Welcoming the staging of the qualifying round matches for the "International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's Under-19 World Cup Cricket 2025" on our shores.

Well done and congratulations to Sarawak Cricket Association (SCA) together with Malaysia Cricket Association (MCA) for having successfully brought the qualifying round matches for the "International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's Under-19 World Cup Cricket 2025" to our shores. 

The prestigious event is on from 18 to 28 January next year and Kuching City was given the honour to play host for some of the preliminary matches. This morning I was invited to chair the coordination meeting for the local organizing committee and was also invited to preside on the press conference with the local media fraternity at our office. 

A total of 10 of the 42 preliminary qualifying matches in next year's under-19 women cricket world cup will take place at the Borneo Cricket Ground, Petra Jaya Kuching. The preliminary round actions in Group C will feature teams from New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria and Samoa. 

Sarawak will receive extensive publicity throughout the duration of this world-class sporting event as all matches are broadcast live to more than 180 countries through the Star Sports channel and through the official platform and applications of the ICC.

Meeting our junior women Malaysia Games (SUKMA) cricket team

I had the opportunity to meet some of the athletes from our state cricket team who had competed in the recent 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMAXXI) which was held in Kuching last August. 

The athletes were invited to our office this morning in conjunction with the press conference to announce the organizing of the forthcoming "International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Women's T20 Cricket World Cup 2025" to be held at the Borneo Cricket Ground, Petra Jaya in Kuching next year. 

The cricket event is one of the 37 sports contested in this year’s SUKMA and it was also the first time for it to be held outside of West Malaysia. We are sure our young folks especially those who are keen in cricket, are excited with the prospects of seeing the world under-19 women teams competing for the prestigious World Cup preliminary rounds here.

Listening to the keynote address by Dr Rima Hooja 4th Hornbill International Conference on Adventure and Eco-tourism 2024 (Hornbill-ICAE2024)

We were engrossed by the keynote address by the learned Dr Rima Hooja at the official opening ceremony of the 4th Hornbill International Conference on Adventure and Eco-tourism 2024 (Hornbill-ICAE2024) held at Pullman Hotel Miri.

Dr Hooja who was specially invited to speak at this year’s conference spoke on the interesting topic on “Learning From The Past And Innovating For The Future: The World’s Heritage And Sustainable Adventure & Ecotourism”.

Dr Hooja is presently the Director Emeritus, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum City Palace Jaipur, India and is also a well known archaeologist, historian, writer, heritage consultant with a PhD from Cambridge University, UK.

It was interesting to some of the issues mentioned such as on managing the development of adventure and ecotourism which had represented some of the most impactful forms of tourism in present day. Both are offering visitors immersive experiences in nature that can foster a deep appreciation for our planet’s biodiversity. Thus, wae need to work together responsibly to ensure that they do not compromise the very environments that nurture us.

Similar, we must be fully committed to developing a tourism sector that prioritises sustainability at every level perhaps via crafting policies, designing programs, and implementing strategies that allow tourism to flourish without jeopardising our ecological or cultural heritage. 

Giving the thumbs up to 4th Hornbill International Conference on Adventure & Eco-tourism 2024 (Hornbill-ICAE2024)

Today I had the privilege to represent our right honourable Premier of Sarawak for the official opening ceremony of the "4th Hornbill International Conference on Adventure and Eco-tourism" (Hornbill-ICAE2024) which was held at Pullman Hotel Miri.

I had to fly into Miri early in the morning and had arrived at the function venue just in time for the opening ceremony which was attended by local and international participants including researchers as well as academicians who had showcased their interesting projects in the mini development exhibition.

But of course it was our local handicrafts artisans and craftsmen who stole the limelight of the conference with the display of their unique rattan products as well as other traditional materials. 

I had also given the thumbs up to the organisers who included Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), University Putra Malaysia (UPM), PUTRA and of course with the strong support from our Sarawak Government. 

The theme for this year’s conference was “Sustainability in Adventure and Ecotourism: Bridging Theory and Practice” which also embodies the balance that we aim to achieve between the theoretical foundations of sustainability and the practical realities of adventure and ecotourism. It speaks to the heart of Sarawak’s journey as a steward of natural beauty and a leader in responsible tourism that can ensure bright future for all industry stakeholders.

Good turnout for the recent state coordination meeting for PEMADAM Sarawak

I have thanked Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali our Deputy Chairperson of Persatuan Mencegah Dadah Malaysia (PEMADA) Sarawak branch for chairing this morning’s meeting for the state coordination committee members on my behalf.

I am president of PEMADAM Sarawak and was unable to chair the coordination meeting because of my travelling engagement at the ongoing World Textile Conference 2024 in Baguio City of the Philippines.
Datuk Sharifah Hasidah is also our Deputy Minister in the Premier of Sarawak’s Department (Law, MA63, and State-Federal Relations) and she had also conducted the press conference after the meeting was concluded. Our appreciation to all media friends who attended the press conference which had highlighted the use of “Instant Visual Drugs Detection Device” (IVDD) in our combat against substance abuse throughout Sarawak. There are a total of 50 units deployed by the Police and it costs our government almost RM1.5 million to acquire them.

Efforts to combat drug abuse among youths in Sarawak must be continued and we are indeed delighted with promising results, judging by the decline in the number of students testing positive for drugs. In fact, the number of cases involving the youths has dropped significantly to just 35 cases this year and the success was attributed to Pemadam’s partnership with the Sarawak Education Department, which had facilitated targeted awareness programmes in 194 secondary schools in the state.

The collaboration we have with the Sarawak Education Department has been pivotal and our efforts to integrate the Drug Education and Prevention Programme (PPDa) into schools are meant to ensure that students are educated early on the dangers of drugs and substance abuse. This also include the joint efforts and collaborations 

with various agencies and organisations including the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Royal Customs Department, National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK), Pengasih Malaysia, Sarawak United National Youth Organisation (Saberkas) and Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centexs), as well as various sports associations and parent-teacher associations (PTAs).

The strong partnerships with the rest of the stakeholders have strengthened the delivery of our anti-drug message and allowed us to reach diverse segments of the community. In 2024 alone, Pemadam Sarawak has conducted a total 88 awareness programmes, covering 45 districts, with the seminars, workshops and exhibitions all targeting and involving students, parents and educators.

Thus, all Pemadam district-level committees to continue their collaboration with groups such as Saberkas and One-Stop Committee (OSC) to overcome challenges arising from limited resources. The “Break Off E-Sports Challenge’ programme, organised by Centexs Santubong and our Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (MYSED) had also made a contribution by engaging youths in positive activities. 

The programme, which combined gaming competitions with drug awareness talks, was hailed as a success, leading to plans for a larger initiative, ‘Break Off Edu 2025’, set to take place in Debak, Betong, run in collaboration with the Sarawak Social Development Council.