2 confirmed dead in Twin Otter crash at Kudat

 October 11, 2013, Friday

CRASH LANDED: Pictures (above and below) showing the aircraft in front of a house at Kampung Sinsan Kudat. — Bernama photos

THE AFTERMATH: Firefighters helping the injured pilot get away from the crash site. — Bernama photo

Co-pilot Marc Joel Bansh

KUDAT: Two people have died following the MASwings Twin Otter aircraft crash at Kudat airport yesterday afternoon.

They have been identified as the aircraft’s co-pilot, Marc Joel Bansh, and an elderly passenger, Tan Ah Cai, 69.

The Twin Otter aircraft was carrying 16 passengers, including the pilot and co-pilot, when it attempted an emergency landing here.

Another passenger identified as Sue Isabella Abal, is also reported to be in critical condition, while the pilot, Captain Wan Mohd Abdul Amir Wan Yahya, 58, is also reported as injured, though not as serious.

The other passengers who received outpatient treatment were Fauziah Pelimin, 32, Mohd Raiyan Fatmi, four-year-old, Nur Filzah Raudhah, one year old, Merang Maharani, 54, Noorhazwin Sharom, 29, Chang Gee Keong, 29, Elranita bt John, 25, Junaini Bladi, 52, Erwan Shah bin Einin, 23, Lee Chee Kian, 39, and Tan Kang Cheing.

It was reported that the DHC6 Twin Otter aircraft, call signed 9M-MDM, operating as flight number MH3002 from Kota Kinabalu to Kudat, carrying 16 people made a short landing of the runway and crashed into a house at Kampung Sinsan, Kudat at around 2.50pm.

Tan died at around 5pm while seeking treatment at the Kudat district hospital, while co-pilot Marc Joel Bansh succumbed to his injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) at around 9.30pm. Marc was rushed to Kota Kinabalu from Kudat in a Sabah Air aircraft to seek treatment at QEH for his severe injuries.

Earlier, Kudat police chief, DSP Dawi Ossen, when contacted said, a male passenger succumbed to his injuries at the Kudat hospital while seeking treatment.

“Five other people are still receiving treatment and reported to be in serious but stable condition,” he said.

Ossen said among those injured were the pilot and co-pilot of the aircraft.

“We are still carrying out investigation at the scene to determine the actual cause of the incident,” he said, adding that the remaining passengers have also been taken to hospital.

Meanwhile, State Fire and Rescue Services Department public relation officer, Senior Assistant Superintendent Mohd Affendy Ramin, said, the department received information of a plane crash at 3.15pm and a team from the Kudat Fire and Rescue Department was deployed to the scene within minutes. Mohd Affendy added that there were some oil spillage in the scene coming from the aircraft but the Fire and Rescue personnel were able to control the situation.

Meanwhile, a villager who rushed to the scene after the crash, said that one of the passengers had alleged that the pilot was not able control the aircraft after strong winds battered the aircraft during landing.

“The man, who said he was traveling with a woman, claimed that strong winds had caused the plane to turn sharply to its side, causing it to crash into a house near the runway,” said the witness, who declined to be named.

The witness also saw an ambulance dispatched to the scene rushing the pilot and co-pilot to the Kudat Hospital. Both appeared severely injured and unconscious, according to the man.

He added that the site was quickly cordoned off by the police after they arrived but he heard people at the scene saying the pilot was in a coma when he was taken for treatment.

According to the witness, the plane veered off track and knocked part of the garage of a house.

“One of the plane’s wings clipped one of the three cars parked outside the house,” said the witness.

It was unclear if any one of the house occupants were in during the incident.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/10/11/2-confirmed-dead-in-twin-otter-crash-at-kudat/#ixzz2hNu1QvL4

Sacking politically motivated, claims ex Tuai Rumah

Posted on October 9, 2013, Wednesday

BINTULU: Man Jadot of Sungai Bakas Bakong who had been a Tuai Rumah for about 20 years claimed that his sacking as Tuai Rumah was “politically motivated”.
When met here recently, the 52-year-old described his sacking as a confirmation of a conspiracy theory calculated to weaken Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) in Marudi.
Reiterating that the termination of his service was unfair, he said he had been a strong supporter of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and was still healthy and his ‘anak biak’ (charges) still had faith and confidence in him to lead them.
Man became Tuai Rumah around 20 years ago when his late father Jadot passed the baton to him.
He said he knew about the termination of his appointment when the District Office stopped giving him the monthly allowance of RM800 in September.
Prior to that, Man said he had received a letter signed by former Marudi district officer Joseph Belayong hinting about the termination.
He said the letter did not specifically mention that his service would be terminated as it only reminded him of the expiry date of his service without telling whether his longhouse should hold an election for a new Tuai Rumah.
Meanwhile, Man claimed many other Tuai Rumah linked to SPDP might also have been sacked to weaken SPDP Marudi.
He said this could be done out of spite because Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran, the Marudi assemblyman, is in control of community services including firing and hiring of community leaders.
Entri, who is also Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Water Supply), was sacked by SPDP in late 2011 for gross insubordination.
Now party less, Entri has denied any involvement in the issuance of such letters.
Last August when contacted, Belayong clarified that the letters were not meant to tell the Tuai Rumah that their services were no longer needed.
He explained that following the revision of monthly allowances for community leaders this year, all community leaders including ‘Ketua Kaum’, ‘Penghulu’, ‘Pemanca’ and ‘Temenggong’ would serve for a fixed period of time.
The letters, he said, were to inform them of the date of the expiry of their terms so that they could decide whether to continue serving or otherwise, especially if they see themselves as unfit to continue due to old age or ill health.
Belayong, who is now serving in Land Development Ministry, assured that they would be reappointed after evaluation by Marudi District Office and recommendations from BN elected representatives.
SPDP president Tan Sri William Mawan had last week said he was informed by the State Secretary that the state government did not issue any termination letter to the longhouse chiefs.


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/10/09/sacking-politically-motivated-claims-ex-tuai-rumah/#ixzz2hE3gfD4L

Religion

 Some confuse religion and Spirituality. A religion is an organized and structured set of beliefs or dogmas concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe and life in general. A religious organization is a man made organization which indoctrinates, teaches, and regulates ideas, beliefs, and behaviors of the members of the religion. Some religions may be very restrictive and controlling while others may be very tolerant, eclectic, and open.

      All religions were initially founded on an understanding of man's relationship to the Divine. The Divine, however, never created or established any religion.

      It is this author's view that the content of this manual and the understanding that it encourages does not conflict with any religion, at least in the religion's original intent. Others with narrowly defined belief systems may have a different opinion.

      This manual does present a somewhat Gnostic perspective. The development and exploration of Spiritual faculties is encouraged as a means of developing a closer direct connection to the Divine as well as to assist us in meeting our life challenges. A number of religious texts and Spiritual sources are used. These include the Christian bible, the works of Edgar Cayce, and other ancient texts and documents from many religions from all over the world. The emphasis, however, is in facilitating the direct relationship between the individual and the Infinite, or to God.

      The premise of this manual is that every individual has the potential, the power and the opportunity to affect our selves, our world and our reality in a very positive and powerful way. This may seem to be a very audacious idea, considering the apparent obstacles to realizing this.

      It is the objective of this text to convey background information, perspective and specific practice techniques to enable every individual with the desire to do so to accomplish this task.

      This is an introduction and yet presents a working system with which one can, literally, change the world. "The world" in this sense includes both the internal world and the external world.

      The topic of religion is an issue for many. I find that there are basically two classes of individuals with reference to religion. There are those that follow a religion very closely and those that have been exposed to religion but are disillusioned by it and follow nothing. The difficulty with religions is that most of them consist of a "defined belief system" that is inflexible. This then amounts to a "system of defined limitations." Combine this reality with the fact that some of the most honest, honorable, generous and enlightened individuals participate in religions and religious organizations.

      If you are a religious person and are able to think outside the box, the knowledge and experience gained from this study will show you the truth of the core principles upon which all major world religions were originally founded. If you are not a religious person the knowledge and experience gained from this study will enable you to connect to the infinite and understand the universal underlying truths.

      Participants in all religions and philosophies are welcome to participate in this study. All participants are free to maintain any religious affiliation that they choose.

Benarkah Sarawak negeri MIskin

Benarkah Sarawak negeri miskin? - Mohd Aizan Mohd Nor

October 02, 2013

"Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice" - Nelson Mandela
Kemiskinan dan Sarawak adalah dua perkara yang seringkali dikaitkan. Ketika PRU13 yang lalu, isu ini adalah modal utama penceramah kedua-dua koalisi. Bagi pihak pemerintah, oleh kerana negeri ini masih miskin dan serba kekurangan, maka politik pembangunan pemerintah adalah solusinya. Di pihak pembangkang pula, ini adalah bukti ketidakcekapan pemerintah selama ini makanya rakyat harus memberi mandat kepada mereka. Hakikatnya, benarkah Sarawak negeri miskin?
Sebelum menyinggung isu ini dengan lebih lanjut, saya ingin mencadangkan definisi yang lebih jelas tentang pelabelan 'Sarawak negeri miskin' ini. Saya tahu ramai rakan Sarawak yang sensitif dengan jolokan ini. Bagi saya, untuk lebih objektif, secara umumnya, isu ini harus dilihat daripada dua sudut iaitu pertama, aspek kekuatan ekonomi negeri itu sendiri dan kedua, tahap sosio-ekonomi rakyat di negeri tersebut. Kekuatan ekonomi negeri pula boleh dilihat daripada sudut jumlah kutipan hasil negeri,  kadar keluaran dalam negeri kasar (KDNK) dan juga pertumbuhannya manakala penilaian tahap sosio-ekonomi rakyat pula harus diperhatikan daripada sudut kadar kemiskinan dan trend pengagihan pendapatan rakyat.

Salah satu cara pantas untuk kita menilai kekuatan ekonomi sesebuah negeri ialah melalui kutipan hasil negeri yang dibentangkan ketika sesi belanjawan negeri pada setiap tahun. Penelitian terhadap pembentangan belanjawan negeri-negeri untuk 2013 menunjukkan Sarawak membentangkan bajet negeri yang tertinggi di Malaysia dengan jangkaan hasil sekitar RM4.2 bilion. Lebih 70% daripada anggaran hasil ini adalah hasil bukan cukai termasuk royalti petroleum dan gas yang pada  2012 sahaja berjumlah RM 641 juta. Sabah berada di tangga kedua dengan bajet sekitar RM4 bilion manakala Terengganu di tempat ketiga dengan anggaran hasil negeri sekitar RM2 bilion. Negeri paling maju di Malaysia iaitu Selangor sebagai perbandingan hanya menganggarkan hasil negeri sekitar RM 1.6 bilion untuk 2013.
Selain itu,berdasarkan data rasmi yang kita perolehi, jika dikaji daripada aspek KDNK negeri, pada 2012, Sarawak menyumbang 9.6% kepada KDNK Malaysia iaitu ketiga terbesar selepas Selangor dan Kuala Lumpur. Ini bermakna secara umum, hampir 10% daripada kekuatan ekonomi nasional datangnya dari Sarawak. Sebagai perbandingan, kedua-dua negeri yang tertinggi kutipan hasilnya iaitu Sabah dan Terengganu hanya menyumbang secara total 8.5% kepada KDNK Malaysia.
Di samping itu, kadar pertumbuhan KDNK Sarawak terkini juga mencatat prestasi yang amat memberangsangkan iaitu pada kadar sekitar 5% melepasi jangkaan semasa untuk Malaysia dan angka ini diramal melepasi 6% pada 2015. Seperti yang pernah dikongsikan sebelum ini, mengikut rekod, Sarawak menyumbang sekitar 8% kepada pertumbuhan KDNK Malaysia pada tahun lalu.
Jadi, benarkah Sarawak negeri miskin?
Sekarang mari kita lihat pula sama ada gambaran positif yang serupa boleh dinisbahkan kepada tahap sosio-ekonomi rakyat Sarawak pula. Menurut Laporan Penyiasatan Isi Rumah dan Kemudahan Asas 2012, Sarawak kini bukan lagi negeri kedua dengan jumlah insiden kemiskinan tertinggi di Malaysia. Negeri ini naik satu anak tangga dengan hanya 2.4% insiden kemiskinan di seluruh negeri berbanding Sabah (8.1%) dan Kelantan (2.7%).
Penurunan insiden kemiskinan ini daripada 5.3% (2009) dalam tempoh tiga tahun adalah satu pencapaian yang amat baik ditambah pula dengan kadar insiden kemiskinan tegar di Sarawak yang kini hanya 0.3% iaitu mendekati purata keseluruhan Malaysia pada kadar 0.2%. Malahan jika dilihat daripada aspek pendapatan purata bulanan, Sarawak mencatatkan angka yang memberangsangkan iaitu RM4,293, jauh lebih baik berbanding negeri Perdana Menteri sendiri iaitu Pahang. Sekurang-kurangnya daripada sisi ini, Sarawak tidak 'semiskin' seperti yang diwar-warkan selama ini.
Kemudian, mari kita teliti aspek pengagihan pendapatan rakyat Sarawak pula. Pekali Gini adalah indikator mudah untuk kita menilai pengagihan pendapatan yang tidak seimbang dalam sesebuah ekonomi. Ia menjadi petunjuk utama yang sering dirujuk oleh ahli ekonomi untuk menilai ketidaksetaraan ekonomi sesebuah negara atau negeri. Semakin besar angkanya dalam julat 0 hingga 1 bermakna jurang pendapatan miskin-kaya dalam ekonomi tersebut secara relatifnya lebih ketara. Purata Malaysia pada 2012 adalah 0.431 manakala Sarawak mencatat angka 0.440, iaitu di tangga ketiga tertinggi di Malaysia selepas Kuala Lumpur dan Perlis. Sebagai perbandingan umum, menurut Bank Dunia, Pekali Gini Indonesia hanyalah 0.381.
Pada masa yang sama, kita juga mendapati hanya 35.8% daripada penduduk Sarawak yang sebenarnya memperoleh pendapatan melebihi RM 4,000 sebulan dan yang lebih menarik ialah angka ini hampir menyamai peratusan penduduk bukan Bumiputera di negeri tersebut. Selain itu, hampir 5% daripada rakyat Sarawak masih memperoleh pendapatan bulanan di bawah RM 1,000 dan peratusannya adalah hampir dua kali ganda jika dilihat di kawasan luar bandar Sarawak. Berdasarkan hansard sidang DUN Sarawak pada 2011, kerajaan negeri mendedahkan bahawa lebih 95% rakyat miskin tegar Sarawak adalah di kalangan penduduk Bumiputera dengan majoritinya di kalangan orang Iban (48.7%). Sebenarnya, sebahagian besar rakyat Sarawak iaitu 48.5% memperoleh pendapatan di bawah RM 3,000 sebulan dan mereka hanya menyumbang sekitar 20% kepada keseluruhan agihan pendapatan di Sarawak. Sebagai perbandingan, 7.6% penduduk Sarawak yang memperoleh pendapatan melebihi RM10,000 sebulan menyumbang 27.8% kepada agihan pendapatan keseluruhan di negeri ini.
Jadi, benarkah Sarawak negeri miskin?
Hakikatnya, masalah utama di Sarawak adalah pengagihan kekayaan negeri yang tidak seimbang di kalangan rakyat. Ia tidak seimbang di antara yang berpendapatan tinggi dan rendah dan yang lebih membimbangkan ia juga amat tidak seimbang di antara kaum Bumiputera dan bukan Bumiputera. Malahan di kalangan penduduk Bumiputera sendiri, ketidaksetaraan ekonomi di antara kaum Iban dan suku-suku kaum lain juga amat serius. Jujur saya katakan Sarawak bukan negeri miskin tetapi persoalan yang jauh lebih mustahak ialah bagaimana pula dengan rakyatnya?
* Mohd Aizan Mohd Nor ialah Pengarah Sarawak Centre for Policy Studies.
* Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider.

JKKK Sungai Lutong visits Cipta Group for concept on JV

FOR THE ALBUM: Penghulu Ela (fourth right) with the members of the JKKK of Sungai Lutong, Bakong during the educational visit.

MIRI: Forty-six Development and Security Committee (JKKK) members of Sungai Lutong, Bakong here visited Cipta Group of Companies in Bintulu recently.

The group led by Penghulu Ela Bong, was briefed on the joint venture concept between the NCR landowners and government agencies such as LCDA by the managing director of Cipta Group of Companies, Hii Poh Bing.

Hii explained to the visitors that the joint ventures would benefit the landowners in the long run and that they would receive dividends yearly.

According to Penghulu Ela, the visit had shown them that the venture could provide a win-win opportunity to them by providing jobs and uplifting their economy.

“The talk gave positive inputs to the JKKK members and at the same time opens the eyes of the community on how government wants to help them.”

“This had led them to welcome the move by government to find a way to uplift their socio-economy,” said Ela.

Tr Drahman Sidu shared the same view and said the visit gave a clear picture of how the government wanted to help the people through commercial farming such as planting oil palm through joint ventures.

He said the villagers do not have money to develop oil palm plantation themselves but through joint venture they could earn profits without selling their land.

Read more:http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/24/jkkk-sungai-lutong-visits-cipta-group-for-concept-on-jv-riches/#ixzz2fn01DyKr

Cara Nak Lajukan Laptop nuan empu

Mesti korang tertanya-tanya cara yang paling mudah nak lajukan laptop atau PC korang dalam masa 1 minit je..lebih-lebih lagi kalau laptop korang dah berumur lebih dari 3 tahun. Nak bukak satu folder pun setengah jam duk loading. Actually tutorial ni aku dah buat dalam entri sebelum ni cuma terlupa nak tambah beberapa code mystring.

1. Buka notepad dan taip : mystring=(80000000). Pastikan sama macam dalam gambar di bawah ini. Actually korang boleh pilih nak letak berapa saiz code tu..bergantung pada saiz RAM korang.

• mystring=(80000000) for 128 MB RAM
• mystring=160000000 for 256 MB RAM
• mystring=320000000 for 512 MB RAM
• mystring=655000000 for 1 GB RAM
• mystring=1000000000 for 2 GB RAM

2. Save kat desktop. Jangan lupa tukar Save As Type kepada All Files. Namakan fail tu RAM.vbe ataupun korang boleh letak apa saja nama asalkan di hujungnya .vbe.

3. So, jadilah macam kat bawah ni. Double-click ikon tu dan rasailah kelajuan yang menakjubkan pada laptop atau PC korang..memang terasa laju..tak tipu ni..heheh

Sumber : http://nicknashram.blogspot.com/

Gambar nemuai ngagai Labuan

Surat pemendar TR Remang ak Linggang diau di Asam Paya, Baram di beri D.O

Good and fond memories.

How I wish we could rewind the clock.....

Dedicated To All Those Born in 1940's, 50's , 60 ' s 70's... 

We had no maids. Our mothers cooked, cleaned and took care of the whole family.

They still had time to chat with neighbours.

Everyone had candy floss, fizzy drinks and shaved ice with syrups of different colours

- brown, red and green. Diabetes was rare and aspirin/Aspro cured all illness. 

We rode adult's bicycle to school, the richer ones had their own mini-bikes.

Ironically, we all had problems with our brakes, and after running into the

bushes a few times, we learned how to solve the problem. 

School prefects were a fearful lot ... more fearful than the teachers. Detention

class was like going to prison for a day. We had "public caning" in schools. 

NO ONE ever won the big prizes on "Tikam". It was a scam but it did not

stop us coming back for more ice cream.


Motorbikes were ridden without helmets. It was rare to ride in a private taxi.
Taking a bus was luxury - we either cycled or walked everywhere.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from bottles.

We spent hours in fields under the sun, playing football or flying kites,

without worrying about UV rays.

We roamed free catching spiders and did not worry about Aedes mosquitoes.
We kept our spiders in match boxes and were ready for a spider fight anytime.

With just 5 pebbles, girls played endless games and the boys ran like

crazy for hours playing with balls.

When it rained, we swam in the drains & canals to catch "ikan keli",

none of us dissolved in rain.

We shared one bottle of soft drink with friends, NO ONE actually

worried about catching anything.

We ate salty, sweet & oily foods, bread had real butter and sometimes

condensed milk. We enjoyed very sweet coffee, tea, and "ice kacang",

but we were not obese because.......

WE WERE OUT PLAYING ALL THE TIME!!!

We left home in the morning and played all day till hunger drove us back home.

When needed, our parents knew how to find us. NO ONE actually watched over
us and WE ALWAYS WERE SAFE. 

Boarding school warden accused of raping student

Posted on September 11, 2013, Wednesday

ARRESTED: The warden is led to the Sekama police station lockup.

KUCHING: A boarding school warden was arrested yesterday after he allegedly raped a 16-year-old charge at a secondary school in Siburan.
The 54-year-old suspect was detained at the school by police at 1.30pm after a report was lodged by the victim, who is a boarder at the school, following the incident which is said to have occurred around noon on Monday.
Confirming the arrest, Padawan district police chief Supt Pauzi Bujang said the victim — from a village in Padawan — alleged that she was raped by the warden inside a room at the school.
The victim has been sent for a medical checkup at the Sarawak General Hospital, while the suspect has been detained in the lockup pending further investigation.
The case has been classified under Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape.


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/11/boarding-school-warden-accused-of-raping-student/#ixzz2eXqkoz5s

Aksi Manusia Terapung-Apung Di Sisi Bas

Orang ramai di sekitar London semalam terpukau dengan aksi terbaru ahli silap mata Dynamo apabila dia ‘terapung-apung’ di sisi bas dua tingkat, semalam. Penghibur kelahiran Bradford itu berada di kira-kira 4.6 meter di udara di sisi bas sambil menyeberangi Jambatan Westminster di London.

Sambil tersenyum ke arah kamera, Dynamo, 30, terus ‘terapung-apung’ sambil sebelah tangannya diletakkan pada bumbung bas berkenaan.Dynamo - atau nama sebenarnya Steven Frayne - melakukan aksi itu dengan bantuan polis yang memastikan laluan digunakan bebas daripada sebarang kenderaan lain. 

Beberapa individu bertuah diberi peluang menaiki bas dua tingkat yang bergerak seiringan dengan Dynamo dan mereka kelihatan takjub dengan persembahan itu. Mereka juga tidak melepaskan peluang merakamkan aksi itu menggunakan kamera masing-masing. Aksi itu menarik perhatian kerana orang ramai gagal menjelaskan bagaimana Dynamo boleh ‘terbang’ begitu tanpa sebarang alat bantuan.Dynamo kini menjadi wajah terbaru untuk promosi minuman Pepsi Max.

Sebelum ini Dynamo pernah memukau orang ramai dengan pelbagai helah unik, termasuk kemampuannya berjalan di atas air. Namanya menjadi sebutan pada tahun 2011 apabila dia ‘berjalan’ melintasi Sungai Thames sambil mempromosikan siri terbarunya di televisyen bertajuk Magician Impossible.

Di samping itu, dia juga pernah ‘mengapungkan’ selebriti Britain, Matt Lucas di depan orang ramai di Stadiuam Emirates dan menukar tiket loteri menjadi wang tunai di depan Robbie Williams serta Davina McCall.-mymetro

13 Gambar : Misteri Manusia Terapung Di Jerman Akhirnya Terungkai

Johan Lorbeer adalah seorang seniman jalanan, lelaki asal Jerman ini suka melakukan hal-hal aneh dan tak jarang aksinya membuat orang terpukau dengan keanehan yang di buatnya. Aksi yang dibuatnya kali ini adalah melayang setinggi 3 meter di atas tanah hanya dengan meletakkan tangan kirinya di tembok. Aksinya ini di lakukan di tengah bandar, tiba-tiba membuat orang yang melihatnyapun di buat tercengang seolah-olah tidak percaya.

Yang dilakukannya terkesan sempurna tidak ada helah dan kejuruteraan, dia kelihatan benar-benar melayang bahkan beberapa actionpun dia lakukan. Dalam Gambar-Gambar ini ini, anda akan melihat aksinya yang sangat luar biasa.

Anda ingin tahu, bagaimana cara melakukannya? Lihatlah gambar-gambar ini dengan teliti. Anda akan menemui jawapannya.

Scholarships for S’wak, Sabah hijacked?

 

Joseph Tawie

 | September 12, 2013

Sarawak DAP is in disbelief that there are less than 50% Sarawakians and Sabahans who qualified for federal scholarships.

KUCHING: More than 50% of federal scholarships allocated to Sarawak and Sabah students to pursue their education in local universities had allegedly no takers and as such went to students in Peninsular Malaysia.
More surprising however is the fact that this “loss” to the two states has been going on since 2008 and no one was wiser.
At least not until today when Minister in the Prime Minister Department Joseph Entulu’s shocking revelation was front-paged in the local media.
According to Entulu, of the 1,000 scholarships allocated to Sarawak and Sabah in local universities in 2008, only 499 were successful in their applications.
In 2009 there were only 402 from Sarawak and Sabah and this meant “500-plus places were not filled up” again. The situation was the same for 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Entulu went on to add that the situation was equally depressing for scholarships for overseas studies.
He said in 2008 only 110 students were awarded the scholarships out of 200 slots reserved for the two states.
“In 2009 it was okay; in 2010, it was not bad. But in 2011 the number of recipients dropped and the most glaring part was that in the case of Sarawak, we could not fill our quota in 2008 and 2011 for overseas scholarships,” Entulu said.
The disclosure has puzzled Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen.
Chong claimed he had received complaints from Iban and Bidayuh students who scored 5As, 6As, 7As and even 8As but who had their applications for scholarships rejected.
“How is it not even 50% of our quota had been fulfilled? I am sure our students are eligible for all these scholarships,” he said.

Inherent discrimination?
Chong found it “more shocking” that the “loss” had been going on for the past few years and the government had not thought fit to disclose the details.
“We want to know if this is an inherent discrimination against Sarawak and Sabah in the educational system.
“I am sure some of the scholarships in our quota are given for the benefit of students from Peninsular Malaysia.
“How can the government allow these shortfalls to go on? We want to know the full details, including the racial breakdown as to who got the scholarships.
“Either the government is negligent in this matter or it is hiding something,” Chong said.
Entulu, who revealed the figures when launching Bumiputera Technical Committee for Sabah and Sarawak (BTCSS) by Barisan Nasional (BN) here yesterday, had also noted that Sarawakians had not been able to fill the annual quota for special programmes meant for top performers to take up engineering courses in France, Germany, South Korea and Japan.
He said in 2012 although 29 of the 30 places given to Sarawak were filled up, Entulu was disturbed that the slots were mostly taken up by students from urban schools.
He said there was a need for ‘special consideration” to be given when selecting candidates.
“The rural schools fared very badly. I do not think they should be given the same standard of criteria as that of urban students,” he said.

Lost opportunities
Meanwhile Entulu’s disclosure has also surprised and saddened PRS president James Masing.
Refusing to lay blame on any one party, Masing said the missed opportunities for scholarships could be because students and parents were both ignorant of its availability.
“It is a pity that we are losing out on these opportunities. There is money. Other people used it as we did not,” he said.

Boarding school warden accused of raping student

Posted on September 11, 2013, Wednesday

ARRESTED: The warden is led to the Sekama police station lockup.

KUCHING: A boarding school warden was arrested yesterday after he allegedly raped a 16-year-old charge at a secondary school in Siburan.
The 54-year-old suspect was detained at the school by police at 1.30pm after a report was lodged by the victim, who is a boarder at the school, following the incident which is said to have occurred around noon on Monday.
Confirming the arrest, Padawan district police chief Supt Pauzi Bujang said the victim — from a village in Padawan — alleged that she was raped by the warden inside a room at the school.
The victim has been sent for a medical checkup at the Sarawak General Hospital, while the suspect has been detained in the lockup pending further investigation.
The case has been classified under Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape.


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/11/boarding-school-warden-accused-of-raping-student/#ixzz2eXqkoz5s

Mawan-G5 rift deepens

Joseph Tawie

 | September 9, 2013

The sacking of 40 pro-SPDP longhouse chiefs is expected to further divide the Marudi constituency

KUCHING: Forty longhouse chiefs from the Marudi constituency have been removed from their posts allegedly upon the recommendation of state Assistant Minister Sylvester Entri who ironically is Marudi assemblyman.

Majority of those sacked were members of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), Entri’s former party.

A letter of termination allegedly signed by the District Officer of Marudi has been served on the 40 tuai rumah. The letter also requested the respective longhouses to elect their own chiefs.

“No reason was given for their sacking, except to say that the respective longhouses must choose their new tuai rumah,” said Patrick Sibat, who comes from the area.

Three of Sibat’s relatives namely Gansa Anak Pagun of Sebatang Bok, Musen Anak Radin of Sebatang Bok and Sureng Anak Jelian of Sungai Bain, Tinjar have received their letters of termination.

Their sacking has not only heightened the political row between SPDP, which is headed by William Mawan Ikom, and Entri, but is now also certain to disrupt the ‘peace’ and further divide the longhouse folk in the constituency.

Entri is one of the members of SPDP 5 (also known as G5) who were sacked in 2011 for insubordination by Mawan.

The others were assemblymen Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Paulus Palu Gumbang (Batu Danau), Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) and the former MP for Mas Gading Dr Tiki Lafe

The five have now formed a ‘Sarawak BN Club’ in order to maintain their position in the state Barisan government.

Rift deepens

Meanwhile a number of those who received their letters of termination have brought their cases to Mawan’s attention.Sources close to the party claimed that Entri is showing his ‘power’ over those who supported Mawan especially in connection with his (Mawan’s) visit to Ulu Teru in Marudi in October 2012 which was strongly objected by at least 30 tuai rumah.The opposition to Mawan’s visit was said to have been organised by Entri’s supporters and members of G5.

Three of the longhouse chiefs who ‘repented’ lodged a police report saying that they were forced to sign a press statement condemning the visit of Mawan, who is the state Social Development Minister.

They told a press conference that they regretted what they did.

Mawan filed a complaint with the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who then issued a stern warning against longhouse chiefs who were out to sabotage the visit by BN leaders to Ulu Teru.

Mawan finally visited Ulu Teru on Oct 23, 2011. About 3,000 people attended the function. Among them were some 50 longhouse chiefs.

Even though Entri was invited to attend the function, he was glaringly absent.

But the visit, however, left a bitter dispute between tuai rumah who supported Entri and those who supported Mawan.

Party sources claimed that the termination of longhouse chiefs supporting Mawan was a ‘selective punishment’.

SPDP’s deputy secretary-general Paul Igai when contacted said: “We are investigating it as we view the sacking very seriously. If there is any truth, we will do what is necessary,” he said.