The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Repairs on fishermen’s homes in Kota Marudu
- Dr Chua: MCA has served the people in many areas besides education and health
- Timely refurbishment of children’s ward in KK
| Repairs on fishermen’s homes in Kota Marudu Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST KOTA MARUDU: About 90% of the 210 houses of fishermen in this northern Sabah district has been repaired as part of the transformation programme under the federal Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry. Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maxmus Ongkili said the satisfactory repairs on the fishermen's houses were almost completed one month after the programme was carried out in Kota Marudu. "The programme was introduced this year as a government measure to alleviate the lives of rural coastal fishermen," he said after chairing the Parliamentary Agriculture Development Council meeting here. He said the council also discussed new technology and agriculture activities for the district and also identified and approved the implementation of four innovative projects. The first is oyster farming on a trial basis at Kampung Tanjung Batu in the Marudu Bay where 10 fishermen have identified to participate under a collaboration between a private company using Taiwanese technology and the Fisheries Department. Dr Ongkili added that initial trial by the company had shown that oyster rearing was economically viable and suitable at the Marudu Bay waters. The second project involves 'Siraj Hybrid' rice variety recently-released by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) for national planting. The new paddy variety was developed by RB Biotech and funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in collaboration with the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry. The variety is more pest and disease resistant and can produce up to 30% higher yield than existing best varieties, thus also increasing farmers' income. "This project will also involve 10 farmers in Kota Marudu," he said. The council also approved funding support for trial planting of Stevia at the farm level for 10 farmers as a follow-up to earlier trials conducted by the Agro-Biotechnology Institute and the Sabah Department of Agriculture in Tuaran, Kota Marudu and Kundasang. "The farm trials will use seedlings developed by London-listed Pure Circle Berhad, which is a provider of natural sweeteners to the global food and beverage industry with a refinery in Sepang. To promote sustainable production of hill paddy, the council also approved the planting of unique varieties of hill paddy. The council believes that such varieties with coloured grains and scent would fetch high premium besides having good nutritional values," he added. |
| Dr Chua: MCA has served the people in many areas besides education and health Posted: 23 Nov 2012 06:40 PM PST SEGAMAT: SOME people need just RM2,000 for medical treatment so that they can return to work and take care of their family. But they do not have the money, and there are many such cases in the country. And MCA, which set up the 1MCA Medical Foundation about two years ago, has been receiving requests for help daily. Party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said more than 1,500 patients had benefitted from the foundation so far. He said the party had raised about RM20mil for the cause so far. Helping the people is a noble act, and MCA had been doing this in various areas, from education to socio-economic matters since its inception in 1943. "The Opposition only knows how to find fault with whatever MCA is doing, but never do anything to help those in need. "It is also always easy for the Opposition to provide lip service, but the people are the ones who will face the reality in life," he said. Among the current people-oriented programmes under MCA are the RM50mil 1MCA Microcredit Fund for Youth, 1MCA Education Loan Scheme, Chang Ming Thien Foundation and Kojadi Study Loan. Dr Chua said these were in addition to the quality and affordable education opportunities provided by MCA via its Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Both institutions have produced more than 200,000 graduates to date. Speaking at the MCA mega dinner in Segamat on Monday, Dr Chua said the event was aimed at providing the people a correct perspective of the situation in the country. Nine mega dinners were held last month and another 20 more would be held in November and December, he added. Dr Chua said the party charged RM30 per guest, and the money collected, including those from sponsors, were donated for education. "Giving back to society, especially for education purposes is part of the 5,000-year-old Chinese culture," he said. Meanwhile, he said the DAP which also sourced donations from the people, had not been transparent over the funds. But the Opposition was good at diverting the people's attention by making all sorts of allegations against MCA instead. "The DAP says MCA, as a Barisan Nasional partner, is powerless," he said, adding that the DAP was also quick to blame MCA and Barisan for any problems in the country. In fact, Dr Chua said the Opposition was the one that had brought much anxiety to the people after the last general election by politicising anything and everything under the sun. "The racial and religious harmony built over the decades have been adversely affected. "No one in the country, irrespective of their political affiliation should take the nation's stability and harmony among multi-ethnic and religious Malaysians for granted," Dr Chua said, adding that the dinner theme "Stability Above Chaos" was also meant to drive home this point. The dinners, he added, were also good platforms for MCA to share with the people the situation in the country. While people have the right to decide the government via voting in the coming elections, Dr Chua pointed out that they should be armed with the right information in order to make informed decisions. The DAP liked to give false hope to the people; like making them believe that it could repeat the Penang feat in other states, he said. While the DAP was able to hold the Penang Chief Minister's post after the last elections, Dr Chua said it was not the case in other states. Citing Perak in the last elections as an example, he said the Mentri Besar's post went to PAS though DAP won 18 state seats while PKR and PAS had a combined 13 seats. |
| Timely refurbishment of children’s ward in KK Posted: 23 Nov 2012 06:41 PM PST KOTA KINABALU: A BRIGHT and bubbly painted undersea theme mural at a children's ward is set to bring smiles to children undergoing treatment at the Likas Women and Children Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Thanks to Standard Chartered Happy Smile programme, the Melur 2 Paediatric ward of the hospital was refurbished with new built in cabinets complete with toys and educational books. The hospital is the second to be refurbished under the Youth, Health and Education programme carried out by the bank's charity arm Standard Chartered Trust Fund. "It is part of our committement in making a difference in the lives of children under the Happy Smille campaign,'' Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim said during the handover of the ceremony attended by Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman. He said the Happy Smile project initiated in early 2012 under the bank's Community Social Responsibility (CSR) projects would benefit more the 1,000 children annually. The hospital's director Dr Tan Bee Hwai said that the refurbishment of the playroom was timely and very generous. "We, at the hospital, are very passionate about what we do for children. These children are like our own,'' Dr Tan said, adding that such cheery conditions would help in the rehabilitation and also ease the ordeal of a hospital visit by children. In commending the efforts of Standard Chartered, Musa said that he was happy that more corporations and banking companies were coming forward to carry out CSR programmes for the benefit of the people. "I hope more organisations and individuals would lend their helping hand to various institutions like hospitals, home for orphans, senior citizens that could help in providing a more comfortable environment,'' he added. |
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