: Hard core poor asked to seek government's help

TAWAU: Those living in the urban area in need of assistance should the relevant authorities in making their plight known and qualify them to obtain assistance from the various government programs initiated to help them.

Member of Parliament for Tawau, Datuk Chua Soon Bui said the government’s programs has many small scale programs set to assist unfortunate families having to face hard times.

`Those in need of help can register themselves at my office at Takada complex and they could obtain help if they are qualified’, she stated during the breaking of fast held at Ranggu village recently.

Chua added that small scale programs such as provision of seedlings and livestock to help unfortunate families to build up their economy apart from other kind of assistance.


She also hailed the effort by the officer tasked with handling the program, Surianah Salleh who is attached to the district municipal council for her zeal and determination in helping those in need.

`So far around 400 families received assistance in the form of payment to settle their home payment or children’s school fees and this assistance is for all Malaysian regardless of race in the district.

Touching on the breaking of fast event help by Muslim, Chua said that such event is an opportunity for government leaders to meet with community at grassroot level and receive input on the problems faced by them.

She said that government leaders including government departments’ chiefs could use such an event or other celebration practiced in the country such as Chinese New Year or Christmas to meet with communities practicing different religion to listen to their problem.

Chua also said the event was the first held at the village and it would be a yearly event for her as part of her effort to fulfill her pledge made during the election campaign.

She also said the co-existence between the various races in the country through practicing the need to upheld peace and respect each others’ belief and culture is essential for the country and its’ prosperity. `We have been practicing such unity since independent and let us keep this culture for the sake of our future generation’, Chua added.


PICTURE SHOWS CHUA PRESENTING A PACKAGE TO A QUALIFIED RECIPIENT.

: Regiment 516 Territorial Army open house

TAWAU: Members of the Territorial Army are told to continue their commitment in safekeeping the peace of the country with diligent despite being far from family members during festive season as their effort is lauded.

Brigadier General Datuk Liew Yun Fah, the commanding officer of the 516th Territorial Army said that their commitment to maintain peace through their work shows the seriousness of their attitude in this respect.

`Your sincerity and diligent in performing your duties could not be compared’, he stated this during the Regiment’s 516th Open house event held on the first day of Raya at the camp at North road.

In his opening speech, Liew also said that the their commitment had brought the respect of Malaysian to the regiment and this need to be continued regardless of place and time.

Liew added that trainers and those involved in training new volunteers for the regiment had resulted in some of the volunteers being drafted into the regular army establishment for postings and this is something which the regiment could be proud of.

`This regiment had achieved the stage and excellence as laid out by our top military leaders’, he added.

Also conducted during the event was the presentation of Raya cakes to members who could not be home for the holiday especially those from West Malaysia.



PICTURE SHOWING LIEW WITH SOME OF THOSE WHO ATTENDED THE OPEN HOUSE.

: Minister held breaking of fast with youth representatives

TAWAU: Minister of Youth and Sport Sabah YB Peter Pang En Yin hosted a breaking of fast at the hostel of the district sport complex yesterday.

In his opening speech, Pang said that the event a golden opportunity for his ministry to get to know better youth in the district as well as to ensure that programs initiated by the government could reach the targeted youth.

At the same time, he also urges youth to continue to maintain a high degree of discipline in their daily life so that they could be well prepared to become leaders of the country in the very near future.

Pang also handed out grand to two registered youth associations and gave clothing packages to 20 youth associations.

Among those present Datu Rosmadi bin Datu Sulai, the Deputy Permanent Secretary 1 of the Ministry, Jamil Jilap, officer of the Ministry in Tawau and other guests.


PICTURE SHOWS PANG PRESENTING A GRAND TO A REPRESENTATIVE OF A YOUTH ASSOCATION.

:Raja Muda Perlis meet troops at Berhala island

SANDAKAN: Soldiers involved in the Pasir operation at Berhala island play host to the Raja Muda Perlis Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail who is also the commanding officer of the 504th of the Territorial Army based in Perlis on the evening of September 15 in a breaking of fast event held there.

Syed Faizuddin in the visit was accompanied by Panglima Angkatan Bersama Dato’ Allatif Bin Mohd. Noor, Brigadier General Sheikh Muksin Bin Sheikh Hassan, the commanding officer of the Joint Military Task Force (JMTF) 2, Lt. Col. Halim Bin Haji Yusof, the commanding officer of the 5th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment and Commanding officer of the 516th Territorial Army, Brigadier General Datuk Liew Yun Fah where the visiting group also consisted of a number of government officers and officers from the 504th Regiment of the Territorial Army from Perlis.

Among the program conducted was the presentation of Raya cakes to officers and personnel station at the camp.

Syed Faizuddin in his speech during the breaking of fast ceremony told those station there that they need to continue to reach out to the community around their area as people there would always sees the men as soldiers and there is a need to keep a close rapport with the people to enhance their image in the effort to keep peace daily.

At the same time, he also praised the Joint Military Task Force or better known as Angkatan Tugas Bersama (ATB 2) for arranging his visit with strong efficiency and prove their worth.


PICTURE SHOWING THE RAJA MUDA MEETING WITH THOSE STATIONED AT THE CAMP.

: Religious teaching essential for children

TAWAU: Religious education is essential to every child as it could further enhance their character and influence their future for the better.

Member of Parliament for Tawau YB Datuk Chua Soon Bui said parents must therefore continue to encourage their children to deepen their religion understanding not only for their children’s sake but also for the well being of the country.

She said this during a visit to the Perpaduan village’s Darul Hidayah KAFA school recently and met with parents, teachers and some 300 children attending the religious school.

Chua stated parent needs to instill such zeal among their children as teachers could only educate them for a short period of time daily but these children will spend most of the time with their parents. She was at the school to help improve the facilities of the school such as the repair of fences, blackboard, mattresses, doors and others and at the same time hand out Kurma fruits to parents and children.

Chua together with community leaders of the village also visited the Surau and provided extended shelter for devotees of the fasting month.

PICTURE SHOWS CHUA WITH PARENTS, TEACHERS AND CHILDREN THE SCHOOL.

: Youth should get involve in countering negative view in blogs, Jahid

TAWAU: The Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will continue to encourage youth to be internet capable generation as they could play the role of `balancing’ the negative information contained in many reading materials such as those found in blogs.

The Tamparuli State Assemblyman YB Jahid Jahin said that provocative or information that does not make any sense news presented through these blogs could easily lead youth away from the truth and it is therefore essential youth with actual knowledge can counter thus making any debates within such blogs to be balanced.

`Wrong information presented will almost ensure a wrong decision on the part of readers in this respect’, he stated in a press conference held at a hotel during the breaking of fast celebration held last Tuesday. He said the issues now presented tend to shows more on the negative value and PBS youth are encourage to go in and participate in debates to counter the excessive negative values within information or news seen through the internet.

Jahid also said that youth today tend to obtain their news not from the usual media such as newspaper, radio or even television but are more keen on getting information through the internet. `This is why we need to teach out youth on the value of obtaining the right information from the right sources’, he explained..

At the same time, he also said that the present scheme by the government to loan money to youth for them to venture into businesses has been received in a `lukewarm’ manner but felt that youth with intention to venture in business obtain their application through the Ministry of Youth and Sport. He added that qualified youth should take the opportunity to improve their living by doing business and government is willing to help. `The loan will be charged with minimal interest.

Jahid who was in the district to attend the party’s four branches general meeting held in Semporna earlier in his speech said the party’s leadership under Datuk Seri Panglima Pairin Kitingan appreciated the party members of the party for their continuing support.

PICTURE SHOWS JAHID WITH DISTRICT PARTY LEADERS AT THE BREAKING OF FAST EVENT.

:Hindus devotees conduct Merdeka prayer

TAWAU: The district’s Thiru Murugan temple hosted their annual Merdeka Program where over 100 Hindu devotees from Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau attended the prayer session.

President of the Thiru Murugan temple, K. Manogran said prayer was also held for Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, Sabah Chief Minister, for his effort in approving the temple’s land. He said prayers were also offered for the continued success of the nation with greater solidarity, accountability efficiency and a dynamic interaction among the diverse communities to safeguard unity.

`We are praying for the safeguard of unity which had prevailed in the country for the past 51 years’, he stated.

The annual event was sponsored by Victor Rajasekran, chairman for the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) of Tawau.

PICTURE SHOWS MANOGRAN SERVING FOOD TO DEVOTEES ATTENDING THE PRAYER SESSION.

:Penalty for rear seated passengers for not using safety belt upon availability: Ong

TAWAU: The Ministry of Transport Malaysia will impose penalties on rear seat passengers who fail to put on their seat belt for cars or utility vehicles having such facility by January 1, 2009 on vehicles produced from 1995 onward in the interest of safety.

Datuk Ong Tee Keat, the Minister of Transport Malaysia said the government had also requested Proton, Perodua, Naza and Honda manufactures to install vehicles from their factories free of charge to vehicles already on the road to lessen the burden of drivers.

`This is only for vehicles that comes out from their assembly line from 1995 and onward’, he stated in a press conference today at the district’s Road Transport Department (RTD) office today.

Ong added that vehicles without rear seat belts can be excluded from penalty but they would be given until 2011 to have their vehicle install the safety equipment. He also urges car owners who purchased vehicles from the four manufactures to have their vehicles upgraded for free at their respective manufactures and not simply to engage outsiders to do the work.

Ong was in the district on a working visit to see for himself the running operation of the RTD and met with representatives from the Tawau School Bus Association (TSBA), Tawau Taxi Association (TTA) and Tawau Lorry Drivers’ Association (TLDA) where numerous matters were brought to his attention. He said that he was shocked to hear some of the complains such as `Pirate school bus’ reportedly plying to ferry pupils and students at schools in the district and the existence of irregular fees charged by PUSPAKOM over vehicle check.

Other matters raise for his attention was the high fee charged for taking driving lessons.

Ong in the meeting with the three associations however pledge to take the appropriate action over the cases reported despite some of the matter were not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry.

`On the matter of pirate school bus, I hope that the association will give their fullest co-operation when we pursue the case to ensure that the appropriate action can be taken’, he added.

On the matter of long queue at RTD counters, he said that his Ministry is currently encouraging the public to use their on-line method to eradicate the needs of many having to queue and to speed up any process needed through the internet. He was also briefed by the Sabah RTD director Wan Idrus that runners or agencies providing services to the general public are given a special lane in the state to prevent their applications hampering the public waiting in line.

PICTURE SHOWS ONG DURING THE MEETING.

:Walk for health program to become an annual program

TAWAU: Health is always a major concern not only to the young generation but also to the senior citizens as it would ensure that Malaysian regardless of age can enjoy life in an active and productive manner for the benefit of the country.

Representative for the Board of Visitors for the Hot Spring Senior Citizens’ Home, Haji Mohd. Ekbal Hj. Khalid said this while launching the `Ambang Merdeka, Walk for Health’ organized by Nestle Group, the Board and the Community Nurses’ College of Tawau this yesterday morning where among those attending the event was Liew Fook Kiaw, another committee member of the visiting board.

Ekbal said the event which will be held annually will continue to promote health aspect among the community.

He also flag off participants which include students of the college and senior citizens for the one kilometer walk.

Also held during the event is the presentation of goodies to senior citizens from the board led by Ekbal dan Nestle Group.

PICTURE SHOWING PARTICIPANTS PRIOR TO THE START OF THE WALK

:516th Regiment program to boost more Chinese intake

TAWAU: The 516th Regiment of the Territorial Army welcomed guests numbering nearing a hundred from Malaysian Chinese in a historical event to promote the regiment last Saturday.

Among the associations attending the program were from the Sabah Chinese Associations’ Union and students from Sabah Chinese High School apart from a large number of individuals. Commanding officer of the regiment, Brigadier General Datuk Liew Yun Fah together with his deputy commander Lt. Colonel Mohd. Samin Haji Mohd. Sih welcomes the guests. The program presented exhibition, show and briefing to the visitors.

The program to promote the role of Territorial Army and encourage more Malaysian Chinese to join the establishment and it is believe to be the first ever program conducted by such regiment in the country for such purpose.

Liew said the aim of the program is clear, to encourage more Chinese Malaysian to join the fold. Among the show presented was from the regiment’s Unarmed Fighting.

PICTURE SHOWS LIEW SHOWING ON HOW TO HANDLE AN ASSAULT RIFLE TO SOME STUDENTS