Micro hydro system lights up Rumah Unyat in many ways

December 28, 2015, Monday Conny Banji, reporters@theborneopost.com

A child sleeps comfortably in his cradle with a table fan to cool the air.

KAPIT: Another 15 minutes left to 6pm. Juna Isau, 50, put on his shirt, grabbed hold of his parang and tied the nylon strap on its wooden sheath to his waist.

At the door, he put on his rubber shoes.
He then walked towards another end of his longhouse, knowing that he should reach his destination in 15 minutes.

It has become daily routine for the men of Rumah Unyat Chupong to check the generator house and the dam of a mini micro hydro system used by their longhouse at a specific time of the day.

The mini dam used by Rumah Unyat to tap hydro power.

The project was commissioned in the middle of this month, barely two months after work started.

The micro hydro system was developed for iM Sarawak under the 1Malaysia Sarawak Advisory Council (1MSAC).

It serves to add value to 1MSAC projects by providing a holistic approach in addressing the overall needs of the various native groups in the state. The main objective is to help improve their standard of living in the long term.

Using ‘run-of-river’ system, the system uses flowing water to power the generator to produce electricity.

This means it has relatively little impact on the surrounding ecology, as water would be diverted back into the river.

The micro hydro system is able to generate eight kilowatt of power round-the-clock for the 150 residents of the 27-door longhouse.

It is expected to last for at least 15 years.

The pipe that channels water from the dam to the generator house.

It all started in July last year when 1MSAC chairman Datuk Joseph Salang visited the 51-year-old Rumah Unyat, longhouse of the late Temenggong Tun Jugah Barieng. Salang also visited the proposed mini dam site at Sungai Sekusing, a tributary of Sungai Merirai—about 15 minutes walking distance from the longhouse.

Shortly after that visit, news filtered in that the project would be implemented for their longhouse.

The project at Rumah Unyat is the eighth implemented and commissioned by iM Sarawak in the state.

Juna said the project, done using ‘gotong royong’ style, involved the longhouse residents. Work started last October.

“We cut down crops and fruit trees to connect electric the cables from the generator station to the longhouse.

“There was no compensation, but that is just a small sacrifice. I would advise those who want this project implemented for their longhouse to do the same.

“I believe the benefits of the project are worth more than that (sacrifice),” he said.

Previously, his people relied heavily on diesel generators for electricity, and it cost them a minimum of RM200 per family per month.

Back then, lights were switched on from 6pm to 10pm only.

The tower where Tun Jugah used to sleep. The tower is fronting Sungai Merirai.

On festive occasions, like Gawai Dayak, he said the generator sets would run until midnight or till early hours the following morning.

“With the micro hydro in place, we do not have to spend money for diesel anymore.

“The system not only eases our financial burden but gives us 24-hour free power.”

Bayan Genta, Jacklin Melilid, Edwin Betong and Melina Banyah were among those who helped Rumah Unyat residents in the project.

The four travelled from their longhouses—Rumah Lugum Jenging at Nanga Taba and Rumah Michael Jantan at Nanga Bekatan in Ulu Kanowit, Julau—to Sungai Merirai in Kapit.

The journey from Nanga Bekatan in Julau to Nanga Merirai in Kapit is 10 hours long, using river and land transports.

This micro hydro system, which has been implemented in Rumah Lugum and Rumah Michael, much earlier, has transformed the lives of the folk there. Hence, the four were eager to help.

With experience gained from building the system for their longhouses, Bayan, Jacklin, Edwin and Melina responded to the call to help Rumah Unyat residents.

“We want to see another longhouse benefit from this project. So, we came in November this year to share what we know and to build the system together with the longhouse residents,” Edwin said.

He advised Rumah Unyat folk to set up a special fund for the maintenance of the system, like what Rumah Lugum and Rumah Michael have done.

He said Rumah Lugum and Rumah Michael collected RM5 per door every month for maintenance.

Maintenance involves greasing the bearings occasionally and cleaning the dam once every three months.

Tun Jugah’s granddaughter Jini Nabau, 56, said the provision of 24-hour electricity is making the lives of her people much easier.

She said this was because they were able to use electrical appliances such as washing machines, televisions, refrigerators, fans and lamps at any time.

“This means we no longer need to do house chores and other activities in the dark, and the students can spend more time studying at night.

“Previously, there are limitations to that,” she said.

Fellow longhouse resident Rantai Dinggun, in her 50s, said now she could start buying electrical appliances.

Rantai, who helped implement the micro hydro system, said currently she did not have a refrigerator or television.

“I will ask my children to buy them,” she said.

Juna finally arrived at the generator house. He checked the generator and noticed the bearings need to be greased.

From the house, he moved towards the mini dam—about another 10 minutes walking distance, looked around to check if there are fallen tree branches that could block the river.

It had rained heavily last night, and it seemed it would rain again that night.

That is a good thing for the micro hydro system.
Satisfied that all was well with the system, he headed back home.

My comments:

Only small, small dams benefit the poor rural folk.  When can they have the access to the electricity from the the big, big Bakun hydroelectric dam (about the size of Singapore as boasted by a political thug)?    Do these poor rural folk have any value more than the votes to win from them by hook or crook?  

Now with the threat from DAP's Impian Sarawak, iM has come into being to tackle this long term problem of 'power'.  

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/12/28/micro-hydro-system-lights-up-rumah-unyat-in-many-ways/#ixzz3vnSt4qFh

PKR chides Ahmad Maslan for his ‘two jobs’ advice in tackling rising cost of living

December 29, 2015, Tuesday

Voon Shiak Ni

KUCHING: Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan’s call for the people to hold two jobs if they wish to cushion the rising costs of living is not only insensitive, but also lacks passion and humanity, said PKR women national vice chief Voon Shiak Ni.

Voon, who is PKR Stampin branch vice chairperson, said given the slow economy that the country is currently facing, it is not easy even to get a monthly paid job, let alone get two jobs.

She said Malaysians would be most grateful if Ahmad could be more constructive by bringing the people’s problems to the federal government and work out better approaches and solutions to help the people cope with the rise in cost of living.

“No, I personally do not agree that one should do two jobs to cope with the rise in cost of living and we are not robots. It is also insensitive and uncalled for, for a minister to call on his

people to hold two jobs,” she told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.

Voon, who is PKR’s potential candidate for Batu Kitang, said Ahmad’s suggestion had invited outcry from the public, who had been made to tighten their purse strings due to the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), which had led to the escalation in the prices of goods .
“GST is ‘multi-stage’ tax that is collected at every stage of the production and distribution chain and across the board and adversely affected the lower income groups.

“As a result of this, prices of daily commodity such as eggs have now cost two times more than it was five years ago.”

She said PKR had suggested for GST to be implemented at a lower rate such as three per cent, as what was done in neighbouring Singapore and only increased to four per cent after nine years after implementation.

Additionally, Voon said Singapore’s government had taken measures to cushion the impact of GST for the lower income group to cope with the rising cost of living, including increasing grants for lower-income households and increased subsidies for some public services such as health and education.

She said another important point that the federal government could consider for Sarawak to cushion the rising cost of living was to axe the cabotage policy that had resulted in addition of costs of the goods imported to Sarawak from the peninsula.

Meanwhile, Ahmad took to the Twitter yesterday in defence of his statement that Malaysians should hold two jobs if they wish to tackle the rising cost of living by saying that he has three jobs himself.

He even said other Malaysians had also long held more than one job for an honest living and used the hastag ‘#2Kerja’ to denote two jobs.

Ahmad tweeted in Bahasa Malaysia which translated into: “I have three jobs: Member of Parliament, deputy minister, Umno information chief. Many in Malaysia are already holding two jobs #2Kerja. Work hard for halal income,” he posted using his Twitter handle @ahmadmaslan.

In the following tweet, he gave examples of people doing two jobs, such as farmers or village heads by day, who are grocery shop managers by night, rubber tappers doubling as farm workers in the evening and a mosque imam, who is also working in the oil palm plantation business.

Ahmad went on to say there were rules to be followed for holding two jobs that should be adhered to. However, there was no problem for those working on their own.

In another tweet, Ahmad said even opposition leaders Lim Guan Eng and Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail wore three hats. He asked why his suggestion to hold a job with an added online business ended up inciting anger and much criticism.

Lim is Penang Chief Minister, Air Puteh assemblyman and Bagan MP, while PKR president Dr Wan Azizah is the opposition chief, state assemblywoman for Kajang in Selangor, as well as Permatang Pauh MP.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/12/29/pkr-chides-ahmad-maslan-for-his-two-jobs-advice-in-tackling-rising-cost-of-living/#ixzz3vnH0OCmu

My comments:
Holding three posts like what Ahmad Maslan bluffed requires little physical effort.  Besides,  these are highly-paid posts to enjoy.  This kind of posts like what Ahmad Maslan is holding now, I believe 90% can hold 10 posts without much problem.  If I am not mistaken, some political thugs hold many, many, many posts as all these posts not only need little physical or mental effort but also enjoy good pay.  

It is very lucky of Ahmad Maslan for holding these coveted posts and boasts about his ability.   I wonder how much time and physical as well as mental energy he devotes to each post a day to boast about.  However, if you have to work eight hours for a job during the day, how much energy and time left for you to do another job. 

Saying that a person can do 2-3 jobs to deal with the rising cost of living is mindless or without any mental effort to think ways and possibilities to alleviate the heavy burden of people.  

Many UMNO political thugs just have all the luck to hold 3 - 10 or more posts with little time and physical effort to put forth but with the return in many folds.  Are these thugs not paid well and even paid in their sleep? 

Martin Luther King Jr. Biography

Civil Rights Activist, Minister (1929–1968)

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968.

Synopsis

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among many efforts, King headed the SCLC. Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the South and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. King was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of the most lauded African-American leaders in history, often referenced by his 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream."

 

Early Years

Born as Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was the middle child of Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. The King and Williams families were rooted in rural Georgia. Martin Jr.'s grandfather, A.D. Williams, was a rural minister for years and then moved to Atlanta in 1893. He took over the small, struggling Ebenezer Baptist church with around 13 members and made it into a forceful congregation. He married Jennie Celeste Parks and they had one child that survived, Alberta. Michael King Sr. came from a sharecropper family in a poor farming community. He married Alberta in 1926 after an eight-year courtship. The newlyweds moved to A.D. Williams home in Atlanta.

Michael King Sr. stepped in as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church upon the death of his father-in-law in 1931. He too became a successful minister, and adopted the name Martin Luther King Sr. in honor of the German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther. In due time, Michael Jr. would follow his father's lead and adopt the name himself.
Young Martin had an older sister, Willie Christine, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. The King children grew up in a secure and loving environment. Martin Sr. was more the disciplinarian, while his wife's gentleness easily balanced out the father's more strict hand. Though they undoubtedly tried, Martin Jr.’s parents couldn’t shield him completely from racism. Martin Luther King Sr. fought against racial prejudice, not just because his race suffered, but because he considered racism and segregation to be an affront to God's will. He strongly discouraged any sense of class superiority in his children which left a lasting impression on Martin Jr.

Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr. entered public school at age 5. In May, 1936 he was baptized, but the event made little impression on him. In May, 1941, Martin was 12 years old when is grandmother, Jennie, died of a heart attack. The event was traumatic for Martin, more so because he was out watching a parade against his parents' wishes when she died. Distraught at the news, young Martin jumped from a second story window at the family home, allegedly attempting suicide.

King attended Booker T. Washington High School, where he was said to be a precocious student. He skipped both the ninth and eleventh grades, and entered Morehouse College in Atlanta at age 15, in 1944. He was a popular student, especially with his female classmates, but an unmotivated student who floated though his first two years. Although his family was deeply involved in the church and worship, young Martin questioned religion in general and felt uncomfortable with overly emotional displays of religious worship. This discomfort continued through much of his adolescence, initially leading him to decide against entering the ministry, much to his father's dismay. But in his junior year, Martin took a Bible class, renewed his faith and began to envision a career in the ministry. In the fall of his senior year, he told his father of his decision.

Education and Spiritual Growth

In 1948, Martin Luther King Jr. earned a sociology degree from Morehouse College and attended the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He thrived in all his studies, and was valedictorian of his class in 1951, and elected student body president. He also earned a fellowship for graduate study. But Martin also rebelled against his father’s more conservative influence by drinking beer and playing pool while at college. He became involved with a white woman and went through a difficult time before he could break off the affair.
During his last year in seminary, Martin Luther King Jr. came under the guidance of Morehouse College President Benjamin E. Mays who influenced King’s spiritual development. Mays was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and encouraged King to view Christianity as a potential force for social change. After being accepted at several colleges for his doctoral study, including Yale and Edinburgh in Scotland, King enrolled in Boston University.

During the work on this doctorate, Martin Luther King Jr. met Coretta Scott, an aspiring singer and musician, at the New England Conservatory school in Boston. They were married in June 1953 and had four children, Yolanda, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott and Bernice. In 1954, while still working on his dissertation, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama. He completed his Ph.D. and was award his degree in 1955. King was only 25 years old.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

On March 2, 1955, a 15-year-old girl refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus in violation of local law. Claudette Colvin was arrested and taken to jail. At first, the local chapter of the NAACP felt they had an excellent test case to challenge Montgomery's segregated bus policy. But then it was revealed that she was pregnant and civil rights leaders feared this would scandalize the deeply religious black community and make Colvin (and, thus the group's efforts) less credible in the eyes of sympathetic whites.

On December 1, 1955, they got another chance to make their case. That evening, 42-year-old Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to go home from an exhausting day at work. She sat in the first row of the "colored" section in the middle of the bus. As the bus traveled its route, all the seats it the white section filled up, then several more white passengers boarded the bus. The bus driver noted that there were several white men standing and demanded that Parks and several other African Americans give up their seats. Three other African American passengers reluctantly gave up their places, but Parks remained seated. The driver asked her again to give up her seat and again she refused. Parks was arrested and booked for violating the Montgomery City Code. At her trial a week later, in a 30-minute hearing, Parks was found guilty and fined $10 and assessed $4 court fee.

On the night that Rosa Parks was arrested, E.D. Nixon, head of the local NAACP chapter met with Martin Luther King Jr. and other local civil rights leaders to plan a citywide bus boycott. King was elected to lead the boycott because he was young, well-trained with solid family connections and had professional standing. But he was also new to the community and had few enemies, so it was felt he would have strong credibility with the black community.

In his first speech as the group's president, King declared, "We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice."

Martin Luther King Jr.'s fresh and skillful rhetoric put a new energy into the civil rights struggle in Alabama. The bus boycott would be 382 days of walking to work, harassment, violence and intimidation for the Montgomery's African-American community. Both King's and E.D. Nixon's homes were attacked. But the African-American community also took legal action against the city ordinance arguing that it was unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court's "separate is never equal" decision in Brown v. Board of Education. After being defeated in several lower court rulings and suffering large financial losses, the city of Montgomery lifted the law mandating segregated public transportation.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Flush with victory, African-American civil rights leaders recognized the need for a national organization to help coordinate their efforts. In January 1957, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and 60 ministers and civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches. They would help conduct non-violent protests to promote civil rights reform. King's participation in the organization gave him a base of operation throughout the South, as well as a national platform. The organization felt the best place to start to give African Americans a voice was to enfranchise them in the voting process. In February 1958, the SCLC sponsored more than 20 mass meetings in key southern cities to register black voters in the South. King met with religious and civil rights leaders and lectured all over the country on race-related issues.

In 1959, with the help of the American Friends Service Committee, and inspired by Gandhi's success with non-violent activism, Martin Luther King visited Gandhi's birthplace in India. The trip affected him in a deeply profound way, increasing his commitment to America's civil rights struggle. African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had studied Gandhi's teachings, became one of King's associates and counseled him to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence. Rustin served as King's mentor and advisor throughout his early activism and was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. But Rustin was also a controversial figure at the time, being a homosexual with alleged ties to the Communist Party, USA. Though his counsel was invaluable to King, many of his other supporters urged him to distance himself from Rustin.

In February 1960, a group of African-American students began what became known as the "sit-in" movement in Greensboro, North Carolina. The students would sit at racially segregated lunch counters in the city's stores. When asked to leave or sit in the colored section, they just remained seated, subjecting themselves to verbal and sometimes physical abuse. The movement quickly gained traction in several other cities. In April 1960, the SCLC held a conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina with local sit-in leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged students to continue to use nonviolent methods during their protests. Out of this meeting, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee formed and for a time, worked closely with the SCLC. By August of 1960, the sit-ins had been successful in ending segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern cities.

By 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was gaining national notoriety. He returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church, but also continued his civil rights efforts. On October 19, 1960, King and 75 students entered a local department store and requested lunch-counter service but were denied. When they refused to leave the counter area, King and 36 others were arrested. Realizing the incident would hurt the city's reputation, Atlanta's mayor negotiated a truce and charges were eventually dropped. But soon after, King was imprisoned for violating his probation on a traffic conviction. The news of his imprisonment entered the 1960 presidential campaign, when candidate John F. Kennedy made a phone call to Coretta Scott King. Kennedy expressed his concern for King's harsh treatment for the traffic ticket and political pressure was quickly set in motion. King was soon released.

'I Have a Dream'

In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Entire families attended. City police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. Martin Luther King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, but the event drew nationwide attention. However, King was personally criticized by black and white clergy alike for taking risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration. From the jail in Birmingham, King eloquently spelled out his theory of non-violence: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue."

By the end of the Birmingham campaign, Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters were making plans for a massive demonstration on the nation's capital composed of multiple organizations, all asking for peaceful change. On August 28, 1963, the historic March on Washington drew more than 200,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It was here that King made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, emphasizing his belief that someday all men could be brothers.

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  — Martin Luther King, Jr. / "I Have A Dream" speech, August 28, 1963

The rising tide of civil rights agitation produced a strong effect on public opinion. Many people in cities not experiencing racial tension began to question the nation's Jim Crow laws and the near century second class treatment of African-American citizens. This resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 authorizing the federal government to enforce desegregation of public accommodations and outlawing discrimination in publicly owned facilities. This also led to Martin Luther King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for 1964.

King's struggle continued throughout the 1960s. Often, it seemed as though the pattern of progress was two steps forward and one step back. On March 7, 1965, a civil rights march, planned from Selma to Alabama's capital in Montgomery, turned violent as police with nightsticks and tear gas met the demonstrators as they tried to cross the Edmond Pettus Bridge. King was not in the march, however the attack was televised showing horrifying images of marchers being bloodied and severely injured. Seventeen demonstrators were hospitalized leading to the naming the event "Bloody Sunday." A second march was cancelled due to a restraining order to prevent the march from taking place. A third march was planned and this time King made sure he was on it. Not wanting to alienate southern judges by violating the restraining order, a different tact was taken. On March 9, 1965, a procession of 2,500 marchers, both black and white, set out once again to cross the Pettus Bridge and confronted barricades and state troopers. Instead of forcing a confrontation, King led his followers to kneel in prayer and they then turned back. The event caused King the loss of support among some younger African-American leaders, but it nonetheless aroused support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

From late 1965 through 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. expanded his Civil Rights Movement into other larger American cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles. But he met with increasing criticism and public challenges from young black-power leaders. King's patient, non-violent approach and appeal to white middle-class citizens alienated many black militants who considered his methods too weak and too late. In the eyes of the sharp-tongued, blue jean young urban black, King's manner was irresponsibly passive and deemed non-effective. To address this criticism King began making a link between discrimination and poverty. He expanded his civil rights efforts to the Vietnam War. He felt that America's involvement in Vietnam was politically untenable and the government's conduct of the war discriminatory to the poor. He sought to broaden his base by forming a multi-race coalition to address economic and unemployment problems of all disadvantaged people.

Assassination and Legacy

By 1968, the years of demonstrations and confrontations were beginning to wear on Martin Luther King Jr. He had grown tired of marches, going to jail, and living under the constant threat of death. He was becoming discouraged at the slow progress civil rights in America and the increasing criticism from other African-American leaders. Plans were in the works for another march on Washington to revive his movement and bring attention to a widening range of issues. In the spring of 1968, a labor strike by Memphis sanitation workers drew King to one last crusade. On April 3, in what proved to be an eerily prophetic speech, he told supporters, "I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land." The next day, while standing on a balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel, Martin Luther King Jr. was struck by a sniper's bullet. The shooter, a malcontent drifter and former convict named James Earl Ray, was eventually apprehended after a two-month, international manhunt. The killing sparked riots and demonstrations in more than 100 cities across the country. In 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He died in prison on April 23, 1998.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s life had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States. Years after his death, he is the most widely known African-American leader of his era. His life and work have been honored with a national holiday, schools and public buildings named after him, and a memorial on Independence Mall in Washington, D.C. But his life remains controversial as well. In the 1970s, FBI files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that he was under government surveillance, and suggested his involvement in adulterous relationships and communist influences. Over the years, extensive archival studies have led to a more balanced and comprehensive assessment of his life, portraying him as a complex figure: flawed, fallible and limited in his control over the mass movements with which he was associated, yet a visionary leader who was deeply committed to achieving social justice through nonviolent means.

Build Belaga-Ng Merit Road to prevent more river tragedies’

December 24, 2015, Thursday Lian Cheng, reporters@theborneopost.com

Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong

KUCHING: Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong wants the construction of Belaga-Ng Merit Road to be expedited to prevent more tragic accidents from happening along the Rajang River.

He wants the 153-km road which is to be constructed under the ‘Jiwa Murni’ programme to be given top priority and there should be no delay in getting the project started.

“The road is scheduled to be kicked off in January next year. And I hope there would not be any delay in the project. The project should be started as soon as possible,” Ugak told The Borneo Post yesterday.

Ugak was responding to a tragic boat accident on Tuesday evening at Long Buyun in which a longboat capsized and one passenger died, three were still missing while five managed to swim to the shore.

“Year after year during festive seasons either during Gawai or Christmas, unfortunate incidents like this *happened.

“While the memory of May 2013 express boat accident which took many lives is still vivid, now I have to witness children losing their lives again,” said Ugak.

Ugak said the place where the accident happened was only 50 metres away from the spot where two passengers drowned and two were still missing during a similar incident in May 2013.

“Once we have Belaga-Ng Merit Road, these longhouse folks will have the choice of using land transport. If there is basic infrastructure such as a connecting road, they will not be forced to use this treacherous part of the river to go back to their longhouses.”

He said though it had been raining in Kapit, water level in the river was still low.

“I hope by today (yesterday) or tomorrow, all the missing victims will be found,” said the first term federal lawmaker.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/12/24/build-belaga-ng-merit-road-to-prevent-more-river-tragedies/#ixzz3vJvyasOi

Another tragedy in the Rajang

December 24, 2015, Thursday Yunus Yussop, reporters@theborneopost.com

Strong waves, strong current cause boat carrying 9 people to capsize, 1 dead, 3 missing

The body of a woman recovered by the SAR personnel being pulled to the shore.

BELAGA: A longboat ferrying nine passengers capsized in Batang Rajang near Rumah Long Buyun in Belaga around 7 on Tuesday evening, resulting in four people reported missing while five others managed to swim to the shore.

It is believed that the boat sank after it was hit by strong waves.
Search and rescue (SAR) personnel recovered the body of 31-year-old Sahirza Mahir from Kampong Masapol Sipitang Sabah around 11am yesterday.

She was among the four female passengers including a four-year-old girl who went missing after the longboat capsized.

The body has been taken to Belaga polyclinic by police personnel.
The search continues for the other three missing passengers identified as Sumitasen Thomas, 15, Adriana Rosnah, 12, and Nur Amirsha, 4.

It is believed that they were on their way to Rumah Tanjong, Long Pawah in Belaga for vacation.

According to Edwin Minggu, 30, from Rh Tanjong Long Pawah, around 11am he and other villagers who joined the SAR operation spotted a body floating about 100 metres from the scene.

The five persons who survived the boat mishap were identified as Liam Kelilit (skipper), 50; Bungan Nyaleng, 50; Agnes Liam, 33; Olivia Ploma Thomas, 8 and Ayu, 4.

The boat used by the victims which was recovered by the SAR team.

‘Incident occurred not far from where an express boat capsized last year’

Agnes Liam lodged a police report about the incident at 3.49am yesterday, after which three police personnel led by Sub-Inspector Yusup Naraue rushed to the scene in a police boat.

A police source said the incident occurred not far from where an express boat capsized last year.

A distress call from Belaga police station was received by Bintulu Fire and Rescue Station (Bomba) at 8.27am yesterday.

Bintulu Bomba station chief Di Hata Gobel said, with assistance from the local villagers and Belaga volunteer firefighters, the SAR operation was immediately launched.

He said more volunteer firefighters from Belaga would be mobilised to assist in the SAR operation which was also joined by Civil Defence Department personnel.

The scene is located about one hour’s drive from Bintulu and another one hour by boat depending on river conditions.

As at press time, the SAR operation has been called off and will resume today (Dec 24) for safety reasons.

The location where the boat capsized.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/12/24/another-tragedy-in-the-rajang/#ixzz3vJs5pIcM

My comments:
With the construction of Bakun hydroelectric dam, the Rejang river is no longer safe for boats like the one shown in the picture.  How can our government allow such boat structure without any safety measures to ply the river?  I wonder if there is any law regulating the boat standard.

To be frank, I won't dare to take the kind of boat to travel on the Rejang river. It is just like dicing with death.  But the rural people have no choice and so ....

Sarawak DAP questions use of state funds to repay debts of its subsidiaries

The Malaysian Insider

22 December 2015

Sarawak DAP today questioned the usage of the state's development fund to repay the debts of its subsidiary companies.

Its state leader Chong Chieng Jen also accused the state government of circumventing the scrutiny of the legislative assembly, adding that such move would made it difficult to determine if corruption was involved.

"In the case of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the federal government transfers valuable land to 1MDB for the company to sell and repay the debt but in the Sarawak’s case, it is a direct allocation of development fund for these subsidiary companies to repay their loans,” the Kota Sentosa assemblyman told a press conference today.

He said for projects that were directly financed from the development allocations in the budget, the government had to list out and be answerable in the state legislative assembly on the details of the projects.

"However, under this mode of financing – through a loan taken up by the state government – the state is circumventing the requirement to be answerable to the assembly on the details of the projects."

Since 2006, the Sarawak state government had, on average, allocated more than RM1 billion of its development fund into an account called “Government Contribution Towards Approved Agencies” trust account, including a sum of RM1.418 billion in the Budget 2016.

“The state government has been very secretive on the operation of this account and has evaded many questions asked by me since 2010,” Chong said.

It was revealed in recent state legislative assembly meeting that billions of ringgit in the said account were used to repay the loan taken up by the state government through five of its subsidiary companies, namely Sarawak Capital Assets Sdn Bhd, SSG Capital Resources Sdn Bhd, SGOS Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd, Equisar Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn Bhd.

The financial statements of the “Government Contribution Towards Approved Agencies” trust account from 2011 to 2014 were tabled in state assembly recently showed that the state government had borrowed a total RM1.7 billion and US$3.373 billion (RM14.5 billion) for the past 10 years.

He said though it was stated in the financial statements that the loans were “Grants for Financing Various Projects”, there was no mention on the details of the said “projects”.

“Because the projects are financed through loans of the Sarawak state government’s subsidiary companies, technically, the state was not accountable to the assembly on the fundamental question whether the projects actually exist.”

Chong said he would pursue this issue for as long as he was an elected representative.

“The only way by which the state government can stop me from asking the questions is to stop me from getting re-elected,” said Chong, who is facing charge of participating in Bersih 4 rally.

He faces disqualification as an elected representative if he is convicted.

Chong had been raising questions on the missing development fund which he described as the “budget black hole”.

The state government had taken the matter to court suing Chong for defamation. It is now appealing the case which was struck out by the High Court. – December 22, 2015.

Mahatma Gandhi Biography Anti-War Activist (1869–1948)

Mahatma Gandhi Biography

Anti-War Activist (1869–1948)

 Synopsis

Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, Mahatma Gandhi studied law and advocated for the civil rights of Indians, both at home under British rule and in South Africa. Gandhi became a leader of India’s independence movement, organizing boycotts against British institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948.

Early Life

Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, India, which was then part of the British Empire. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as a chief minister in Porbandar and other states in western India. His mother, Putlibai, was a deeply religious woman who fasted regularly. Gandhi grew up worshiping the Hindu god Vishnu and following Jainism, a morally rigorous ancient Indian religion that espoused non-violence, fasting, meditation and vegetarianism.

Young Gandhi was a shy, unremarkable student who was so timid that he slept with the lights on even as a teenager. At the age of 13, he wed Kasturba Makanji, a merchant’s daughter, in an arranged marriage. In the ensuing years, the teenager rebelled by smoking, eating meat and stealing change from household servants.

In 1885, Gandhi endured the passing of his father and shortly after that the death of his young baby. Although Gandhi was interested in becoming a doctor, his father had hoped he would also become a government minister, so his family steered him to enter the legal profession. Shortly after the birth of the first of four surviving sons, 18-year-old Gandhi sailed for London, England, in 1888 to study law. The young Indian struggled with the transition to Western culture, and during his three-year stay in London, he became more committed to a meatless diet, joining the executive committee of the London Vegetarian Society, and started to read a variety of sacred texts to learn more about world religions.

Upon returning to India in 1891, Gandhi learned that his mother had died just weeks earlier. Then, he struggled to gain his footing as a lawyer. In his first courtroom case, a nervous Gandhi blanked when the time came to cross-examine a witness. He immediately fled the courtroom after reimbursing his client for his legal fees. After struggling to find work in India, Gandhi obtained a one-year contract to perform legal services in South Africa. Shortly after the birth of another son, he sailed for Durban in the South African state of Natal in April 1893.

Spiritual and Political Leader

When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, he was quickly appalled by the discrimination and racial segregation faced by Indian immigrants at the hands of white British and Boer authorities. Upon his first appearance in a Durban courtroom, Gandhi was asked to remove his turban. He refused and left the court instead. The Natal Advertiser mocked him in print as “an unwelcome visitor.”

A seminal moment in Gandhi’s life occurred days later on June 7, 1893, during a train trip to Pretoria when a white man objected to his presence in the first-class railway compartment, although he had a ticket. Refusing to move to the back of the train, Gandhi was forcibly removed and thrown off the train at a station in Pietermaritzburg. His act of civil disobedience awoke in him a determination to devote himself to fighting the “deep disease of color prejudice.” He vowed that night to “try, if possible, to root out the disease and suffer hardships in the process.” From that night forward, the small, unassuming man would grow into a giant force for civil rights.

Gandhi formed the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 to fight discrimination. At the end of his year-long contract, he prepared to return to India until he learned at his farewell party of a bill before the Natal Legislative Assembly that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. Fellow immigrants convinced Gandhi to stay and lead the fight against the legislation. Although Gandhi could not prevent the law’s passage, he drew international attention to the injustice.

After a brief trip to India in late 1896 and early 1897, Gandhi returned to South Africa with his wife and two children. Kasturba would give birth to two more sons in South Africa, one in 1897 and one in 1900. Gandhi ran a thriving legal practice, and at the outbreak of the Boer War, he raised an all-Indian ambulance corps of 1,100 volunteers to support the British cause, arguing that if Indians expected to have full rights of citizenship in the British Empire, they also needed to shoulder their responsibilities as well.

Gandhi continued to study world religions during his years in South Africa. “The religious spirit within me became a living force,” he wrote of his time there. He immersed himself in sacred Hindu spiritual texts and adopted a life of simplicity, austerity and celibacy that was free of material goods.

In 1906, Gandhi organized his first mass civil-disobedience campaign, which he called “Satyagraha” (“truth and firmness”), in reaction to the Transvaal government’s new restrictions on the rights of Indians, including the refusal to recognize Hindu marriages. After years of protests, the government imprisoned hundreds of Indians in 1913, including Gandhi. Under pressure, the South African government accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts that included recognition of Hindu marriages and the abolition of a poll tax for Indians. When Gandhi sailed from South Africa in 1914 to return home, Smuts wrote, “The saint has left our shores, I sincerely hope forever.”

Fight for Indian Liberation

After spending several months in London at the outbreak of World War I, Gandhi returned in 1915 to India, which was still under the firm control of the British, and founded an ashram in Ahmedabad open to all castes. Wearing a simple loincloth and shawl, Gandhi lived an austere life devoted to prayer, fasting and meditation. He became known as “Mahatma,” which means “great soul.”

In 1919, however, Gandhi had a political reawakening when the newly enacted Rowlatt Act authorized British authorities to imprison those suspected of sedition without trial. In response, Gandhi called for a Satyagraha campaign of peaceful protests and strikes. Violence broke out instead, which culminated on April 13, 1919, in the Massacre of Amritsar when troops led by British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators and killed nearly 400 people. No longer able to pledge allegiance to the British government, Gandhi returned the medals he earned for his military service in South Africa and opposed Britain’s mandatory military draft of Indians to serve in World War I.

Gandhi became a leading figure in the Indian home-rule movement. Calling for mass boycotts, he urged government officials to stop working for the Crown, students to stop attending government schools, soldiers to leave their posts and citizens to stop paying taxes and purchasing British goods. Rather than buy British-manufactured clothes, he began to use a portable spinning wheel to produce his own cloth, and the spinning wheel soon became a symbol of Indian independence and self-reliance. Gandhi assumed the leadership of the Indian National Congress and advocated a policy of non-violence and non-cooperation to achieve home rule.

After British authorities arrested Gandhi in 1922, he pleaded guilty to three counts of sedition. Although sentenced to a six-year imprisonment, Gandhi was released in February 1924 after appendicitis surgery. He discovered upon his release that relations between India’s Hindus and Muslims had devolved during his time in jail, and when violence between the two religious groups flared again, Gandhi began a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924 to urge unity.

The Salt March

After remaining away from active politics during much of the latter 1920s, Gandhi returned in 1930 to protest Britain’s Salt Acts, which not only prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt—a staple of the Indian diet—but imposed a heavy tax that hit the country’s poorest particularly hard. Gandhi planned a new Satyagraha campaign that entailed a 390-kilometer/240-mile march to the Arabian Sea, where he would collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly.

“My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through non-violence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India,” he wrote days before the march to the British viceroy, Lord Irwin. Wearing a homespun white shawl and sandals and carrying a walking stick, Gandhi set out from his religious retreat in Sabarmati on March 12, 1930, with a few dozen followers. The ranks of the marchers swelled by the time he arrived 24 days later in the coastal town of Dandi, where he broke the law by making salt from evaporated seawater.

The Salt March sparked similar protests, and mass civil disobedience swept across India. Approximately 60,000 Indians were jailed for breaking the Salt Acts, including Gandhi, who was imprisoned in May 1930. Still, the protests against the Salt Acts elevated Gandhi into a transcendent figure around the world, and he was named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” for 1930.

The Road to Independence

Gandhi was released from prison in January 1931, and two months later he made an agreement with Lord Irwin to end the Salt Satyagraha in exchange for concessions that included the release of thousands of political prisoners. The agreement, however, largely kept the Salt Acts intact, but it did give those who lived on the coasts the right to harvest salt from the sea. Hoping that the agreement would be a stepping-stone to home rule, Gandhi attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform in August 1931 as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference, however, proved fruitless.

Gandhi returned to India to find himself imprisoned once again in January 1932 during a crackdown by India’s new viceroy, Lord Willingdon. Later that year, an incarcerated Gandhi embarked on a six-day fast to protest the British decision to segregate the “untouchables,” those on the lowest rung of India’s caste system, by allotting them separate electorates. The public outcry forced the British to amend the proposal.

After his eventual release, Gandhi left the Indian National Congress in 1934, and leadership passed to his protégé Jawaharlal Nehru. He again stepped away from politics to focus on education, poverty and the problems afflicting India’s rural areas.

As Great Britain found itself engulfed in World War II in 1942, though, Gandhi launched the “Quit India” movement that called for the immediate British withdrawal from the country. In August 1942, the British arrested Gandhi, his wife and other leaders of the Indian National Congress and detained them in the Aga Khan Palace in present-day Pune. “I have not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside at the liquidation of the British Empire,” Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Parliament in support of the crackdown. With his health failing, Gandhi was released after a 19-month detainment, but not before his 74-year-old wife died in his arms in February 1944.

After the Labour Party defeated Churchill’s Conservatives in the British general election of 1945, it began negotiations for Indian independence with the Indian National Congress and Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League. Gandhi played an active role in the negotiations, but he could not prevail in his hope for a unified India. Instead, the final plan called for the partition of the subcontinent along religious lines into two independent states—predominantly Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Violence between Hindus and Muslims flared even before independence took effect on August 15, 1947. Afterwards, the killings multiplied. Gandhi toured riot-torn areas in an appeal for peace and fasted in an attempt to end the bloodshed. Some Hindus, however, increasingly viewed Gandhi as a traitor for expressing sympathy toward Muslims.

Assassination

In the late afternoon of January 30, 1948, the 78-year-old Gandhi, still weakened from repeated hunger strikes, clung to his two grandnieces as they led him from his living quarters in New Delhi’s Birla House to a prayer meeting. Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse, upset at Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims, knelt before the Mahatma before pulling out a semiautomatic pistol and shooting him three times at point-blank range.
The violent act took the life of a pacifist who spent his life preaching non-violence. Godse and a co-conspirator were executed by hanging in November 1949, while additional conspirators were sentenced to life in prison.

Death and Legacy

Even after his death, Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence and his belief in simple living—making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest—have been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today, and Gandhi’s actions inspired future human rights movements around the globe, including those of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States and Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

日照丰沛的我国，未来还需要核电吗？

163

核能发电课题儘管尚未在我国引爆，但我国考虑发展核能却是不爭的事实。大马核能机构（MNPC）料在明年展开核能课题的全国宣传，为核电厂铺路的法令將在3月提呈国会，而当局在確认建址后才会收集民意。

同时，东盟多国都有发展核电的打算，越南已决定建设2座核电厂，印尼及泰国分別计划在2020年及2031年完成建设；若取得人民同意，我国则预计在2025年建设首座核电厂，发电容量为2GW。

我曾询问大马核能机构首席执行员莫哈末占嘉法，日照丰沛的我国，为何需要核能发电？他说，再生能源面对无法持续发电（intermittent）的问题，但用户不能因为没有日照，就不用电，为了稳定电供，必须选择核能。

然而，日本在福岛核灾后改用电力回购制收购民间绿能，环境能源研究所（ISEP）的饭田哲也就揭露，日本的再生能源在2011年3月事件发生后就暴增97%，2014年的太阳能发电量从9GW飆升至24GW，另有60GW的太阳能发电已获批准，等待安装。

饭田哲也说，24GW的太阳能发电量已成功让日本度过夏日的用电高峰，而九州电力公司更曾在用电需求低时，要求种子岛的民营太阳能发电厂停止发电7小时，避免供电失衡而断电。

此外，隨著全球多国转向再生能源，再生能源的储电技术也开始起飞。日本东芝正致力开发以氢电池储存太阳能的技术，各国科学家也在开发「人工光合作用」技术，將太阳能转为氢燃料。

在使用再生能源多年的欧洲，爱尔兰奥法利郡罗德岛就设置了飞轮（flywheel）混合能源储存系统。2017年启用的该系统將能协调来自风力、太阳能等地电力，划时代地解决「再生能源电力无法储存」的问题。

回过头来，我国若是打算在2025年才建设首座核电厂，当时的再生能源技术可能已是今日无法想像的境地，无法持续发电的问题也可能已经解决，发电成本更肯定会持续降低。

届时，日照丰沛的我国，是否还需要核能发电？到时候若坚持核能发电，又是否等于將別人弃之敝屣的技术，捡回来使用？这岂不是捨本逐末、捨近求远吗？

巫统史观的意识型態机器

136

巫统大会过了，巫伊结盟来了，就连所谓的「第二刘蝶广场」也开张大吉了。净选盟的滚滚五十万黄潮东逝水，浪花淘尽英雄狗熊，反而三几十人的红潮突起，从巫统大会的「小红书」开始红起，还烧到了「大家购物中心」。背后的「那些事儿」，也和巫统的权力保卫战息息相关。

从警方到公务员系统，甚至大部分的马来群眾都默默的认可了「巫统史观」的核心价值；否则，国阵和在野党222位国会议员当中，竟无一名马来议员公然反对「第二刘蝶广场」之设，也足以教人拍案惊奇了。
非马来人在「巫统史观」底下，固然被列为「外来者」和二等公民，马来人思维更深陷巫统史观的隱形监狱，只能在巫统、伊斯兰党和公正党打转；一日不打开牢笼，巫统即使败选，巫统史观仍然主宰了绝大部分马来人的心灵。

而打造巫统史观的四大神器，就是教科书、干训局、马来报与博物馆。清真寺的作用反而被高举宗教旗帜的伊党掌控了，尤其是巫统没有一位在精神、道德上足以作为典范的「魅力型领袖」，更是如此。

马来人与土著佔大马人口60.3%之谱，但在大马的环境，却是「一个土著，各自表述」；非穆斯林土著与穆斯林土著的命运並不一致，就连拿政府工程和 申请奖学金也有不同的待遇。教科书对「非穆斯林土著」的题材著墨不多，以致不少大马人仍然把土著、伊斯兰教视为「不可分割的一部分」，实在是大错特错。把 「非穆斯林土著」列为土著，旨在强化巫统史观之论述，既土著是大马的主要人口，是真正的主人。

即便是马来穆斯林，在巫统史观主导下，他们只能在单一的教科书中接受巫统「建党建国」的伟大论述，没有机会理解英殖民时期的其他马来政治运动，如马 来左翼和马共的歷史。大多数华人青年知道陈平是马共总书记，大部分马来人却不知道马共主席是一名叫阿都拉西迪的马来穆斯林，马共还有一支以马来人为主的游 击队（第十支队）。官方教科书里的马共，几乎成为华人专属，与马来人无尤，这在识者眼中当然是一大笑话，但却是官方想要达致蒙昧群眾的手段。

官方教科书如此，马来民间也鲜有不跟巫统史观唱反调的歷史读本，长期以降，思想定格，也难以突破意识型態的牢笼，「只有巫统能维护马来人」的政治口 號也就被植入脑海，成为马来人的集体记忆。308,505两届大选的马来选票仍控制在巫统手里，与此息息相关。许多马来人仍然无法想像，没有了巫统以后的 世界；可见巫统史观荼毒之深。

教科书己將马来人和非马来人划分为不同的马来西亚公民，政治口號搞再多的1Malaysia，也就无法取信于人。说到底，这不过是一种博取选票的公 关手段。也因此，在政客和跟班高唱「一个大马，以民为先」，扮起白脸的时候，长期宏扬巫统史观的国家干训局（BTN）也就扮了黑脸，宣称华人与印度人为 「外来者」，两路夹击，软硬兼施。

干训局是国家机构，干的却是党务；吃的是公粮，吐的是党话。它长期向大学生和公务员搞思想工作，宣扬马来人主权和贬低其他族裔的地位，形同巫统史观的宣传机器，在资讯时代终于踢到了铁板。不愿接受洗脑的学员甚把內容放上YouTube，揭翻了底牌。

自此，巫统史观也就受到非马来人青年的挑战，也影响了国阵的政治版图；马来青年奔向火箭的动作，更是对巫统史观开了一枪。

STU not in favour of bringing in English teachers from India

December 15, 2015, Tuesday

SIBU: The idea of engaging the services of English language teachers from India does not augur well with Sarawak Teachers Union (STU), in that the move may deprive local graduates of the opportunity to teach the subject.

Union president Jisin Nyud believed that such chance should be given to local graduates.

“If these (local) teachers are insufficiently competent, we still can send them for up-skilling, just like what the ministry is doing now.

“It’s not that we’re saying the teachers from India are not proficient; it’s just that by recruiting locals, the government could save costs,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Jisin believed that there were so many things that could be done to improve schools, “if we had allocations”.

“However, if we really want to improve in schools, then the Dual Language Program (DLP) can serve as one of the solutions and it should be extended to all schools,” he added.

Jisin was commenting on Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan’s recent statement that the government was committed to increasing the number of English language teachers through various means, including the English Language Teachers From India (ELTI) programme.

His remarks were made in replying to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Boon Som Inong in Dewan Negara.

Kamalanathan was quoted by Bernama as saying that retired English language teachers still had the opportunity to teach again, as an effort to overcome the shortage of teachers in that subject.

He, however, pointed out these teachers were only willing to teach close to the location of their residence.

On this, Jisin said some of them might not mind being posted outside their areas, but several factors had to be considered.

He understood that the retirees might not be able to move around as much as they could during their younger days.

He also agreed that in schools, these contract retirees should not be given other tasks aside from teaching.

“In this aspect, we need to consider (assigning) retirees who are within the vicinity (of the school). Apart from making full use of their experience and knowledge, we also want these retirees to be healthy.

“For the selection process, it is better for it to be done by the district education office and also schools,” he suggested.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/12/15/stu-not-in-favour-of-bringing-in-english-teachers-from-india/#ixzz3ukr7MVVl