Tribute to advocates of our traditional "songket" and "keringkam" fabrics

Last night I was invited to grace the dinner held in conjunction with this year’s “Nuansa Seni - Festival Kelestarian Budaya Melayu Sarawak 2025” which was held at The Waterfront Hotel in Kuching and it featured the awarding of accolades to a number of local craftsmen as well as advocates of our traditional Malay fabrics namely the well-known “songket” and “keringkam”.

We had a great evening which featured an interesting line up of programmes which included special presentation of appreciation to various local Malay craftsmen and women who are passionate advocates in the weaving of our traditional “songket” and “keringkam”. Our government through Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP) had once again supported this wonderful initiative that is aimed to ensure sustainability of the weaving and production of Malay fabrics of perfections. 

Also present during this function were Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, the Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Sarawak and Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Bt. Sayeed Aman Ghazali, our Deputy Minister in the Premier's Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations).

Welcoming participants of "ASEAN Youth Volunteers Programme" to Kuching City

We were delighted to welcome participants of this year’s “ASEAN Youth Volunteers Programme”  who were in Kuching City over the weekend as part of visits schedule to Sarawak and Sabah. It was an honour for me to be invited by the organiser, Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia (KBS) as guest of honour at the welcoming ceremony cum hi tea which was held at our English Teahouse Restaurant of Dataran Ibu PertiwiKu, Petra Jaya over the weekend. 

Also present was the honourable Adam Adli, the Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports Malaysia who was accompanied by Puan Azura Abidin, the Director General of Jabatan Belia & Sukan Negara. In my speech, I have urged the participants to take the opportunity to get acquainted with their counterparts from other countries in order to establish rapport and understanding among one another. Despite their brief visit to Sarawak, 

I have also called on them to interact with our local folks consisting of different ethnicities, cultures and traditions. Sarawak is blessed with various natural wonders, flora and fauna that are also tourism attractions for foreign as well as local visitors. We hope the participants will have a wonderful stay in Kuching and to bring home the sweet memories of their experience of being here. 

Maintaining Sarawak's Youth age limit to 40 despite the Federal Government's decision to lower the cap to 30 as of January 2026

Sarawak government has agreed to maintain its current youth age limit at 40 despite the Federal Government’s decision to lower the cap to 30 as of January 2026.  Our government will retain the autonomy to determine the age threshold for local youths at state level and we are not bound by what has been decided at Federal level. I have mentioned this to our media friends during the sidelines of an event in Limbang recently because for now, Sarawak’s definition of youth remains between the ages of 15 and 40.

I have also mentioned that by reducing the age limit abruptly, there would be implications because presently there are many programmes which are offered and undertaken by various local government ministries as well as agencies to support youth development.

There are many potential applicants and participants who would be affected if the age limit was lowered suddenly. Many individuals at that age may also have just completed their studies and if we were to bring the cut-off limit to below 40, they may no longer be eligible to apply for funding and assistances. Thus, that is why we are keeping the current youth age policy in place for Sarawak.

The Federal Government through Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia had recently announced that the implementation of the new youth age cap of 30 effective January 1 next year, under the Youth Societies and Youth Development (Amendment) Act 2019. The present national youth age limit remains at 40 until the new policy will officially be enforced.

Launching of "Serumpun Sarawak" at Le Meridien hotel in Kuala Lumpur

The recent launch of “Serumpun Sarawak” at Le Meridien hotel in Kuala Lumpur on July 10 is set to showcase our ingenious culinary heritage and unique cultural identity to the world. It gave me great pleasure to grace the launching ceremony and press conference to announce the staging of the forthcoming exciting event in Osaka, Japan on August 5 to 8 and followed by Mulu, Miri in October. In my speech, I have commended both Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and our Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP) for undertaking the initiative that will be curated by the international chef, James Won who is also a well known gastronomy chef with the collaboration from Alas Collective. 

On the world stage, many will be interested in “Serumpun Sarawak” to be held in Osaka, Japan and to be hosted at Seaside Caso as part of the coming World Expo 2025 there. Part of our programme there will include introduction to Sarawak’s local indigenous cuisines , food tasting and cultural performances on various ethnicities that we have back home. 

Moving forward, the event will be held in Mulu next taking place at UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mulu National Park. The event will showcase among others the blend of indigenous culinary practices, ecological awareness and cultural narratives. It will reflect the initiative’s emphasis on sustainability and local empowerment. For the record, the “Serumpun Sarawak” event is supported by local collaborators who include Earthlings Coffee Workshop, Tanoti Crafts, The Tuyang Initiative and Culinary Heritage & Arts Society Sarawak (CHASS). We hope the event in Mulu will highlight not only the indigenous ingredients while empowering our local communities and promoting Sarawak as a leading cultural and culinary destination in this part of the world. We also hope the inaugural event will soon become a good avenue for connection, resilience and transformation as it stamps another significant and economic milestones for us folks in Sarawak.

Dismissing the allegations by opposition members during the special sitting session at our Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN)

I thank our media friends who had seek my comments on the allegations of gerrymandering by certain Opposition members during the special sitting of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill, 2025 which was passed during a special sitting of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) at the DUN Complex in Petra Jaya. The passing of the new bill will pave way for an increase in the number of state constituencies from the existing 82 to 99. I have mentioned to our media friends that such allegations are “slanderous and demeaning” to the impartiality of the Election Commission (EC).

Our State Government or this August House has no say whatsoever on where the delineation of the new 17 seats will be. The EC is the only authority empowered to do so under Article 113 of the Federal Constitution. During the debate session, the opposition members from Pending and Padungan had raised their concerns on the timing and financial implications of the seat increase, claiming it to be politically motivated. I have personally dismissed these claims, asserting that the expansion aligns with federal and state constitutional provisions and is long overdue, given that the last redelineation was conducted a decade ago in 2015.

I have also drew a comparison with a recent move by the Welsh Parliament, which had increased its constituencies from 60 to 96 which is a 60 per cent rise. In contrast, Sarawak’s proposed increase of 20 per cent is both reasonable and necessary. Sarawak is about six times the size of Wales, and our populations are comparable which is 2.9 million here versus 3.16 million in Wales. If they saw fit to increase their representation, there is no reason why Sarawak should not do the same,.

I have expressed confidence that the move would eventually facilitate an increase in parliamentary seats for Sarawak; part of the state’s long-standing demand for greater representation in the Dewan Rakyat, in line with the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). With this increase in state seats, if Parliament were to consider increasing the number of parliamentary constituencies later, it would be easier for the EC to align the federal and state delineation processes.