Kudos to AirAsia for coming up with a direct flight between Kuching and Singapore soon

Kudos to AirAsia for coming up with a direct flight between Kuching and Singapore by the end of this month with the details on the upcoming direct flight will be announced soon. This is good news to all of us because presently, there is only Scoot which is operating direct flights between Kuching and Singapore. By the end of April, we will have AirAsia coming from Singapore and t will be easier for those coming into Sarawak,

We are eager to have more flights coming into Sarawak in view of the international events which will be held in Kuching including the Spartan Race Sarawak 2022 which will take place at the Agriculture Institute, Sarawak and Leadership Institute of Civil Service Sarawak in Semengok, Kuching on June 11 and 12. The race will be held a week earlier than the forthcoming Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) on June 17 to 19, while the Borneo Jazz Music Festival to be held in Miri on June 24 to 26 which is a week after the RWMF at Sarawak Culture Village in Damai, Santubong. We also hope that those taking part in the Spartan race would stay on for the RWMF and after that, continue staying on for the Borneo Jazz Music Festival. Definitely, some of them are staying on...from running in the jungles to entertainment.

Getting consent from all parties for consent on anti-hopping law

We have viewed the suggestion to seek consent from various state governments and heads of state before enforcing the anti-party hopping law as a good proposal because it would be appropriate to refer to Sarawak as one of the three regions that formed Malaysia. I have mentioned this to our media friends recently and anything to do with an important decision like that, we need to get consent from other regions since Malaysia was formed by three regions. Do not bulldoze (any major decision). I was asked to comment on Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s remarks on Sunday that a suggestion had been made for the anti-party hopping Bill to be first granted consent by state governments and the respective heads of state before being enforced. 

I believed YB Dato Sri Wan Junaidi must have discussed the matter with Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg before bringing it up. On whether this issue would be deliberated during the forthcoming State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting next month, it will be debated and deliberated if it is going to be in the form of a Bill. The second meeting of the first session of the 19th DUN will be held on May 17 to 26 and there's no telling if the anti-party hopping issue would be one of the Bills. The coming sitting is scheduled to be officiated at by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Bringing Rainforest World Music Festival back after a two year hiatus

We will be organising this year's Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) on June 17 to 19 at Sarawak Culture Village (SCV), Santubong and it will be held in a hybrid manner. It has been two years since the festival was last held here due to the pandemic. We are indeed glad to have it this year and there will be international musicians from Canada, India, USA, Finland and Mexico who will have live performances at the festival. But festival goers can also look forward to seeing the live performances by Sarawak musical talents such as international award winning singer, Alena Murang, Kemada, Sang Rawi, At Adau, Tuku Kame, Suk Binie’, Nading Rhapsody and Mathew Ngau, our well-known sape musician.

We have decided to have this year's festival on hybrid manner to enable more people to see it online because only 5,000 tickets are on sale daily. Last year’s festival which held virtually had managed to garner 402,865 viewers from 79 countries. Thus, the overwhelming response by Netizens had led the organiser to include the hybrid concept for this year's edition because it is the best way to go to further extend festival’s visibility on the global stage. With the objective of bringing people back together and to come to Sarawak, this year’s festival is one of the first international hybrid musical events to be staged in Malaysia after the recent reopening of our borders.

Addressing the issue of soaring air ticket prices in view of forthcoming festive season

I have commented on the issue of soaring flight ticket prices which had been widely mentioned by our local folks especially when the festive season comes. I viewed that the Federal Government needs to play its role in setting the ceiling price for domestic flight tickets from the Semenanjung to Sabah and Sarawak.

Such proposals and measures need to be considered in addressing the issue of ticket prices especially ahead of the festive season because presently there is no set ceiling price. Such situation has forced many Sarawakians and Sabahans to buy tickets at high prices just to return to their villages during the festive season.

For this reason, we must have a ceiling price because it is unreasonable if the ticket price for a one -way flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching can cost up to RM2,000 to RM3,000. At ministry level, we have always monitor the issue and negotiations with the federal government are underway to resolve it.

However, this matter also needs to be seen from various perspectives so that it does not burden the government and the airline companies. Our discussions will continue but we have to be practical as well, if the ticket prices is cheap and airlines will suffer huge losses if there is only 20 or 30 passengers .

Thus, we need to look at it from different angles for both sides so as not to burden anyone. I have also advised our folks to buy their flight tickets in advance before the festive season to avoid the problem of expensive prices. This will enable the airline companies to manage the flight schedules according to the number of tickets already purchased.

Wooing 4,000 delegates to Sarawak for the forthcoming national and international conferences

Sarawak is optimistic in wooing an estimated 4,000 delegates coming to the state in conjunction with the staging of four major national and international events that will be held here. I have mentioned this in the recent BESarawak’s Tribal Gathering held in Kuala Lumpur for the official announcement of conferences under the Malaysian Institute of Food Technology, the Malaysian Society of Radiographers, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (Malaysia) Society and the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists (MSA) and the College of Anaesthesiologists, Academy of Medicine Malaysia. 

The forthcoming conferences augur well for Sarawak’s efforts to align with international objectives and standards in measuring the intangible benefit of business events known as "legacy impact". 

As such, we have also decided to continue the "Business Events Planners Incentivised Packages" for the year 2022 under the "BEimpactful" program which provides extended financial and in-kind incentives. It is applicable for physical, hybrid, and homegrown national and international conventions, exhibitions, and corporate meetings. For national and international corporate incentives, the event must be held physically only.

BESarawak together with MyCEB are working closely at higher levels of collaboration to drive Malaysia’s economic transformation and social development through business events. It is in line with Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 or PCDS. The business events sector had been identified as an aspiration to empower communities and conserve heritage, culture and biodiversity and promote investment and development in all sectors. Thus, we must do these in preparation for the impacts of border reopening on April 1, and the high probability of international business events making their way back. Since the inception of Business Events Sarawak in 2006, approximately RM3 billion in total economic impacts were recorded under the various national and international meetings, events and conferences held on Sarawak's shores.