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Tamparuli Sabah - A place to visit

Tamparuli Sabah was known as an old town rich with cultural value and fascinating places. The town located in the middle of Tuaran District, 36KM from the main city of Kota Kinabalu, easy to be found and a lot of surprises waiting for the visitors. The visitor will be fascinated with The Extreme Para Gliding Sport, The legendary of “Bukit Perahu”, Hatob-hatob Waterfall, Hanging Bridge and The Old Suspension Bridge Made by the British in the early 50s, The one and only "The Upside House Of Borneo" and Chantek Borneo Gallery if you visit Tamparuli Sabah. ( Please read more inside this website). For local tourist who likes to travel outside Malaysia, you can e-mail to D7tours and Travel Co through Harry.george@gmail.com. For International tourist who wish to visit Sabah The Land Below The Wind, you can e-mail or call to our correspondent travel agency:

______________________________________________________________________________
D7-TRAVEL AND TOURS-Registered Travel and Tours Co
IGNATIUS@ BOP JUANIS
H/p: 016-8121702

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"Please Subscribe, Likes, Shares and Comments for my Official Youtube Channel" and Continuing support my Vlog.. Stay Safe!!!

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Harry George











Blackout - KKIA

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Malaysia Airports clarifies on the runway lighting incident at Kota Kinabalu International Airport

The closure of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Thursday, 25th October 2012 at 6.26 pm lasted until 9.30 pm Friday 26th October 2012

Approximately 6,000 passengers were stranded at the KKIA and other destinations in Malaysia as well as international flights, involving almost 40 flights

Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha

Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman

This is the official statement of the incident by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, MAHB.

On 25 October 2012 at 5.40pm, during normal runway inspection, the staff doing the inspection found that the runway lights were dim and not up to the required brightness. At 6.10pm the air traffic controller confirmed that the lights were dim.

As such, due to safety reasons, immediate action was taken by MAHB to request that the runway be closed for further investigation of the runway lights. All airlines were immediately informed of this closure.

The engineers straight-away proceeded to inspect all the runway lighting cables and suspected that the dim lights could be due to electrical current leakage in the old cables which are in the process of being replaced by the contractor. This is part of the overall upgrading of the airport facilities including terminal, runway, taxiway and apron under the Redevelopment Project of KKIA undertaken by the government to provide capacity for growth in air travel.

Efforts were made to identify the points of leakage in the 12 km cables. This process of identifying and rectifying the leakages took time. At 6am on 26 October 2012, all rectification works had to stop to allow the runway to be used for daylight operations which do not require runway lighting.

In the meantime, the sub-contractor was requested to immediately complete the installation of the new cables and lightings. However they could only commence work after the closure of the runway for night operations after 6pm. No work is allowed to be done on the runway during operations due to safety reasons.

As a contingency, it was decided that portable lights from various airports including TUDM be shipped to Kota Kinabalu. These portable lights were scheduled to arrive on flights prior to sunset to enable night operations on 26 October 2012. However, the arrival was hampered by bad weather. The full compliment of portable lights only arrived at 8.00pm. As a result of this the airport had to be closed for night operations from 6pm to 10pm.

However, the sub-contractor for the installation of the new cables and runway lights managed to connect and light-up the runway lights to enable the runway to be operational by 9.30 pm. The portable lights were therefore not required to be used.

The runway was declared safe for operations at 9.30pm on 26 October 2012 and was opened for commercial night flight operations. With the installation of this new cables and runway lightings and with the provision of back-up runway circuit, the operations are now running smoothly.

The number of flights affected in terms of diversion, delay and cancellation is 51 flights for the two nights. A total of 6,000 passengers were affected.

MAHB would like to thank Department of Civil Aviation, TUDM, Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia and other airlines for their support and cooperation during this critical period. Throughout the entire incident MAHB’s focus and priority was to minimize the disruption to the airlines and passengers, and everything possible was done to bring the runway to full operations as soon as possible. 

Any inconvenience caused to airlines and passengers as a result of this is deeply regretted. MAHB would like to assure that with this new installation, operations are now running smoothly.

Meanwhile Malaysia's Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman were enraged.

Datuk Seri Musa Aman said :

This incident should not have happened. The problem should not have taken so long to fix. It has inconvenienced thousands of travellers and may possibly have affected Sabah's image as a tourist destination. The State Cabinet is expecting a full report from MAB and measures to be taken to ensure that this doesn't happen again in the future.

Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha's official press statement on the incident :

RUNWAY BLACKOUT IN KOTA KINABALU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KKIA) WILL BE INVESTIGATED

PUTRAJAYA 27 OCTOBER 2012- The reasons behind the blackout of the KKIA airport runway last Thursday will be thoroughly investigated according to Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha, Minister of Transport, Malaysia. Due the blackout many flights were postponed and cancelled, Kong was extremely upset with the whole situation that had caused a lot of uneasiness and anger among passengers who had planned their long weekend to celebrate Hari Raya Haji with their families and loved ones.

Kong firmly stated that no one would be spared based on the findings of the investigation with regards to this occurrence. Stern action will be taken on the careless party, whoever they maybe, individuals, local authorities or the airport operator. If there are elements of sabotage in the outcome of the investigation, then, a police report will be made and the case will then be handled by the police.

Kong reiterated that nobody will be protected in this occurrence, action will be taken on the party responsible for this situation. Her also urged the airport operator to ensure Emergency Response Plans (ERP) are in place so that occurrences like this do not repeat itself.

All the best SABAH.

Sources: Bebek Godomon

Please Leave Us with a Harmony Religion



P'sula politicians must not disrupt religious harmony in Borneo 
By: Francil Paul Siah 

NASHARUDDIN Mat Isa is probably an unknown name in Sarawak.
He is also no longer a PAS heavyweight but a party renegade.

But Nasharuddin has carved a name for himself in political and religious circles in the peninsula.

He is the former deputy president of PAS and the serving Bachok MP.

He was said to be the prodigy of the late Fadzil Mohd Nor who was PAS President from 1989 until his death in 2002.

Fadzil was a known moderate in an Islamic party and he went on an ambitious drive to promote young professionals in the party.

Nasharuddin was one of them.

When Abdul Hadi Awang took over as PAS President in 2002, Nasharuddin's star continued to shine as the new boss also found him to be a capable and energetic lieutenant.

Nasharuddin was soon appointed Secretary-General of PAS and by 2005, he was elected deputy president.

However, Nasharuddin's political career took a nosedive following the resurgence of Pakatan Rakyat after the 2008 general election.

He was said to be one of the few PAS leaders keen on unity talks with Umno. Naturally, this did not endear him to the wider spectrum of the opposition alliance and the Pakatan die-hards in PAS.

I wouldn't be focusing on an 'irrelevant' personality like Nasharuddin here if he has not made a preposterous statement about Sarawak politics.

He has alleged that a group had prayed for the establishment of a Christian nation during a thanksgiving event after the Sarawak election last year.

Nasharuddin said this in his working paper that was read out during a National Islamic Missionary Movement Seminar at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

These are strong allegations. Those who were offended immediately slammed Nasharuddin, describing his remarks as "gutter politics", rubbish and lies. I am concerned that he was given such a prominent platform to make those uncalled for allegations.

Politicians are adept at making used of controversies to get noticed.

I think it is Nasharuddin the politician and not the Islamic cleric who came up with the sweeping statements.

There is genuine religious harmony in Sarawak and there is no religious extremism or fanaticism in the state. This is something Sarawakians are very proud of.

Today, let me respectfully ask Nasharuddin not to try to export his religious extremism into Sarawak. Muslims and Christians in Sarawak are a different breed.

We have never experienced any difficulty among ourselves before and I don't think we ever will.

This is something uniquely Sarawakian and only we Sarawakians can comprehend.

Please don't contaminate our beloved state with your religious extremism.

DAP is not known for its religious forte. It has never been a religious-based party.

The party's first attraction was socialism. Then the party flashed its hard hitting brand of democratic ideals which caught on with Malaysians, particularly the Chinese.

Along the way, racialism and chauvinism sadly but inevitably crept in.

But the party prevailed through all these decades primarily due to its political astuteness and consistencies coupled with strong leadership and staunch grassroots. These are the hallmarks of the DAP.

Since its entry in Sarawak in 1978, none of its key state leaders were known to have strong religious backgrounds.

Even if they did, they never revealed it. Although some are Christians, they have not used their faith as a vote-catching mechanism.

Neither have they harped on religious rhetoric in electoral campaigns.

In a nutshell, it would not be wrong to say that Sarawak DAP never has had a Christian flavour or fervour.

Their leaders do not politicise religion. So Nasharuddin's allegations can be dispelled outright in a single swoop.

Let me say this again. Muslims and Christians in Sarawak have no problem with each other and indeed those of other faiths too.

There are no religious bigots in Sarawak.

To those holier-than-thou radicals and extremists in West Malaysia who think they are the only true champions of God, Allah, Tuhan, Yahweh etc, please make an effort to learn from Sarawakians - the so-called backward Borneo people who practise their faith solemnly in quiet hope and peace, never uttering a single negative word against those of a different religion.

You'll be surprised that the Heavenly One loves Sarawakians just as much, if not more.

So Nasharuddin Mat Isa, the next time you have something negative to say about Christianity and Sarawak, please use your head - the one on your shoulders!


A Changes From Petronas Royalty to Sabah



Petronas must be kidding 
By: True Sabahan 
PETRONAS recently came up with some very lame excuses including the diminishing assets and/or maturing fields' arguments to hoodwink the people of East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak).
For many decades now East Malaysians have been treated like simpletons to believe that our oil fields are running dry. With new technology especially in exploration and drilling, our potential oil reserves are a lot more than we are being made to believe.

Shell had been in existence in Borneo since they discovered their first oil well in Miri, the Grand Old Lady, in 1910. For decades, Shell had been extracting oil and gas from landfields to offshore fields all over Borneo.

Many foreign petroleum companies continue to exploit and explore the rich petroleum natural resources of Borneo to the deep waters in the South China Sea.

With decades of exploitation and production, the Royal Dutch Shell grew over the years to become a giant as the No.1 Fortune Global 500 companies in the world with an asset value of US$345 billion and 2011 total revenue of US$485 billion and profit of US$31 billion. Shell continues to exist until today making Miri its regional headquarters for Asia/Pacific - more than a century since its first oil well in the world.

One day, the Malaysian politicians got smart and came up with the Petroleum Act 1974 that gave birth to Petronas - an Act of Parliament that nationalised the petroleum assets of Malaysia.

By this act, all petroleum companies operating in Malaysia became Production Sharing Contractors (PSC) that limits their extraction of petroleum resources after discovery with certain terms and conditions.

By the Petroleum Act 1974, Petronas equipped with the PSC picked up step by step from Shell from the Baram Delta to Semarang and all other fields throughout Sabah and Sarawak. Shell, without the petroleum rich assets, gradually scaled down the workforce and maintained only their essential and core employees. Shell finally decided to sell and demolish the small refinery in Miri.

From 1974, Petronas grew to become another giant product of East Malaysia - the No. 68 Forture Global 500 companies in the world with an asset value of about RM500 billion and 2012 total revenues of US$97 billion and profits of US$22 billion. Petronas grew from strength to strength over the years.

At one time, Petronas Twin Tower proudly held the Guinness Book of Record's as the tallest twin tower in the world. Today, Petronas is in the Formula 1 Grand Prix calendar and is an international brand name.

There are numerous more mentions and accolades of Petronas nationally and internationally.

The making of Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas from our petroleum resources sounds fantastic.

Even though Petronas has been making profits for decades now, Sabah and Sarawak do not have RM500 billion worth of "bacon" in reserves to be proud of unlike Petronas assets. Even though Sabah and Sarawak accounted for 80 percent of Malaysia's petroleum production that contributes to 40 per cent of the Federal Government annual revenue - and I am not even talking about other resources such as oil palm and timber, shamefully, Sabah is among the poorest states in Malaysia.

Brunei pales in comparison to Sabah and Sarawak but Brunei has no foreign debt and Brunei $1 is equal to RM2.50+. In the 70's B$1 equaled M$1. Brunei is wise enough to invest and get valuable returns from the petroleum money and be able to provide their citizens with many goodies that Sabahans may not have heard of or let alone expect.

Our crude oil is "light sweet crude oil" which is of a higher grade than crude oil extracted from Middle East countries which are "heavy sour crude" due to their high sulphur content.

With the revenue we are getting from our oil and gas Sabahans should not have to pay income tax just like the citizens of Brunei, and our youths should not have to fight for a place and pay for their higher education.

Education should be free for all Sabahans!

With the revenue we are getting from our oil and gas the Petronas twin towers should have been located in Kota Kinabalu (not that we need it.

We do not need props to boost our ego or lack of self confidence as we already know that we are as good and as capable as anybody)

After more than a century of explorations, exploitation, development and extraction of our valuable petroleum resources in East Malaysia, where do all these leave us? Who can be held accountable for the "petroleum resources drain" from our fields? As it stands now we won't even be able to "smell" the oil before it is piped to Bintulu for refining.

Why are the refineries not built in Sabah? What can we expect from now on into the future?

Those and many more questions arise for the special committee appointed by Prime Minister Najib to study the issue before submitting its proposal to the Federal Government.

Najib only targeted the study for the eastern states of West Malaysia (Terengganu and Kelantan) as if its an "election lip service" because it was announced so close to the 13th General Election.

In fairness, Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers jumped in at the right time to ask to be included in the study. Otherwise, for decades now, nothing has been done more about the 5 per cent royalty.

To-date, it has never been officially and publicly announced how the 5 per cent royalty is derived and accounted for from the actual production and accounting.

The people of Sabah and Sarawak do not know what happened to the 5 per cent that we get from the petroleum revenue from Petronas and/or the Federal Government. From the figures obtained from the internet, 5pc of the net revenue amounts to about 1.10 billion ringgit.

The other question for Sabah is, "Why does the government decide to spend billions to install a pipeline to Bintulu a distance of some 500km?" Is there insufficient land to build a refinery and storage tanks for petroleum in Sabah?

Why is there no refinery in East Malaysia as two of the biggest petroleum producing states of Malaysia when a small refinery in Miri was sold and demolished by Shell? What justifications are there to build refineries and petro-chemical plants in Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan which do not produce petroleum?

For East Malaysian, how can Petronas continue to bully us into accepting their lame explanations that the fields are depleting, maturing and other excuses only fit for kids (after more than a century Shell is here to stay and still making money)? It is now time for the people of Sabah and Sarawak to stand firm and not accept any excuses and vie for change.

They kept taking away all our precious resources (petroleum, timber, oil palm, et cetera) and gave us back pittance. For example, election after election for almost half a century we heard about the Pan Borneo Highway to link Sabah and Sarawak but until today we have to drive patiently through Brunei as if our patience will last forever, not to mention the deplorable condition of the 'highway' to Kudat.

When the World Bank last year reported that we are among the poorest of Malaysia states, within months they said we have recovered as if "Rome was built in one day". Our petroleum resources are valuable; and so are our votes for the 13th General ElectionÉ




Endanger Orangutan In Sabah

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Sabah fights lonely battle to save Orangutan 
By: Kan Yaw Chong 

SABAH feels absolutely alone and abandoned by every Government near and far in the contentious issue of Orangutan conservation, high ranking State officials burst out in frustration at the end of the two-day Sabah Orangutan Conservation Dialogue (SOCD) last Thursday. Tengku Datuk Dr Zainal Adlin, Chairman of the Sabah Tourism Board, and Datuk Dr Larentius Ambu, Director of Wildlife Department Sabah, both criticised the Indonesian and Sarawak governments as well as the Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Putrajaya for their total lack of support over a bread and butter issue for the RM5 billion Sabah Tourism industry.
They are also riddled with international controversy with vocal accusations against the palm oil industry for threatening this man-like animal with possible extinction.

Although a good cross section of international orangutan experts, foreign NGOs, State Government department officers and key personality in the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Chairman, Tan Sri Shihrir Abdul Samad, took active part in discussions, no official representatives from Indonesia, Sarawak and the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia ever responded to earnest invitations, fumed Dr Larentius while Tengku Adlin joined the protest in a post-dinner interview.

Ministry of Natural Resources refused o come "On the Malaysian Government side, we extended an invitation to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to present a paper on the situation of Orangutan Management and Conservation but they refused to come," Dr Laurentius said.

"So, what is the Malaysian agenda on the Orangutan, we don't know," he added.

This has put the Sabah Wildlife Department in an awkward situation, Larentius complained.

"There is a Great Ape Survival Group who approached us because the Orangutan are found only in Malaysia (especially Sabah) and Indonesia but we can't say yes or no and so we sent our request to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment at the Federal level to state what is our stand but they never answered," Dr Laurentius said.

Adlin: What's the national stand on orangutan? Tengku Adlin chipped in his displeasure with this complete silence and incommunicado: " Sabah cannot represent Malaysia because we are only a State, not the whole nation , which is very fundamental but I want to know what is the role of the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the orangutan and what is the national stand on this because you must have a national policy," Tengku said.

Sarawak shows also the same utter disinterest.

They never come.

Laurentius: We don't know what Indonesia is thinking Indonesia was represented by an NGO which showed disturbing images of displaced, gravely injured orangutans and outright killed individuals allegedly by forest clearance by plantations , 40pc of which involved Malaysian Companies .

"We are glad we managed to get one Indonesian NGO to talk about whatever happened in Indonesia but I wished there was an Indonesian official here, that there could have been a balanced story of what's happening because we would like to hear what the Indonesian Government think of the Orangutan, since Malaysian and Indonesia are the only two range countries for the animals, " Dr. Laurentius pointed out.

In the face of such gnawing absence of big-brother support, Sabah, given a stock of population of only 11,000 endangered animals, is left to set up the Sabah Orangutan Conservation Alliance - one entity comprising the State Wildlife Department, NGOs, plantation companies etc to take responsibility to conserve and manage of the threatened primate.

Abandoned Sabah forging ahead But even being abandoned as a lone ranger, Sabah did its best to put the act together to save the charismatic mega species and the latest orangutan dialogue is but a part of that undaunted effort, Laurentius said.

"Since 2003, we have been talking about the Sumatran rhino, the Pygmy elephant and the Orangutan conservation," he said.

"So, we had three action plans. One for the rhino, one for the elephants and one for the orangutan and we had already started with the action plan for the rhino, as Malaysia is chairman of the Global Rescue and Management of Captive Rhino Breeding Programme and now, we are going into the Action Plan for Orangutan," Laurentius explained where the Sabah Orangutan Dialogue fit into the picture.

"This is why we would like to hear what are the comments of the stakeholders on our action plan," he said. "The last colloquium concluded that Sabah needs a body to conserve and manage the remaining population of orangutan and now we are coming to a concrete decision or recommendation on a Sabah Orangutan Conservation Alliance to find out what all players of orangutan would want or like to see happen," Laurentius said.

"If they say it should be a separate entity from the Government, so be it. If it is an entity of the Government plus the NGOs, then we'll do it," he said.

The problem with a Government related committee is a situation where the budget may not be easily forthcoming or spent, according to him.

"This is why some of the conservation NGOs say we need a separate entity so that we can really do our fund raising," Laurentius added .

There are problems butÉ

"There are problems facing our orangutan, we know what the gaps are and what the solutions look like based on the studies done so far and we want to see orangutan conservation in Sabah is achieved," he said.

"We are going to see one entity responsible for orangutan conservation and management, comprising the Government, NGOs, companies, plantations because it is a common responsibility steered by the Wildlife Department so that we are ultimately answerable," Laurentius said.

But many people remain ambivalent about the future of the orangutan, in face of an aggressively cash motivated oil palm industry and feeble interest generally.

"I think our orangutan have a future," Laurentius asserted.

"We have been working with different primatologists, different primate groups, we have studied the orangutan, I am glad to know a lot of knowledgeable people are sharing whatever they know at a biennial dialogue like this to update each other," he pointed out. Shahrir: MPOB to push Orangutan protection at plantation level The Malaysian Palm Oil Board - supervisor and regulator of the industry, has expressed a "clear interest" to make sure oil palm plantations are implementing conservation at the landscape or plantation level, said Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad , Chairman of MPOB, who sat through the two-day Sabah Orangutan Dialogue at Rasa Ria Resort, Oct 24-25.

"As the agency that supervises an regulates the oil palm industry, our interest in the role of oil palm companies is we have to implement the best management practices as developed by the Round Table Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Shahrir said.

"We have expressed a clear interest to make sure oil palm plantations are implementing conservation at the landscape or plantation level," he noted.

"This means we have to educate estate owners, estate managers, estate workers to implement and adhere to the Wildlife Protection Act so that it is part of the every day practice," he told Daily Express.

"There will be education in the form of workshops, posters etc telling workers and management what they should do at their premises to leave wildlife alone, report to Wildlife Department so that there are a records of their presence and I just want to make sure it is cascaded down to the plantation level," Shahrir promised .

Can MPOB make a difference? But can the MPOB make a real difference to the conservation of Orangutan in Sabah?

"We can do that at the plantation level, and also because RSPO practices also include conservation at the plantation level," he said.

"For example, when it comes to riparian reserve, if they have planted the riparian reserve with oil palm, they should not fertilise it any more, they should just leave them alone, they can harvest it if there are fruits but do not promote the growth of the plants to allow sunlight (by trimming the fronds) to come down to open sunlight to promote the growth of natural vegetation instead," Shahrir said.

"RSPO insists on compliance and respect for riparian reserves," Shahrir said.

"For example, in Lower Kinabatangan, RSPO members mark trees on the river banks so they don't put any more fertilisers on those trees , allow them to die or allow them to find their own level and that means there is no fertiliser runoffs to the rivers and that's happening.

I have seen one or two plantations that I have visited in Lower Kinabatangan and it's part of RSPO best practices and these companies have to comply."

"But we have to cascade this down so that at the management and the supervisor levels, they understand this but not just that, they need to respect wildlife so that if they see orangutan, even though they are eating palm shoots, leave them alone, don't harm them and don't consider them as pests, as RSPO is quite strong on that in terms of practices," Shahrir said.

Why fly in from Paris for Dialogue Shahrir actually flew in all the way from Paris to attend the dialogue.

Why is he taking such big personal interest?

"Because I have travelled all over the world, such as Europe, to associations of zoos, I have been to Australia, talking to world association of zoos there, give presentations at seminars on wildlife conservation in Sydney. I have just been to Paris talking about sustainability and conservation, and it's important to address this issue and tell the world what we are doing," he said.

While attending a seminar in Sydney, he faced protesters outside.

"We invited the protestors to come in, we allowed them to ask questions and we answered their questions and I think they were quite keen in what we are doing. But we have to do good things at the plantations, because if we don't, and we don't tell the people the world over, then they don't know what we are doing," Shahrir said.

He said he had been to Australia three times to talk about food nutritional research with members of the research organisations who became interested to know to hear about sustainability and conservation issues within the op industry , so I helped them."

"In Paris, I also gave them presentation on sustainability and conservation and even people in the food industry also came to hear because in Paris, palm oil has been labelled bad oil, so we have to address these issues," noted Shahrir , who says he believes in being open to critics .

'I am open to critics' - MPOB boss "I have no problem being open to critics because when people criticise, they may not know what's happening but they criticise less if we tell them what they may not know."

"There was a case in Australia where 20 school girls wrote to the Malaysian High Commissioner complaining about oil palm industry and conservation, so we are inviting the school to send four girls and two teachers to visit Sabah next March, to see for themselves what we are doing and what's happening because I think Sabah has shown itself to be a very good example of conservation and how they value conservation," Shahrir said .

"To me, Sabahans and the Sabah Government have done a lot. I think people from overseas who criticise oil palm and come here, they'll change their mind."

That being the case, should RSPO be enlarged from being a niche to mainstream oil palm?

"Sustainability is what it is all about," he said.

Oil palm industry getting more mindful "For the palm oil industry, already we are mindful of respecting land and adhering to land laws, labour, compensation, use of fertilisers, insecticides and equipment" Shahrir claimed.

"But the other laws we should apply to the industry is the Wildlife Protection Act," he said. .

Which means MPOB is pushing a stronger conservation agenda?

"We have set up a unit in MPOB called Sustainability Conservation and Certification Unit and this is the first time we have conservation as part of the oil palm industry," Shahrir asserted. .

"It's brand new, set up just last month, because there is no point talking and talking, we may as well do something while I am chairman.

Let's move forward, we cannot err on environment protection and conservation," he said.

The difficult part-moving forwards So, what's his impression of the Sabah Orangutan Dialogue?

"The meeting is good because in my mind too, we had already had a meeting in January this year when this Action Plan was launched."

"So I have been going around the world with this Action Plan and I have been able to tell the seminars that for example, the conservation of Class 2 Forests raised to Class 1 forests is happening in Sabah."

"That means we are moving forward but again, there is an issue of management of Action Plans and that's the difficult part because you can declare everything you want but how do you manage it?"

Make conservation part of the Malaysian Transformation Programme?

Should conservation become part of the Malaysian Transformation Programme?

"Yes, we are talking to Pemandu to see whether conservation itself can become part of even the economic transformation plan.

In fact, a representative of Pemandu was attending with us this conference and one of the seminars in Sydney, because they wanted to hear what's happening. It's just that it has to start from the State, in particular, a high priority area like the Lower Kinabatangan."

"I think any government has a responsibility to take care of sensitive environmental areas, to take care of them but there is no harm to start with an Action Plan like this and how to manage it and implement it over five years, as a project," Shahrir said.

"This is not my Action Plan but it is something I go around world with, give away to the people in the French zoos who asked for copies, because they are interested in what we are doing.

"I told them they can find all that they want to know about the orangutan in Sabah, including their numbers, their areas, and when we have this kind of plan, it means we are not in denial, we don't sweep it under the carpet, we say this is the problem but we want to do something about it."

Daily Express Newpaper

Malaysian Suicide Bomber


Malaysian 'suicide bombers' held in Lebanon


The Lebanon authorities have arrested two Malaysians, believed to be suicide bombers and suspected to be linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation.

The suspects, aged 21 and 28, were nabbed at the Beirut International Airport. Malaysian Ambassador to Lebanon Ilango Karuppannan, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed the duo were picked up several days ago but could not confirm the arrest date.

He said the embassy knew about the arrests on Friday.

"They (the suspects) were detained for suspected links to Al-Qaeda.

They will be brought to court on Monday, and we will enquire from them whether they require counsel," he said.

Karuppannan said his office had informed Wisma Putra on the case so that the foreign ministry could inform the families of the detained.

According to Lebanon's Al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday, quoting security sources, the Malaysians were detained by Lebanon's army intelligence on charges of being members of the terrorist organisation.

Investigations revealed they were recruited into Al-Qaeda by another Malaysian before being taken to Yemen where they met other members of the terror organisation.

Al-Joumhouria said, about two months ago, the two Malaysian suspects had tried to enter Syria, via Turkey, on a jihadist mission to carry out suicide attacks.

Their planned attacks were coordinated by a man, who was said to be responsible for the entry of all jihadists into Syria, said the Daily.

When the two Malaysians failed to enter Syria, they decided to head to Lebanon to carry out terrorist attacks but their activities caught the eye of the army intelligence.

The Malaysians were soon arrested and investigations revealed they were planning on contacting an individual in Lebanon to coordinate attacks.

Daily Expess

Window 8 Latest from Microsoft




See that? It's not your daddy's flip hybrid tablet -- it's the new dual-display laptop prototype from the fine people at Samsung (who may or may not be inspired by the ASUS TAICHI from three months earlier). The body of the notebook is certainly in the vein of a MacBook Air or ultrabook, with slim metal slides that taper off into a point. The palm rests, meanwhile, are a brushed metal, with black chiclet-style keys above. On the bezel above the screen is a camera.

The magic, however, doesn't happen until you close the thing, turning on a display on the hood. Yep, it's yet another attempt to capitalize on Windows 8's dual-nature. Inside, you've got a fully functioning laptop and outside you've a touchscreen tablet that, yes, utilizes everyone's favorite proprietary stylus, the S-pen, and there's also a rear facing camera on the outside. Perhaps it's all that functionality packed inside, but this prototype is certainly heavier than your standard ultrabook, and unlike most systems, a lot of that weight is located in the display -- we're sure there's a fair amount of internals located up there.

This being a prototype, the Samsung rep we spoke with had no clue on what such a device might cost or when it might come to market -- or even if this thing will ever see the light of day, so don't get your dual-hopes up just yet. The hybrid was sitting right next to the 2,560 x 1,440 Series 9 prototype we recently scoped out and in front of a wall of concepts that explore the brave new world of elastic form factors to their fullest. Check out a video and some notes on the other devices after the jump.

Slide: A sliding hinge here that adds the benefit of adjusting the angle of your display.
Binder: This one screams "typewriter," with a sliding mechanism for "various usage."
Memo PC: Yet another destination for the S-Pen, here's a small slate form factor.
Swivel Design: A thin and rugged Windows 8 laptop with a large swiveling metal hinge


Sources: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/samsung-prototype-pcs/


    Walking for health in Tamparuli Sabah



    A 'Nestle World Walking Day 2012' will be held in Tamparuli town from 6am to 11am on Oct 28 to promote wellness and a healthy lifestyle through walking.

    The 4.18km walk is being organised by the Federal Youth and Sports Department in collaboration with the Tamparuli District Office and Nestle Product Sdn Bhd Sabah.

    Nestle Products Sdn Bhd Sampling and Events Manager Tan Wallace Welliam said the event was first held in 2010 in Penampang and followed by Putatan in 2011.

    "This year with advice from the department, we decided to bring the event to Tamparuli so that people in the outskirts could also enjoy it," he said during a media conference held here, on Wednesday.

    "The walk is free and open to all, and those participating in the event can expect lots of activities and 50 lucky draw tickets on Nestle products are up for grabs for those who complete the walk," he said, adding that free breakfast would be provided courtesy of Nestle.

    "Apart from promoting a healthy lifestyle through walking, we also want to promote Nestle products which caters to those concerned about their health," he said.

    Meanwhile, Federal Youth and Sports Department (Sports Division) Assistant Director Noorman Ramlan applauded Nestle for taking the initiative to promote healthy living among the community.

    "This is in line with the government's target to have 50 per cent of the Malaysian population living a healthy lifestyle by the year 2015 and we hope this event would continue in years to come," he said, adding that Youth and Sports Assistant Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim will do the flag-off.

    Meanwhile, the department's officer, P. Ponniah, said those interested to take part can assemble at the Tun Hamdan Hall where they would be given t-shirts and lucky draw tickets.

    "They do not have to fill up any forms as we apply the touch-and-go registration, meaning all they need to do is come on that day," he said.

    On another note, he said, they recorded a total of 1,812 participants when the event was first held in Penampang in 2010 and in 2011, they recorded a total of 2,222.

    "So this year, we target at least 2,500 participants," he added.

    The World Walking Day 2012 would be held simultaneously in five other locations nationwide, namely, Putrajaya, Perak, Pahang, Johor Bahru and Sarawak.


    Dusun People Origin ( Tamparuli and Tuaran)


    The people who live in Tamparuli were mostly from Dusun ethnic. This article will be focusing on the origin of Dusun people in Tamparuli and Tuaran Sabah. What I have remembered for the past 20 years, my mother had told me that our grandfather were originate from Pinohuan somewhere in Kiulu area near to the Tambunan district. According to the history, Dusuns, Muruts and Rungus were traveler from Mongolia, where they travel thousand years ago. There have stop at The Philiphine Island and as evidence some of the word use by the Tagalog and Suluk people have same meaning with the word use by the Dusuns, Muruts and Rungus. I don't have strong evidence regarding to this matter but if do research regarding to matter, you will find it. If you travel to Mangolia or in Northen China you will found that some of the costume wear by this people really same with the costume wear by the Muruts and Rungus. As an assumption, the Dusun people have reached North Borneo and travel to Tambunan, Ranau, Tuaran, Kota Belud, Kudat and Kota Marudu. While the other ethnic of Dusuns, The Muruts travel down to Keningau, Tenom, Nabawan, Pensiangan and Sipitang. But that only my assumption. To know more about Dusun Tuaran please read below passage. 

    The Dusun People. 


    Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Kadazan ethnic group, a new unified term called "Kadazan-Dusun" was created. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. A small minority of Dusuns can also be found in Brunei where they are defined by the constitution to be one of the seven Bumiputera groups.

    It is also suggested that the word Dusun was a "name calling" given by the Sultan of Brunei. Since most parts of the west coast of Sabah were ruled by the Sultan of Brunei, The Sultan of Brunei collects taxes from the "Orang Dusun" called "Duis" which was also referred to as the "River Tax". However the "orang Dusun" that was purposely and perhaps administratively used to represent all the various ethnic groups in Sabah were simply calling themselves as being the "Kadazan (Tangaa/Papar/Rungus and ect) or Kadayan (Lotud/Liwan/Tagahas and etc Language)" because the "Kadazan or Kadayan (dialect) means "The People of the Land". Thus therefore these earlier ethnic group were called according to their ethnic groups: i.e.: Kadazan Rungus/ Kadazan Tangaa/ Kadayan Lotud/ Kadayan Maragang/ Kadazan Tatana...etc.. 

    Thus this suggests that the term Dusun was created by the Sultan of Brunei to name the
    Kadazan/Kadayan only for the purpose of administration and registration. Since in 1881 upon the introduction of the Chartered North Borneo Company, an entity that was introduced by the British Government and made their first settlement in Kudat, the northern town of the North Borneo, the Kadazan people were registered as the "Orang Dusun" following the Sultan of Brunei administration
    records. 

    Throughout 1950s the leaders of the Kadazan realizing the significant distortion of facts and the actual naming of the kadazan or Kadayan race in Sabah by the Sultan's administration. Thus in the late 1950s, the Kadazan Cultural Association (KCA) were introduced and provide pressure to the British govern to officially adopt the name "Kadazan" which means the "People of the Land" (Terms adopted from: the Council of Bobolians/Bobohizans/KDCA) as the official race in Sabah and to represent all the 32 ethnic groups of then called the "Orang Dusun". The term Kadazan was successful in uniting the Kadazans throughout Sabah. In 1963, when Sabah, formed Malaysia together with Sarawak, Singapore and the Peninsular Malaya, the term Kadazan was then officially been acknowledged by the Federation of Malaysia as one of most dominant races in Sabah, together with the Bajaus, Chinese and others. 

    The term "orang Dusun" was officially terminated administratively. The KCA continues to unite the Kadazans through the celebration of the "Tadau Kaamatan". The Kadazans were united and intermarriages were so rampant as the result of infrastructure development and isolated Kadazans were becoming educated and vocals. It was in 1984 the ideology of Dusun was brought in again and had been heavily promoted by a political party in Sabah called AKAR (Proof?). As the Kadazans were becoming more confused as the result of the historical facts about the Origin of Dusun and why Kadazans - the History of Sabah had been diluted, where the Federation of Malaysia were promoting "Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara" (One Race, One Nation) and the Historical facts learned from Schools in Sabah were diverted exclusively to the History of Malaya's Independence (31 August 1957) and Malaya Sultanate History, while little emphasis was given to the "Formation of Malaysia" the actual the 16th September 1963)and the History of Sabah, the Kadazans were basically confused politically and disunity started to crop in. 

    Almost at the same year Kadazandusun was created to pacify the Kadazans unity, and later as more and more divisions occur amongst the Kadazans, now they are also called the KDM, (in reference to Kadazan Dusun Murut); the Kadazans are also term as the "Kadus" People.... and new terms are coming in as the disunity and the confusion continues amongst the Kadazans. Kadayan Tobilung is yet to be acknowledge as being a Tobilung, same goes to the Rungus, the Lotud, the Tatana and etc.The word "Kadazan" actually not derived from the word "kedai" (meaning "shops" in Malay) but what is meant is actually the "people who live in a more modern area and not in remote places like the Dusuns". The Dusun people who live in Penampang and Papar areas were called "Dusun Tangara" while the Dusuns who live in Districts like Tambunan, Ranau and Keningau were called "Dusun Liwan". The Dusuns in Penampang and papar did not like the name Dusun because they didn't like to be called "backwards" as in the olden days Dusuns were considered backwards who live in remote areas.

    Introduction

    The ethnic group, makes up, at one time, 30% of Sabah population and are broken down into more than 30 sub-ethnic, or dialectical groups, or tribes each speaking a slightly different dialect of the Dusunic family language. They are mostly mutually understandable. The name 'Dusun' was popularized by the British colonial masters who borrowed the term from the Brunei Malays. Most Dusuns have converted to mainstream religions such as Christian and Islam although animism is still being practiced by a small group of Dusun.

    The Dusun of old traded with the coastal people by bringing their agricultural and forest produce (such as rice and amber 'damar') to exchange for salt, salted fish, and other products. The Dusun have a special term to describe this type of trading activities i.e. 'mongimbadi.' This was before the development of the railroad and road network connecting the interior with the coastal regions of Sabah. The present Tambunan-Penampang road was largely constructed based on the trading route used by the Bundu-Liwan Dusun to cross the Crocker Range on their 'mongimbadi'.

    The vast majority of Dusuns live in the hills and upland valleys and have a reputation for peacefulness, hospitality, hard work, frugality, drinking, and are averse to violence. Now they have very much been modernised and absorbed into the larger framework of the Malaysian society, taking up various occupations as government servants, and employees in the private sector, as well as becoming business owners. Many have achieved tertiary education both locally and overseas (in America, England, Australia and New Zealand).

    In their old traditional setting they use various methods of fishing, including using the juice called "tuba" derived from the roots of the "surinit" plant to poison fish in rivers.

    Dusuns are known as the Latin artists of the East, being famous in the state for love and passion for music. Their traditional dances appear attractive and gentle full of passion for life, making the Dusun culture a popular and beautiful one, and much sought by tourists to Sabah.

    Wikipedia

    State Budget 2013: RM4.088 Billion



    State Budget 2013

    Kota Kinabalu: CHIEF Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman (sixth from left) showing a copy of the Sabah State Budget 2013 to be tabled today (Friday).
    Themed "Consolidated Efforts Towards Continuous Prosperity of the People", some of the key objectives of the State Budget 2013 are to strengthen the State's financial position, to eradicate poverty and improve the people's quality of life, and to achieve balanced regional development.
    With Musa in the picture are his two Assistant Ministers, Datuk Tawfiq Titingan (fifth from left), Datuk Donald Peter Mojuntin (fourth from left) and the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Datuk Pg Hassanel Pg Haji Mohd. Tahir (seventh from left), as well as senior officials of the Ministry.
    Daily Express Newspaper.

    Dusun Bundu Oigin



    Picture and Sources from:
    Ishakgindap D'Kanju
    KANJU LONGKIAT PISOMPURUAN
    Facebook


    The coins in this picture belongs to the Sultan of Brunei and was made ​​in the year 1304. These coins was found in Pogun Kg Dusun Bundu in Libang, Tambunan. Pogun Libang believed to be the place of origin for the Dusun Bundu people. Now these people spread all over Sabah.


    skim latihan 1 malaysia


    Unit Perancang Ekonomi (EPU) dengan kerjasama JobsMalaysia.gov.my
    Tuan/puan yang dihormati;Terima kasih kerana telah mendaftar denganJobsMalaysia.gov.my untuk menyertai program Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (SL1M).
    Sekiranya tuan/puan masih berminat dan memenuhi syarat-syarat seperti yang ditetapkan.  Sila lengkapkan borang permohonan (untuk mendapatkan borang sila klik melalui pautan di bawah) beserta sijil dan dokumen yang dikehendaki dan poskan kepada pihak Sekretariat SL1M dengan kadar segera.  Mohon maklumkan kepada pihak Sekretariat sekiranya tuan/puan telah berbuat demikian.  Ini adalah bagi mempercepatkan proses kelulusan untuk syarikat mendapatkan Insentif Potongan Cukai Berganda dan Penjadualan Sesi Temuduga bagi Graduan di bawah Program SL1M.
    Untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi:
    Sekretariat Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (SL1M),
    Seksyen Pembangunan Modal Insan, Unit Perancang Ekonomi (EPU),  Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM),

    Aras 3, Blok B5, Kompleks JPM,
    62502 Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, PUTRAJAYA
    Semak syarat-syarat PESERTA: http://www.epu.gov.my/daftar-peserta#lb
    Semak syarat-syarat MAJIKAN: http://www.epu.gov.my/daftar-syarikat
    Borang Permohonan PESERTA:  Untuk menyertai program SL1M, sila klik dan dapatkan borang permohonan penyertaan melalui pautan ini:http://www.epu.gov.my/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=e990066a-74ac-4968-95ab-2ad313b2ea81&groupId=34492
    Borang Permohonan MAJIKAN:  Untuk mendapatkan peserta SL1M, sila klik dan dapatkan borang permohonan melalui pautan ini: http://www.epu.gov.my/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=637ecc05-faa8-4907-bb13-d8c5583f3453&groupId=34492

    Malaysia Education Development Plan (2013-2015)


    Education Development Plan (PPP) is to be done to reform the country's education system which implementation period is from next year until 2025. Prior to this, which is about 2006 to 2010 Education Development Master Plan adopted in line with the country's progress and the changing trends require a reform which is formulated in a new plan of the Education Development Plan (PPP) which will be announced at about 10 am later by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.




    Aspects to be addressed in the plan of development of Education (PPP)

    In general, the 9 items below are the aspects that will be addressed in the Education Development Plan, namely:

    1. Elevating the teaching profession.

    Improving teacher quality
    Teacher candidate recruitment through excellent academic
    Quality in-service training
    Increase the number of teachers with setting 1 teacher to 13 students over the previous one teacher of 16 students.

    2. Improving school leadership.

    Reward principals and teachers who demonstrate outstanding achievement and improve school performance.
    Selection of principals and teachers based on merit as well as a more effective transition plan.

    3. Improving the quality of schools.

    Improving ICT facilities in schools
    Internet and broadband facilities
    Strengthen curriculum and assessment standards.

    4. Building a curriculum that comply with international standards

    5. Emphasis on creative, problem solving and innovation.

    6. Improve languages.

    7. Enhancing language proficiency third

    8. Parental involvement, private and social sector as partners.

    Better relationships and participation beyond the scope of school
    Improve student readiness for higher education and the job market.
    Various aspects directly applied to give students more prepared with the working

    9. Skills such as leadership, problem solving skills, higher order thinking and effective communication skills.

    Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of resources.
    Manage resources more effectively to ensure effectiveness in the nation's education

    Build the capacity and capability of the delivery system.
    Quality and lay ministry enhanced governance
    Efficiency at every level of management officials improved.

    Update: 11 Things in Education Development Plan (Post Launch)
    A historic event will be recorded when launched earlier report of the Education Development Plan (PPP) from 2013 to 2025 to be launched soon. What is more interesting, this plan will also apply in 2020. What about the gist later? After the launch of the observations and recommendations will still be required and the public still have the opportunity to express an opinion before finalized at the end of 2012. For information, a preliminary report later proposal is derived from the 2012 National Education National Dialogue, which was held throughout the country. Source: The Star Malaysia 8 September 2012

    UPDATE:


    Government recently launched the Education Development Plan, or PPP education development plan is designed for year 2013-2015. Overall, the plan consists of 11 items that should be taken note of:

    1. Provide equitable access to quality education of international standard.
    2. Ensure that each pupil proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English
    3. Produce Malaysian citizens who appreciate the value.
    4. Transforming teaching as a profession choice
    5. Ensure high performance leadership placed each school
    6. Empowering JPN, PPD and schools to provide customized solutions based on your needs.
    7. Leveraging the quality of learning in Malaysia.
    8. Capability and capacity to transform the delivery of the Ministry of Education
    9. Collaborate with parents, community and the private sector is widely
    10. Maximize student success for every dollar.
    11. Improving transparency for direct public accountability

    Hopefully this made ​​reform more able to increase competitiveness and quality of education students excel in school. Resources Daily News, Wednesday, September 12, 2012


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