Dato Richard Wee
KUCHING: The Sarawak Federation of Chinese Associations (SFCA) has called upon all segments of society to contribute constructive ideas to move the state forward after the Covid-19 pandemic.
SFCA president Dato Richard Wee said offering ideas or comments was better than ‘sowing seeds of discontent’, and making unfair criticisms and disparaging remarks on the efforts and initiatives taken by the Sarawak government.
He lauded the Sarawak government for hosting a meeting ‘Sarawak Economy Post Covid-19’ on Wednesday to chart the state’s economic exit strategy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The meeting, he said, was to discuss long-term strategies and vision going forward after the pandemic had passed.
“During the meeting, the Chief Minister outlined the new core principles of the strategy, and he emphasised that the previously announced initiatives would have to complement the new initiatives.
“The Chief Minister also informed those in the meeting that for the immediate term, Sarawak government would also be reviewing the aid packages announced earlier, and be prepared to consider providing additional assistance, if needed,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Wee said people should not be confused that in formulating new economic strategies for the future, immediate measures needed to address current challenges would be overlooked
“Whilst I agree that our immediate need is to solve the concern of the epidemic that is facing us, it does not mean that a responsible government should then not consider and plan for the long-term issues that may befall us moving forward.”
He also commended the Sarawak government for setting up the Sarawak Economic Action Council, hoping that sufficient time and resources would be given to the council to complete its job effectively.
He noted that the Sarawak government had taken comprehensive measures to deal with the Covid-19 situation.
“This can be seen by the number of announcements and aid programmes that have been introduced over the past two months.
“In this regard, we appreciate the fact that the government has reached out to NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and the business community on a number of occasions to gather feedback as well as suggestions and comments as to the key touch points that need to be addressed.”
For the immediate term, Wee said the aid incentives implemented by the Sarawak government covered the numerous socio-economic measures and financial assistance aid packages to alleviate the impact brought by Covid-19 pandemic.
For the long-term, he said the Sarawak government was formulating the future economic policies and its focused sectors, new model and also measures for its exit strategy post Covid-19.
“Therefore, I would like to borrow a quotation from a saying ‘One can both walk and chew gum at the same time’. In essence, it means that the government can work on both short-term as well as the longer term issues at the same time,” he added.