Getting our folks to complete their vaccination next August before the forthcoming Sarawak's election (PRN)

Last Tuesday, I have responded to the statement made by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, YB Khairy Jamaluddin who stated that Sarawak was considering using a vaccine brand in line with our government’s goal of getting its residents to complete their vaccination next August before the forthcoming state election (PRN).

I thank our media friends from MalaysiaNow who contacted me yesterday to get my response on this matter and it is no secret that Sarawak’s PRN will be held soon where we are the only one to run a separate PRN from the general election (GE).

I also stated that the Sarawak Government intends to complete its vaccination program next August in order to facilitate the implementation of our PRN possibly within 60 days after the state assembly is scheduled to be dissolved in June.

The Sarawak government must complete its vaccination program so that it can avoid the spike of Covid-19 cases which happened in the Sabah’s elections held last year. Apart from that, only the emergency order can postpone the election or change the situation as well as add that the current emergency order that will expire on August 1.

So, if the current emergency postpones the DUN sitting, then it cannot be dissolved on June 6, when the term of office officially ends. It will automatically be dissolved after the emergency ends on August 1. Presently, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) holds 68 seats out of a total of 82 seats comprising Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Parti Demokratik Progresif (PDP).

Kudos to PEMADAM Sarawak for their Bubur Lambuk program

I take my hats off to PEMADAM Sarawak for their initiatives in organising their "Bubur Lambuk" program which had benefited 1,000 recipients in Kuching and in Asajaya district. I also thank them for inviting me to grace the handing over ceremony which was held at the lobby of my office at Level 17, Baitul Makmur II building in Petra Jaya. The program is the first of its kind to be organised by PEMADAM Sarawak and it is aimed to build rapport with the targeted groups especially our local youths who must be alerted on the dangers of drugs and substance abuse.

I also appreciate the support from our partners namely those from Agensi Anti-Dadah Kebangsaan (AADK), Pengasih Malaysia, Kuching Resident Office, Sarawak Education Department and many more for their cooperation in making this year's program a success. Also present during the handing over ceremony were PEMADAM Sarawak's Deputy Chairman, YB Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali who is also our Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring, the director of AADK Sarawak, Encik Wan Madihi and representatives from various recipients. 

In my welcoming speech, I have mentioned on the importance of PEMADAM Sarawak in reaching out to its constituents and the target groups especially youths who are in need of proper guidance from all of us as they enter maturity. Members of our community must be aware on the dangers of drugs and substance abuse which can lead to moral decay as well as the destruction of a society when left to its devices.

 

Calling our youths to apply for "Sarawak Youth Creative Industry Fund (SYCIF)"

Recently I have called on our youths to be involved in arts and culture in which they can apply for funds from Sarawak Youth Creative Industry Fund (SYCIF) to develop their talents as well as to add value to their programmes.

The fund was set up in 2018 and was aimed to assist youths in organising arts and culture programmes, particularly music, film, drama and theatre. It is open to Sarawakians and Malaysians aged 15 to 40, who can apply as individuals, groups or associations.

I have mentioned these to our media friends after our recent meeting with Sarawak’s Youth Development Committee and the fund is not meant for them (youths) to undertake business or entrepreneurship purposes. Back in 2019, the fund received 16 applications of which only five were approved with a total sum of RM230,000.

Despite facing the Covid-19 pandemic, we still received 44 applications of which 26 were approved with total funds given were RM661,733. As for 2021, we received 54 applications with 11 approved, amounting to RM220,200. The application form is available on the Youth and Sports Ministry’s website at www.myss.sarawak.gov.my

The Ministry of Youth and Sports Sarawak had planned to undertake 56 programmes for our youths and another 41 sports programmes for the year 2021 but out of this, and until now, we only managed to organise seven. Hence, we hope to be able to organise the others later this year after more Sarawakians are getting vaccinated. 

Catching up with members of Sarawak Motorsports Association (SMA) and their concerns on illegal racing

Big thanks to Sarawak Mo­tor­sports As­so­ci­a­tion (SMA) led by its pres­i­dent, Dato Sri Ah­mad Dato Ibrahim who led del­e­ga­tion to pay a cour­tesy call to my office at Ban­gu­nan Baitul­mak­mur II in Pe­tra Jaya on April 19. During the visit, they re­lated to me con­cerns re­gard­ing il­le­gal and dan­ger­ous rac­ing and hence, Sarawak needs a proper rac­ing cir­cuit “com­plete with safety as­pects.

Dato Sri Ah­mad Ibrahim had also de­scribed mo­tor­sports as one of the most pop­u­lar sports in the coun­try and among the ba­sic needs of the in­dus­try are fa­cil­i­ties such as rac­ing cir­cuits that are com­plete with safety as­pects. According to him, there is a very high de­mand from mo­tor­sports fans and com­mu­nity in Sarawak for us to have a com­plete rac­ing cir­cuit or track fa­cil­ity and can be a plat­form for the devel­op­ment of this sport.

Dato Sri Ah­mad, who is also Padawan Mu­nic­i­pal Coun­cil deputy chair­man, added that apart from rac­ing fa­cil­i­ties, knowl­edge or tech­nique of ve­hi­cle han­dling skills is also an im­por­tant as­pect for some­one who wants to be in­volved in the field of mo­tor­sports which is full of chal­lenges and high risks. He had com­ment­ed on a re­cent accident in the park­ing area of the Sarawak Sta­dium in Petra Jaya which was used as a place for mo­tor­sports fans to race. 

SMA had taken this is­sue se­ri­ously and as you know, this is not the first in­ci­dent that oc­curred in the area in which among the main rea­sons is that the area is a park­ing lot and not a rac­ing cir­cuit. In ad­di­tion to that, there is no safety as­pects are im­ple­mented and there is no su­per­vi­sion from cer­ti­fied race of­fi­cers or mar­shals in the area.

GPS should not be dragged into the quarrel between DAP and PAS

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is distancing itself from the spat over electoral boundaries which PAS recently had said are skewed and unfair to predominantly Malay states. I was asked by our media friends to comment on GPS' stand and I have mentioned that we should not be dragged into the quarrel between DAP and PAS. This had evolved after DAP secretary-general, YB Lim Guan Eng had accused us in the Sarawak ruling coalition of betraying Sarawakians by backing Perikatan Nasional (PN) alongside the Islamist party. 

Both DAP and PAS used to be bed partners in Pakatan Rakyat and they should know each other well. "Leave GPS and Bornean parties out of their squabble.” was my response to YB Lim’s comment that GPS, alongside non-Malay parties such as MCA and MIC, should be answerable for any move to redraw electoral borders along racial and religious lines.

This also came on the back of a statement by a PAS leader that the current electoral boundaries are skewed and unfair to predominantly Malay states, citing the number of parliamentary seats represented by Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Pahang. PAS’ Khairuddin Aman Razali had also proposed that the boundaries be redrawn so that the states are better representated in the federal legislative. YB Lim reportedly said that proposal amounted to apartheid and a denial of non-Muslim rights. I have dismissed the talk by saying the Election Commission (EC) has its own way of carving out electoral boundaries. No isolated opinion from PAS leaders will change that, and Guan Eng need not lower himself so low to debate on an issue he knows is isolated and not the stand of all Malaysians.