak and Asean capital cities.

The conference highlighted landmark issues in PR, particularly on how PR professionals engaged with the international world.