One BN party? Not now, says Abdul Karim

May 29, 2016

SIBU: Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah reckons it will still take a while for Sarawakians or even Malaysians to accept a one-party BN.

He said this when asked on the feasibility of having a single BN party in Sarawak like what Minister of Local Government Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian had suggested.

According to Dr Sim, with a single BN party there would not be any fight for seats among the various BN component parties in the state or fighting over who had more elected representatives, and that it should be called (something like) Barisan Sarawak.

He suggested that a single BN party for the state would spell better unity among the BN elected representatives.

On this, Abdul Karim said: “All our political parties are formed with a specific objective. Through the years, the parties collaborate with each other but they do not deviate from their original struggles. Datuk Dr Sim’s suggestion is for a merger of all BN parties… to resolve the BN seats problem. But politics is not just about clamouring for more seats or solving seat problem.”

The Asajaya assemblyman said it was the struggle of the party that also needed to be taken into account.

Stop whining and focus on elections, PBB tells SUPP

April 15, 2016

Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah of PBB says CM Adenan Satem makes candidacy decisions based on feedback from the ground about the winnability of candidates.

PETALING JAYA: The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has been told to stop whining over seat allocations and focus on winning the state election instead.

In a statement, Supreme Council member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said it was “most regrettable” to see SUPP grumbling over seat allocations with the election just around the corner, more so when fingers were pointed at Chief Minister Adenan Satem.

Karim said Adenan, as the state Barisan Nasional chief should be allowed to decide on who should contest and where they should contest at.

The Assistant Minister of Housing also said Adenan was a reasonable man and based his candidacy decisions on feedback from the ground on the winnability of the candidates.

“Seats that were lost in the last elections should be ‘opened’ to the most winnable candidate from any BN Party or any direct BN candidate.”

He added that those who lost in the last election had already been given the opportunity and if they could not deliver, others who could, should be given a chance instead.

Karim said SUPP’s recent remarks on the seat allocations were unkind and uncalled for, at a time when solidarity was needed.

SJS band success makes state, country proud

October 3, 2015

Abdul Karim (seated left) fielding questions from reporters. Looking on are Dr Sim (second left) and Ling.

KUCHING: St Joseph School did the state and country proud when its marching band took first place in the recent US Bands Yamaha Cup in New York.

Assistant Minister of Youth Development (Urban Areas) Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah hopes that each and every member of the winning band will emulate this feat to achieve success in other fields and aspects of their lives.

He added that for the state with a population of only 2.4 million people to be able to achieve this kind of international success is no easy feat, especially considering that the competitors were of world standard.

He said what the school had achieved was not only their success but something that the whole nation could cherish, because it put Sarawak and Malaysia on the world map.

“The state government is proud of this success considering that schools in the United States are known to have the best marching bands in the world. This achievement is a proud moment for both state and country. Hopefully they can achieve success in other fields as well,” Karim told a press conference at Kuching International Airport (KIA) here on Thursday evening, during a welcoming ceremony for the band.

Also present were SJS Band advisor and Old Josephians Association chairman Senator Datuk Dr Sim Hui Kian and SJS Band director June Ling.

The band emerged champion in the Division III A category after scoring 90.1 following a stellar performance at MetLife Stadium at East Rutherford in New Jersey on Sept 26. They also swept all caption categories including the highest scores for visual, music, overall effect, percussion and colour guard to upstage 53 other top high school bands.