Celebrating this year's Maal Hijrah on a modest scale

This year's Maal Hijrah celebration was held on a modest scale and was graced by our Head of State, Tun Pehin Sri Dr Haji Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar who was accompanied by his wife, Toh Puan Sri Fauziah Mohd Sanusi. Also present at this event was our Right Honourable, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg, Premier of Sarawak who is also accompanied by his wife, Puan Sri Datuk Amar Hajjah Juma'ani Tun Tuanku Haji Bujang.

There were 1,500 of our local folks who had attended the event which saw the presentation of awards to 14 recipients including non-governmental organisations (NGO). The awards include research & development achievement award; Muslim civil servant award; non-Muslim civil servant award; exemplary youth award and best Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia student award.  

hashtahe event was graced by Hi Excellency Tun Pehin Sri Dr. Haji Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar, hashtag

Visiting Singapore's Old Ford Factory at Bukit Timah Road

Our recent visit to Singapore’s Old Ford Factory had given us good insights into the rich history of the nation’s national monument which was restored by National Archives of Singapore to showcase the World War II (WWII) and its legacies.

The facility was first established by Ford Motor Company at Anson Road in 1926 and had moved to its new state-of-the-art factory located at Upper Bukit Timah Road in October 1941. It is of great pride to all Singaporeans because it was Ford’s first motorcar assembly plant in Southeast Asia.

It is interesting to note that the facility had become one of Singapore's tourism attractions including the younger generation. Serving as a war museum, the facility is serving as an invaluable educational resource avenue that can contribute to the preservation of historical facts and records.

For our young folks, such facility can serve to promote peace and understanding as well as to cultivate of responsible citizenship. Young folks can learn a lot from from the past and with ample facts in their hands, they can become world citizens who are better equipped to build a more peaceful and harmonious future.

Meeting Singapore's Minister of Manpower and Second Minister of Trade

It gave us great pleasure to have met His Honourable Mr Tan Seng Lee, Singapore's Minister of Manpower and Second Minister for Trade & Industry at his esteemed office recently.

Our heartfelt thanks to him for having spent time in receiving our courtesy visit which was also attended by YB Datuk Snowdan Lawan, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP) and Datu Sherrina Hussaini, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry.

We spoke on many things of mutual interest and there are certainly areas for potential collaborations between our ministries which will bring positive impacts to both countries. As Sarawak's Minister of Youth, Sports & Entrepreneur Development (MYSED), I have mentioned programmes which had been organised over years that are aimed at our younger generation.

Capacity building is another important thing which must be thought for the future manpower to be ever ready in assuming their roles as nation builders who must be resilient and are able to tackle multitude of challenges face on. Our youthful manpower must be equipped with skills, knowledge and values necessary to contribute positively to their communities and nation at large.

Technical viist to Singapore's National Heritage Board (NHB)

Our thanks to Singapore's National Heritage Board (NHB) for having received our delegation members who are on the technical visit to the island nation from July 2 to 5.

It is indeed a pleasure to have our counterparts from NHB and the goal of thel visit is to gain insights into the various aspects of arts museum and gallery management. Our engagement with NHB will enable us to understand the set-up, planning, implementation, and management processes. T

Our delegation was impressed with NHB's works and we also aims to adopt the best practices that may be applicable to the development of the forthcoming Sarawak Arts Museum, Sarawak Arts Gallery and RASCOM Museum. 

There are potential areas for us to collaborate with NHB especially in areas related the preservation, promotion, and management of Singapore’s cultural and historical heritage.

Giving our thumbs up to media friends for their tremendous support to Rainforest World Music Festival

Our heartfelt appreciation to our media friends who had joined us in this year's Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF2024) at Sarawak Cultural Village and gave their tremendous support to the event by providing extensive news coverage in all mainstream and social media platforms.

They were with us throughout the three-day event and were among the last to leave the venue when the lights were out. I have informed them that the crowd's attendance for this year's event had surpassed our expectation and the total turnout was 26,000 people.

Much of the increase in crowd's turnout was due to the presence of Grammy and Golden Globe award winner Kitaro, renowned worldwide for his electronic-instrumental music. The 27th edition of the RWMF was themed Evolution and had featured a lineup of 20 exciting acts, including 68 international musicians from 14 countries across six continents, alongside 63 Malaysian artists.