The FCAS wants the illegals to stay

The president of the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS),Datuk Sari Nuar (what a name for a Chinese!) led a troop of his committee members to meet the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, and handed in the 16 resolutions adopted at the FCAS Annual General Meeting 2008 last week.
Two resolutions amongst the 16 were highlighted in headlines of all local news papers,the 2 resolutions are namely:

• To legalise the illegal immigrants in Sabah,and further more award them permanent resident status if they do not have any criminal records after staying 15 years in Sabah
• To reconsider the state cabinet's decision to shelf the coal-fired power plant project but to choose Sandakan as the new site for the power plant.

The reactions from the Sabah public is phenomenal,objections came from all sides and angles,from layman in the street, NGOs, to prominent politicians, all voicing their angers and disgusts over this act by Datuk Sari Nuar and gang.
They raised several questions:

• Why does the FCAS place higher priority on the illegal immigrants' welfare over the welfare of many Chinese born in Sabah but still can not get permanent stay after 30 to 50 years? When was the last time the FCAS brings the plights of this category of Chinese to the attention of the state government?
• How to prove an illegal immigrant has lived in Sabah for over 15 years? How can the government keep records on an illegal immigrant but not taking any action and let him move about freely for 15 years? What kind of government is that?Entering our country illegally is an criminal act itself,how on earth can you say that he has no criminal records?
• Without criminal records does not mean that an illegal immigrant did not commit any crime before, he may be smart enough to escape the law enforcement officers.Only the dumb ones were caught,but the smart and dangerous ones escaped.Since they do not have valid travel documents,they can change their identities any time (much easier than you changing your user names on the Internet)hence it is extremely difficult if not impossible to trace them.
• Business owners are worried about their profit margins if they can no longer make use of the cheap labour provided by the illegal immigrants,but aren't they worried even a little bit about the safety of their families and younger generations?
• Sabah cabinet shelved the coal-fired power plant project based on the advice of experts.Now the FCAS invited the so-called experts from local universities to hold a dialogue with public to explain it is environment friendly to use the coal-fried power plant, does it mean that these experts are better informed that those engaged by the cabinet?
• In the United Kingdom,even with 50 years of experience of using coal-fired power plants,they are also not going to build more new plants based on this technology, read report....Why is the eagerness of the FCAS to rush into this not yet proven safe technology? The UK needs more energy than us,don't they?
• If the plant will cause health hazards to the Lahad Datu residents,won't it cause the same level of harm to the Sandakan residents? Or is it because the lives of the Sandakan residents are less valuable than that of the Lahad Datu residents?
• Again they wanted to know what personal gains from this project will the members of the FCAS council receive?
• Several branches/affiliates of the FCAS claimed there were only 12 resolutions adopted during the said AGM,not 16 as claimed by Datuk Sari and friends.The illegal immigrants and the coal-fired power plants issues were definitely not among them.

Caught off guard by the strong reactions from the Chinese community,Datuk Sari quickly changed his story. He said the 4 additional resolutions were result of the decision of the FCAS central committee and the Sabah United Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SUCCC) to include them.
Also the actual intention of the resolutions was to urge the state government to consider legalising the immigrants who manage to find jobs here, and not to consider granting them permanent residence as reported in the media.If he is not treating us Sabahans as idiots and telling the truth,it really makes one wonders of what academic standard is the person who wrote the resolutions which were so misleading that required someone else to interpret it correctly.Why can't the FCAS find someone competent enough to handle such important job?
Meanwhile some of the FCAS committee members who happened to be committee members of SUCCC also started a scruple with rivalling committee members in the same organisation over the 6-year old issue of the legal status of SUCCC committee in an effort to divert the public attention.
Many amongst the Chinese community have long questioned whether to let the FCAS to represent them is appropriate.In reality they only represent a handful of traders,not the ordinary Chinese who has nothing to do with trading.This handful of people should confine their activities in the SUCCC and not have double roles in the FCAS also.By right the leaders of FCAS should be professionals elected from the various dialect clans and surname clans and not those who only care about profit margins.
But the biggest pity is why after all these years, the local Chinese community can not find a leader born locally,if not in Sabah,at least within Malaysia to lead them. I felt very uneasy each time I read his non-Chinese name in the non-Chinese news papers.I wonder whether these papers did it on purpose.

Major crackdown on illegal immigrants soon

Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia,Tan Sri Najib Tun Razak announced that the government will take action to flush out the illegal immigrants living in Sabah.It was flashed across the front pages of all local news papers last month. But the response from the public was cold,they think this is just another round of empty promise from the government on this issue,no difference from many other similar announcements made before over the years. But this time it is from the Deputy Prime Minister himself, not any low ranking minister like before.No one in Sabah believes he is sincere in his intention,most people think it is just a move to shift public attention from other issues which are sticking to him right now. Even senior government officers are negative in their opinions.The Assistant Director of the Federal Special Task Force (whose sole duty is to solve the illegal immigrants problems in Sabah) said that the success of this move is very much dependent on the readiness of the verious systems and authorities to tackle the problems.He went on to list out the 5 major reasons why the efforts to solve the illegals problems failed in the past. He claimed that the FSTF is ready to accommodate more illegals with the setting up of 2 additional temporary detention camps.Reading between the lines,one can feel that he is implying the other authorities are not ready yet. At the same time the Chief Police Officer of Sabah is afraid that the police force is short of man power.However,he said the police department will try its best to make this exercise a success.Again,one has to read between the lines to catch his real meaning. If there is one issue that has the same opinion from all the Sabahans,it is the illegal immigrants issue.It has been with us for more than 30 years now.And the government still does not seem to have a clue as how to solve it. To help solve this problem,we Sabahans need to cooperate with the government by taking the following steps: (1) Stop renting you house or land to illegal immigrants.Of course,in so doing you will lose some incomes.But think about the safety of your loved ones and family,isn't it more important than money? (2) Hire locals as far as possible.Do not ever hire any imported worker who does not have any proper travel document and work permit. (3)Town board workers who are entrusted with the task to dismantle the illegal houses should do the job yourselves and destroy the building materials. Do not be lazy and let the illegals to dismantle the houses and save the materials to rebuild their houses soon after you have left. (4)Policemen should not accept bribes from illegals when they are caught.If you let them go freely, who knows they may bounce into your children later and hurt them.I mean how do the illegals know they are your children unless you let them wear police uniforms,too. (5)Hospital staff should not accept bribes for issuing false Sabahan birth certificates to new born babies of illegal immigrants.Otherwise these babies will grow up to be Sabahans legally and fight for job opportunities with your children one day. (6)Staff of National Registration Department should not accpet bribes for issuing false Sabahan ICs to illegal immigrants. This is equivalent to committing an act of treason,and should be sent to the firing squad.Many of those who obtained their ICs this way may have joined the armed forces and the police.They maybe even entrusted with the duty to round up,to deport the illegal immigrants (their brothers) to their home countries.Won't it be the biggest joke? (7)Last but not least,do not be a SUPER hypocrite by complaining about the illegal immigrants on one hand, and providing them with employement and shelters on the other. I really miss those days when I did not have to lock my house and my car. I still remember I brought my wife (then still girl friend)to visit a friend in Kuala Lumpur back in the 70's.We waited for a good 10 minutes outside my friend's house for him to unlock through the series of locks while my wife whispered to me,"why your friend so weird one,locking himself up with so many locks?" Now I will tease my wife once in a while,"why you so weird one,locking yourself up with so many locks?"

Happy harvest festival

To all my KDM friends!

2008 Borneo International Marathon

The 2008 Borneo International Marathon will be held in October this year.According to the event co-ordinator,Mr Shan Sandhu,this is the first time in the past 20 years such an event is organised in this city.
Below is the write up provided by Mr Sandhu:

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We're pretty excited about organizing this marathon as it is the first one in this city in over 20 years and is currently the only one scheduled for the island of Borneo for this year.

A Brief Introduction

The capital city of the Malaysian State of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu is one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in South East Asia.

Sabah, Malaysia's Borneo, is blessed with beautiful natural features such as:
. Mt.Kinabalu - The highest mountain in South East Asia located in Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site.
. Sipadan Island - One of the top 3 dive spots in the world.
. Sepilok - An Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
. Danum Valley Conservation Area - Home to the rare Borneo Pygmy Elephant
. Maliau Basin - Sabah's "Lost World".
. Diverse species of wildlife, marine life, flora and fauna
. Pulau Tiga - the volcanic island setting for the 1st season of the Survivor TV show.

Strategically situated in the heart of South East Asia, Sabah offers an ideal nature and adventure tourism destination and is the perfect stopover for tourists heading to all of Asia's other exotic destinations.

The Borneo International Marathon is planned for October so that it is comfortably scheduled before the Singapore Marathon in December. This provides the perfect opportunity for regular marathon and half marathon runners in the region to participate and keep in top racing condition. The Borneo International Marathon promises to offer not only a fantastic race venue, but also a memorable holiday for all. Whether your interests gravitate towards nature, sun or sea, holistic spa treatments, freshly harvested local seafood at unbeatable prices, as well as the opportunity to interact with some of the most hospitable people 5 degrees north of the equator, Sabah is truly a wonderful experience not to be missed.

With three race routes offered to both experienced and novice runners alike (full marathon, half marathon and 10KM run), we feel that this marathon will truly benefit Sabah in terms of being a venue for an international sporting event, attracting participants from not only Malaysia and South East Asia but from other regions around the world as well.

The starting and finishing point for the marathon will be at Likas Sports Stadium and the route will take runners along some major highlights in the city.

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Entery Fees

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We are also raising funds and awareness for 8 charitable organizations and 10% of participants entry fees goes towards an organization of their choice

. Rumah Kanak-Kanak Bondulu, Tambunan or Tambunan Childrens Home
This home is sponsored entirely by donations and looks after children from this interior town and the surrounding villages; this is a typical rural farming community and comprises some of the poorest areas of Sabah.The money will go to help to pay for the roof on the new dormitory that they have been trying to complete for over a year now.
Contact Person: Sister Rose . Tel: +6019 8719201

. Emmanual Homes, Kudat, Sabah
Taking care of over 50 children with a small volunteer staff and very little money, this facility is very basic and the children need everything from beds to chairs. It is hoped that we can raise enough money to get them a small van so the kids can have days out. Please also see wish list from Emmanual Homes.
Contact Person: Howard Stanton. Tel: +6013 8818395

. Borneo Child Aid Society
Providing basic educational support for children living in plantations.
Office: MDLD 6057, Lorong Perdana 3, Sri Perdana, P. O. Box 61850, 91127 Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Contact Person: Torben Venning . Tel: +6089 866857/862402 . Fax: +603-21784113 . Mobile: +6019 8530656
Email: info(at)borneochildaid.org.
Website: www.borneochildaid.org

. Food For The Hungry International - Sabah
Office: City Gate, Unit No. C-2-3A, Block C, 2nd Floor, Plaza Tanjung Aru, Jalan Mat Salleh, Tanjung Aru, 88100 Kota Kinabalu.
Contact Person: Melanie Chu or Horwath T. H. Liew Tong . Tel: +60 88240335 . Mobile: 016-8391768
E-mail: fhim@streamyx.com.
Website: www.sabah.org.my/fhisabah

. Mercy Malaysia
Vision: Outstanding in the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to all.
Mission: MERCY Malaysia is a non-profit organization focusing on providing medical relief and sustainable health related development for vulnerable communities.
Core Values: We focus on rapid medical response for the assistance of communities affected by disasters. We recognise the value of working with partners and volunteers. We provide an opportunity for individuals to serve with professionalism, upholding the International Code of Conduct for Humanitarian workers. We hold ourselves accountable to our donors and beneficiaries
Website: www.mercy.org.my

. Befrienders Kota Kinabalu
Vision: A world in which fewer people feel the need to end their own lives.
Mission: To alleviate distress and help reduce the risk of suicide through emotional support and public education.
Tel: +6-088-255788 .
Website: www.befrienders.org

. SIP (Semporna Islands Project)
Community action for sustainable use and conservation of coral reefs.
Project Officer(Sabah): Helen Brunt . helen@sempornaislandsproject.com
Website: www.sempornaislandsproject.com

. Health In Harmony
Health in Harmony supports an innovative programme in West Kalimantan, Indonesia that partners with local communities to integrate high quality, affordable health care with startegies to protect the threatened rainforest.
Email: fhim@streamyx.com or anna.hallemeier@healthinharmony.org
Website: http://www.healthinharmony.org

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Stop the scrap iron thieves

It is high time that some thing to be done in order to stop the scrap iron theives from continuing their harmful activities.What they are doing can no longer be considered petty thefts, far from it.They have caused damages to public properties resulting in sate-wide electricity interruptions because cables,lamp posts,transformers and even base strutures of high tension masts were stolen. Other damages like tyre puntures, overturned motor-cycles and injuries to pedestrians due to missing drain covers everywhere,as widely reported by the media. Strictly speaking,they should not be called "scrap iron thieves" because there are no more scrap iron like condemned cars, rusty BBQ stands, leaking oil drums,fallen gates, collasped fence,odds and ends left behind from finished renovation works,etc; laying around for them to steal.what they are stealing now are metal parts of public facility structures still in perfectly good conditions. They should be slapped with additional charges of damaging public properties on top of theft charges. It is bewildering how it can be allowed to get into this serious situation.Up until now there is no real action but only words,words,words.There are 1001 excuses and bugs passing but not any realistic plan in view. To solve this problem the relevant authorities should own up to their responsibilites collectively by doing away with the traditional way of finding and pushing all the blames to a single "scapegoat". The first rang of the responsibility ladder are the enforcement officers like police patrolmen who should investigate immediately on spotting suspecious characters working on public structures; municipal enforcement officers who should conduct surprise checks on scrap iron collectors; SESB maintenance teams should inspect the structures in their territories regularly to spot any irregularities.These people should be replaced if found failing in their duties. If the problem persists after several changes of officers,then the people on the next rang are at fault,because they are the ones who choose the men.Apparently,these higher ranking officers are not capable of picking the right candidates.If this also fails,then the people on yet another higher rang should be replaced until the problem is solved. Take the municipal enforcement officer as an example:

• The officer should first be replaced.
• If the problem persists,then the supervisor has to go.
• If after replacing the supervisor still does not solve the problem then the Ketua Bahagian is not doing his job.
• If the new Division head can not solve the problem then the Mayor/Chairman is not capable of picking the right candidate and we will need a new Mayor quick.
• The relevant minister should carefully select the right person now because the problem is becoming serious at this stage already.If the problem persists,the minister (Minister of Local Government and Housing for all districts except KK which is directly under the Chief Minister) should resign if not should be replaced.
• If the Chief Minister refuses to take the above step, we rakyat (voters) can remove him during the next general elections as what had happened in Kedah,Penang,Perak,Selangor and Kelatan, no big deal!

It is what democratic system all about.We don't have to suffer in silence or only vent our frustrations in kopitiams now. We can make things happen if we want to, we are the BOSS.

The 2008 Sabah state elections results

Sabah Barisan Nasional(BN) performed well in the recent general elections,it captured all the parliamentary and state seats except losing 1 parliamentary seat and 1 state seat to the opposition front,now the Barisan Rakyat (BR).But on closer study it is obvious that BN would have lost 7 more state seats and 1 more parliamentary seats if not for the BR's failure to co-operate by coming to an agreement on an arrangement of a 1-0n-1 situation.Well,that is the price one has to pay for being not mature and placing self interests above the mass. Below is the details of the scores for the seats mentioned: STATE

Constiteuncy	BN	DAP	PKR	PAS	BEBAS	BEBAS	BEBAS	BR Total	BR-BN
INANAM	5979	2864	4293	0	196	0	0	7353	1374
LIKAS	4097	3235	1888	0	182	0	0	5123	1026
LUYANG	5073	3571	2794	0	92	0	0	6365	1292
KEPAYAN	6162	4100	3658	0	0	0	0	7758	1596
KUALA PENYU	4416	0	889	0	4159	0	0	5048	632
BINGKOR	4589	0	4418	0	129	164	0	4711	122
MEROTAI	3723	0	0	913	3418	289	286	4906	1183

PARLIAMENT

Constiteuncy	BN	DAP	PKR	PAS	BEBAS	BEBAS	BEBAS	BR Total	BR-BN
SANDAKAN	8297	8121	0	0	2929	0	0	11050	2753

The Sabah BR still has a long way to go before they will mature into a well co-ordinated front like its counterparts in the Peninsular.

PS The Opposition alliance was loosely called "Barisan Rakyat" when I first posted this article.They have subsequently announced the official name for their newly formed alliance is "Pakatan Rakyat".

Undi lah :08-03-2008

To-morrow is the polling day for the 12th Malaysia general election. Again: the date is March 08 2008. Do you know that your right to vote is the most important right for a free democratic country's citizen? So don't deny yourself this very important right,go and vote. You spend hours and hours arguing about political issues,in kopitiam,bars,your own home and online forums.But if you don't go and vote,all this is just a pitiful waste of time and breath! Go and vote,exercise your right.The time for actions has come,stop the talk,act now!

BN Sabah does not need Chinese votes any more?

From the events that have taken place in Sabah lately,it is apparent that the Barisan Nasional (BN) is very confident it will win the up coming general election in Sabah again, without the help from the Chinese component parties.
First, a piece of land belonging to the Cantonese-Hokkien Cementry was taken back by the Sabah state government and given to the Sabah Woman Assiciation to build their new building.

Then a piece of land in Kolombong approved for the construction of the Third Campus of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Chung Hwa (China)was revoked and the land was later awarded to a company engaged in joint venture with the Sabah state government. Instead the school is given another piece of land which is much, much smaller and further from the main access road.

The most recent event is the sudden order from the Kudat Municipal Council to stop the building of a giant Mazu (Heavenly Queen) statue in Kudat.The statue is at 60% completion stage.The steering committee of the Mazu Statue project is Datuk Seri Chong Kah Kiat,the former Sabah Chief Minister.Datuk Seri Chong was holding the Minister of Tourism,Environment and Culture profolio in the Sabah state cabinet then.He rsigned from the post in protest against the stoppage of the statue project.

Whatever happened between the current Chief Minister of Sabah,Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Datuk Seri Chong is their personal affairs. But it should not involve the construction of the Mazu statue because the Mazu statue does not belong to Datuk Seri Chong alone, it belongs to all the Chineses in Sabah.The leadership of BN has mistakenly considered that this will only anger a small faction of the Chinese,namely the Taoism followers.

They are sreiously wrong, people will view this matter as not only the victimizing of the Chinese but as victimizing all the non-Muslims.Today it is the Taoists, tomorrow it maybe the Buddhists,then the Hindus or maybe the Christians? It is not that simple.

Sea Turtle Thieves

Two fishing vessels from Hainam Island,China were caught for entering Malaysian waters illegally off Sabah coast. There were found some 200 sea turtles on board these two vessels. Some of them were still alive while most of them were, sadly, dead. How is it possible that these vessels were allowed to roam our waters freely in search of the turtles. Looking at the quantity of catch on board, these vessels must have been staying in our waters for an extended period, else they would not have been able to catch so many of them. Where have the enforcement officials been? Sleeping?

Christmas fun ideas

The following list of fun ideas is great for families during the Christmas season. Click here for Christmas ideas

Tragedy on the beach again

Barely two months ago 4 secondary school boys were drowned in the sea off Pantai Dalit, Tuaran.(View my earlier post) Another 3 more lives were lost on the second day of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri at exactly the same spot again. Two 11-year old girls and a 10-year old boy from 3 separate families were drwoned while swimming in the sea on a family trip to Pantai Dalit. Why did not the local authority take action to warn the public about this dangerous spot? Prominent signboards should have being erected at the said beach by now. They should also provide some markers in the treacherous water to indicate where the hazards are, similar to those markers placed by the Marine Department to warn vessels about shallow sandbanks submerged in the water. Why are the cold hearts of these officers untouched by the tragedies and do some thing to prevent a recurrence promtly?

Happy Depavali

Happy Depavali !

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI

Flights Frequencies To Be Back To Normal

The Minister of Transport Malaysia, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy declared that the two airlines companies in Malaysia will reinstate up to 90% of its previous flights frequencies to Sabah. When the domestic routes in Sabah was taken over by Air Asia through its subsidairy Federal Air Xspress (FAX) in August 01 2006, the number of flights between KL,Miri and Sabah and those within Sabah was cut from 314 to 210, a reduction of 104 flights per month. This had caused undue inconvenience to the people such as missed connecting flights and long waiting lists. The angry passengers complained in the media and also through their respective assemblymen. Under public pressure both MAS and Air Asia agreed to increase the number of flights to 282, ie. about 90% of the number before August 2006. It is difficult to comprehend what those people at high positions are doing. Why can't they be more creative and innovative when trying to improve the performance of organistions under their care, it appears to me that the only way they know is to cut cost, down-sizing, offering less scope of services and going backwards. If making things difficult for the rakyat is what they call improving the services, anyone also can sit in their places and do their jobs, no need to look for people with impressive high educations and experience lah.

Stiffer Penalties For Scrap Iron Thefts

The Sabah government has instructed the state prosecutor's office to draft out new laws in order to impose stiffer penalties for scrap iron theives and those buyers of their loots. The new penalties may even include revoking their trading licences. But will this be effective if the enforcement personnels are not determined to stop these rampant theft of public properties like drain covers, grilles, lamp post fuse and boxes and high tension cables. If the officers spend their time catching traffic offenders and spending long time interrogating them by the roadsides, instead of checking out the scrap iron merchants for illegal items. If the merchants are smart enough to hide the loots in another place, but they have to ship them out eventually. Then they can be stopped half way to the port or alternatively seek the co-operations of the custom officers to check their items thoroughly before allowing them to be shipped out of Sabah. This will call for some extra work and a lot of determination but it will be well worth it if this will stop rampant thefts of public properties hence ending the misery of the people.

Put Prominent Sign Boards To Warn Visitors

Four young active Form-4 students were drowned at Pantai Dalit near Tuaran two days ago. They were amongst seventeen students from the same school, SMK SANZAC Sembulan, who went to take part in a community project, building shelters for poor children in the area (some reports said it was a mushroom shed for a blind couple). On their way home they wanted to wash up their sweaty bodies after a hard day's work. Their teacher agreed with them, kind of rewarding them for their contribution towards community works, and detoured to the beach which is about one km away. They waded out in the seemingly calm sea to a depth of about chest high. The teacher called out to them to get ashore and to head for home after about 15 minutes in the water. But before they could respond the sea suddenly turned rough, a huge wave washed away 6 of the students. One of them who is a strong swimmer, managed to swim to safety and another was rescued by a lifeguard from a nearby resort on a water-skii . The other 4 were drowned. As a parent of 2 kids myself, while looking at the photos in the news papers in which crying parents hugging the dead bodies of their sons, I felt their pain deeply. What went wrong? Like the Chief Minister, Datuk Musa Hj Aman said, "Don't allow people to swim there if it is dangeours to do so!" The local authority should have put up sign boards warning people about the dangers of possible sudden huge waves and under currents in that area. How much does it cost to plant a sign board there? Do not blame the teacher, do not blame any parents for that matter, who takes their children to the beach. The beach is there for us to enjoy, but we must be made aware of any hiden dangers there is, so that we will avoid those areas. If taking the children to the beach is so wrong, then why do the government still try with all means to attract foreign tourists to our beaches? Are we knowingly putting them in danger? Of course not, only certain spots are not safe to swim in, and adequate warnings should be posted in the appropriate places. Please act now before more tragedies occur.

Unfair To Raise Electricity Tariff

The Malaysia National Energy Board (Tenaga) is planning to raise the electricity tariff in Sabah, meaning comsumers inSabah will have the pay the same rates as their counter parts in Penisular Malaysia. This is utterly unfair, the west Malaysian states are enjoying reliable and stable electricity supply whereas the power interruptions in Sabah are much more frequent as compared to that in West Malaysia. Until and unless our electricity supply is on par with that in West Malaysia in the following areas, it is unfair to talk about a uniform rates :

• availibility (how long the supply is available before the next power interruption)
• reliability (how steady is the supply regarding spikes and drops)
• supports (how responsive are the staff to requests for help)

We should get what we paid for, period.

Menggatal and Telipok under 4-foot of flood water again

With the 7-7 2005 floods still fresh in their memory, the residents of Menggatal and Telipok found their houses in 4-foot flood water again. The residents should do something about it and not just complaining in the news papers. It is useless to complaint, the authorities will simply give some unacceptable explaination and forget about it. What they should do is to form a "flood compensations" committee to take court actions against the Sabah state government and the local town boards for damages.

Dropoff Point at Sipadan Island Damaged By Barge

Scuba divers, tour operators, tourism promoters and nature lovers in Sabah were shocked to read about the world famous "Dropoff Point", just a stone's throw from the Sipadan Island, was damaged by a huge barge carrying building materials for construction works on the island. The "Dropoff Point" is not referring to the jetty for dropping off visitors used by the boats and ferry, it is a rare coral cliff which "drops off" suddenly to a sheer steep depth in the ocean bed. Very few places in the world have such cliff in the ocean bed. There are also a number of caves of varying sizes and depth, but all are abundance in rare and unique marine life. Some of the caves are excellent training grounds for cave scuba diving. The barge found resting on top the "Dropoff Points" scrapping off all corals from the top of the "Dropoff Points". It is not yet clear whether the fragile and thin ceilings of the caves mentioned above have collasped under the weight of the barge. It is a real sad case, we are blessed with such a wonderful gift from Mother nature, yet there are still people who will not see the uniqueness of it all. They destroyed it for their own selfish gains. It was learned that usually heavy vessels are not allowed near the island, only small boats, called kumpits, though small in size but are capable of carrying heavy materials are allowed under tight control. How on earth that huge barge (it was as tall as the building on the island as seen from the photo) got there ? Now everybody is pointing fingers at each other. But that is beside the point. The point is the Sabah state government announced two years ago gallantly that in order to preserve the eco-system around the island, all the 7 existing resorts on the island had to be demolished, and NO MORE structure of any kind is to be allowed on this island. The 7 said resorts were subsequently demolished and relocated to the Mabul Island nearby. As one politician from opposition party asked, "Why are there still construction works going on in the island two years after?" I like to hear the answer, I believe many people like to hear, too. The Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Musa Hj Aman has declared that Sipadan Island will be closed to prevent further damage and allow the island to regenerate. Is this a move to punish the public who voiced their opinions? The people who caused the damages should be punished not the tourists who did nothing wrong and who bring revenues into the state. It may take hundreds of years for the coral reef to regenerate, or may never regenerate into its past unique shape again. Even if it will, are we supposed to wait for a few hundred years before allowing visitors to go to the island again?

Federal Cabinet Committee To Handle Illegal Immigrants Problems

Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abd Razak told repoters that the Federal Cabinet has formed a committee to solve the incerasingly serious problems created by the presence of the large number of illegal immigrants entering Sabah from Indonesia and the Philippines. He said the Federal Task Force formed in the 90s is not effective in dealing with this problem. The numbers of immigrants not only did not reduce but has increased instead since its formation. It is a good sign because the federal government at least has acknowledged the problem existed. Hopefully the committee will find a solution, or to stop the numbers of illegal immigrants from incerasing daily.