Tag: Tourism

Society

Sabah’s sea gypsies’ unending citizenship woes

Sabah Insights

Stateless Bajaus Laut remain discriminated as the Borneo state celebrates their culture

Joniston Bangkuai

It is ironic that the culture of a small group of stateless people has become an integral part of Sabah’s heritage and is celebrated with much pageantry every year. The annual Regatta Lepa, a colourful boat race, of the Bajau Laut or sea gypsies will be staged for two days from November 23 for the 29th time in  the southeastern idyllic resort town of Semporna. Yet these nomads, about a few thousands of them, are discriminated and denied Malaysian citizenship. And it begs the question why they remain stateless while their culture has become Malaysian.

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Business

Sabah Hospitality Fiesta banks on a lopsided deal

Sabah Insights

When forgoing a million ringgit profit is an opportunity cost

Contestants don’t lack ideas in concocting their best culinary fare.

Trade exhibitions are big money spinners. And so, it surprises that the Sabah and Labuan Chapter of the Malaysian Association of Hotels and ATI College have given up staging their very successful food and beverage exhibition which they launched just last year to Informa Markets, a British firm reputed to be one of the leading organisers of exhibitions. Instead, they have partnered Informa in what looks like a lopsided deal to host the “trade-only” Food and Hospitality Malaysia, Borneo Edition, a very much smaller version of its FHM expo in Kuala Lumpur that brings sellers and buyers together. And in the process MAH-SLC and ATI College handed to Informa about RM1m ($235,000) in profit for hosting the three-day FHM, Borneo Edition, from September 26 to 28 at the Sabah International Convention Centre in Kota Kinabalu. Both MAH-SLC and ATI College have gained nothing more than the free use of one of the three exhibition halls from Informa for their popular Sabah Hospitality Fiesta which is in its 24th year.

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Sports

World’s toughest mountain race is back with a bang

Sabah Insights

Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon has not lost its shine after a six-year absence

Kilian Jornet Burgada, 36, Spain’s fastest mountain runner

Top mountain runners have made a beeline for the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon which is making a comeback on October 6 after a six-year absence. And this proves that the world’s toughest race up and down Malaysia’s tallest peak at 4,095 metres (13, 435 feet) in Sabah has not become less appealing although the field has been kept small. They include Spain’s record-breaking Kilian Jornet Burgada, 36, who was the fastest man at the 2007 race by clocking two hours, 39 minutes and 10 seconds over a 21-km (13-mile) distance. He also holds the record for being the fastest man at the Matterhorn (4,478 metres) and Mont Blanc (4,805 metres) in the Alps in Europe. There are 206 participants, six more than targeted, in three categories: men (74), women (60) and veteran men (72). There is no veteran women category because previous races weren’t encouraging, according to the race officials. The distance for this year’s race is 26km. Before the 2015 earthquake which killed 18 people on the mountain, the climbathon, held over two days, attracted 700 runners

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Environment

An eyesore that is a pot of gold

Sabah Insights

Poor Sembulan Tengah villagers stand to be millionaires overnight

Dilapidated wooden stilt houses at Sembulan Tengah water village.

To say that Sembulan Tengah is an eyesore is an understatement. The 42-acre (17-hectare) water village whose history dates back to the early 20th century with the setting up of an ethnic Chinese fishing settlement has become not just an obnoxious rubbish dump but a shelter for illegal immigrants and criminals. Yet about 3,000 of the villagers, who are mostly locals, are defying eviction. Their 200 wooden stilt houses surrounded by high-rise buildings which include luxurious hotels, shopping malls, shops and offices, are standing on a pot of gold in the heart of Kota Kinabalu. Land here fetches a premium. And the villagers are looking forward anxiously to another meeting with the Kota Kinabalu mayor on October 8 to resolve the problem. The first one ended without a definitive solution on September 21 but with City Hall and the Lands and Surveys Department saying that the villagers would not be evicted for now.

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Tourism

Power to the people

Sabah Insights

Tanjung Aru Beach Festival has galvanized Sabahans’ opposition to TAED

Sunset at Tanjung Aru Beach – Picture by Sri Pelangcongan Sabah

Ten years after its launching, the 7.1-billion-ringgit Tanjung Aru Eco Development to turn Sabah’s most famous and spectacular 2-km beach into a tourism hub remains in limbo all because of opposition from Sabahans and environmentalists. And this has led Christina Liew, minister of tourism, environment and culture, to quip that she has been reminded of “how powerful our community is” in a speech to launch the two-day Tanjung Aru Beach Festival at Prince Philip Park in Kota Kinabalu which ended on September 22. Her speech, which was delivered by her assistant Joniston Bangkuai, paid tribute to Sabahans for being a “living testament to their talent, creativity, and resilience” in their participation of the festival. And if the bosses of TAED think that the festival will mitigate the people’s objection to their project, they are wrong. Rather the festival has galvanized Sabahans’ opposition to it.

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Sports

A quake hangover nine years on

Sabah Insights

Kinabalu climbathon’s return on Oct 6 after a six-year break is looking subdued

Mount Kinabalu climbathon: only seasoned mountain runners allowed

Hailed as the toughest mountain race, the Mount Kinabalu climbathon is making a comeback on Oct 6 after a six-year absence. But an earthquake in 2015 that killed 18 climbers has dampened its spirit and changed the face of the 26-kilometre climbathon. Registration opens today (June 4) but is restricted to seasoned mountain runners and capped at 200 as the participants’ safety is prioritised. Before the earthquake, more than 700 runners took part in the climbathon which was spread over two days: one for the seasoned runners and the other for almost anyone.

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Education

The road less travelled

Sabah Insights

Three girls beat the odds in their tourism studies to come up on top

ATI College’s top students: from left to right: Iman Maryam, Melissa Wong and Nurul Syahanah.

School leavers are at a crossroad when it comes to choosing their careers. Many would take the traditional path: study law, accountancy, medicine, dentistry, engineering or architecture. Some would be happy just to grab the first job that comes along after obtaining their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (school leaving certificate). But ATI College’s top students Iman Maryam, Melissa Mercedes Wong Thien Eng and Nurul Syahanah binti Annuar have taken the road less travelled and proven themselves right in choosing tourism. It is Sabah’s fourth most important industry contributing about 10 per cent to its gross domestic product (GDP). Tourism earned the state RM13b last year and employs 430,000 people, about a fifth of Sabah’s 1.9m workforce. The hotel and food and beverage industry employs 193,000 people, about half of all tourism employees.

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Business

Hajiji’s TAED dilemma

Sabah Insights

After 10 years, a grandiose playground for the super-rich remains in limbo

An artist’s impression of the Tanjung Aru Eco Development project.
Hajiji Noor

It was to have rivaled Bali. But Sabah’s grandiose multi-billion-ringgit playground for the super-rich at Tanjung Aru beach never took off. The two-km long beach is reputed to be one of the world’s best offering spectacular sunrise and sunset. Launched by former chief minister Musa Aman in 2013 during a ground-breaking ceremony, the project has stalled because of objections from the public and environmentalists over a massive land reclamation plan, sales of the reclaimed land, and doubts over public access to the beach. And after 10 years, the project remains in limbo as the vagaries of politics have dampened investors’ interest. Now chief minister Hajiji Noor has given the Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) which would have then cost RM7.1 billion a glimmer of hope.

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Education

A friend indeed

Sabah Insights

Founder says ATI College owes its success to former tourism minister Bernard Dompok

Wong Khen Thau (left) and Bernard Dompok

It was a poignant moment for Wong Khen Thau, the founder of ATI College at its 26th convocation on February 29 at the Magellan Sutera Resort in Kota Kinabalu. Twenty-eight years ago, the hotel industry didn’t think much of his tourism school founded in 1996 which was offering short courses in food and beverage, housekeeping and front office operations. But one man had faith in him: Bernard Dompok, then Sabah tourism minister. His instinct as a trained property valuer told him Mr Wong would succeed. He despatched the first batch of 40 government sponsored students to the Asian Tourism Institute as it was then known. From that small start, the ATI College has produced more than 12,000 skilled workers for the hotel industry.

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Wildlife

The strange death of an orangutan

Sabah Insights

Environmentalists scramble for answers as a post mortem is inconclusive

An orangutan, man’s second closest cousin.

A dead male orangutan found floating on the Kinabatangan river in northeast Sabah last week has sent environmentalists scrambling for answers as a post-mortem failed to find the cause of his death. The autopsy performed by a veterinarian at the Danau Girang Field Centre as soon as the orangutan was found has ruled out foul play saying there were no gunshot wounds in the 10-year-old primate’s body. The DGFC run by Sabah Wildlife Department and Britain’s Cardiff University studies wildlife. No bones were broken. Neither were there any signs of an attack except for a bruise in the neck that could have been caused by a fall from a tree into the river, according to Christina Liew, minister of tourism, culture and environment. Augustine Tuuga, Sabah wildlife director, said the orangutan might have drowned. These arboreal anthropoid apes can’t swim. Yet the post-mortem didn’t say that the orangutan drowned. His organs are said to be healthy. Ms Liew said the orangutan’s heart, lungs, kidney, gallbladder and liver would be sent to a laboratory for further investigation.

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