Day: May 26, 2024

KUCHING, The National Journalists’ Day (HAWANA) 2024 celebration now in its second day, continues to be lively with an array of exciting programmes.

In addition to academic sessions, the festivities are also enlivened by a leisure activity known as ‘Juh Raon’, aimed at showcasing the unique culture and latest developments in the Land of the Hornbills.

‘Juh Raon’, meaning ‘let’s go wandering’ in Sarawak Malay, involves 75 media practitioners from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and abroad.

They will visit iconic locations in Kuching, including the Borneo Cultures Museum, Darul Hana Bridge and Dataran Ibu Pertiwi and the day culminates in a tea reception and networking session at the English Tea House restaurant.

Meanwhile, the HAWANA 2024 Exhibition at the Main Atrium, Plaza Merdeka, enters its second day with 20 booths from various agencies showcasing their services. This exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to gather information and participate in various activities.

Visitors will also have the chance
to view classic equipment such as cameras, radios, recording devices and video cameras and learn about the history of media in Sarawak. The exhibition is open from 10 am to 5 pm.

The exhibition involves several agencies, including the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), Sarawak Public Communications Unit (UKAS), TVS, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), FINAS, Department of Information (Japen), Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), Kuching Division Journalists Association (KDJA) and UDA Holdings Berhad.

Meanwhile, the two-day Sarawak Media Conference (SMEC) 2024, themed ‘Media Evolution in the Digital Era,’ kicks off today with the participation of around 600 local and international attendees.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg will officiate the conference, which is a key component of the HAWANA 2024 programme.

Tonight, participants of HAWANA 2024 will be honoured at a dinner hosted by Sarawak Governor, Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

HAW
ANA 2024 is attended by about 1,000 media practitioners from over 11 countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Brunei, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, China, South Korea and Qatar.

This major gathering of Malaysian journalists is organised by the Ministry of Communications, in collaboration with the Sarawak government with Bernama as the implementing agency.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

A total of 11,598 or 99.79 percent of the total 11,622 eligible voters cast their votes in the 4th Election of Capital, Provincial, Municipal, District, and Khan Councils held at 209 polling stations across the country on May 26.

The preliminary figure was shared by the National Election Committee (NEC) in a dissemination meeting with stakeholders on the election’s general situation, held at the NEC’s headquarters in Phnom Penh this evening.

‘Overall, the general election environment was conducive to a smooth, non-violent, non-intimidating and non-obstructive election process,’ said NEC Chairman H.E. Prach Chan. ‘We can consider that the election was conducted in a free, fair and just manner with proud results.’

According to H.E. Prach Chan, NEC has been cooperating with the National Television of Cambodia (TVK) to broadcast the preliminary results, starting from tonight. At the same time, the results will also be announced through the National Radio of Cambodia (RNK), and NEC’s website (electresult.nec.go
v.kh), App (NEC KH), YouTube, and Facebook page.

Five political parties – including of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), the Khmer Will Party, the National Power Party, the FUNCINPEC Party, and the Khmer National United Party – took part in the political race.

The 11,622 registered voters are members of the commune and Sangkat councils. They to cast two votes: one for the municipal, district, and Khan councils, and another for the capital and provincial councils.

There are 1,652 communes and 209 municipalities, districts, and khans for the election, and there are 559 seats for members of the capital and provincial councils and 3,641 seats for municipal, district, and khan councils.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

SHAH ALAM, Local authorities (PBT) are encouraged to employ arborists to improve landscape management in each municipal area, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said.

He said for this purpose, all PBT landscape employees should attend arborist courses organised by the National Landscape Department to ensure this goal is achieved.

Acknowledging that some PBTs face financial challenges when it comes to tree maintenance, he said the initiative to employ arborists should be accompanied by efforts to streamline tree inventory in their respective administrative areas.

‘For instance, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) already has an inventory, so they know which trees, what type and whether they are healthy or need to be pruned according to schedule.

‘Tree health care, maintenance and inventory are crucial, especially for older trees,’ he said.

He was speaking to newsmen after officiating the closing ceremony of the Green Urban Forum 2024 and in conjunction with National Landscape Day (HLN) 2024 here
today.

At the same event, Nga launched the book ‘200 Malaysia’s Native Trees For Street Planning’, which will later be distributed to each PBT as a guide to improve tree management in urban areas.

Nga also said that the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) is targeting at least RM1 billion in export value involving the sale of landscape products within the country by the end of this year.

He said the organisation of HLN is one of the ministry’s efforts toward achieving this target, where the country can showcase achievements, innovations, technologies and products related to the landscape industry.

‘We have identified several high-potential markets such as Singapore, where most of the trees and landscape products used are purchased from Malaysia,’ he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUCHING, Nearly 1,000 local and international media practitioners were feted at a dinner reception hosted by the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Sarawak Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar at a hotel here tonight.

Earlier, Wan Junaidi and his wife, Toh Puan Fauziah Mohd Sanusi, were received by Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and his wife, Puan Sri Juma’ani Tuanku Bujang, were also in attendance.

Also present were the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman, Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, its chief executive officer, Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, and editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj.

The event was in conjunction with the Sarawak Media Conference (SMeC) 2024 as part of the National Journalists’ Day 2024 (HAWANA 2024) celebration.

Themed ‘Etika Teras Kewartawanan Mapan,’ the three-day event kicked off yesterday, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will officiate the celebration’s highlight tomorrow.

Besides the local media fraternity, HAWANA 2024 is att
ended by media practitioners from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Brunei, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, China, South Korea, Qatar, and France.

This year’s celebration is the fourth edition since its introduction in 2018, which was held in Kuala Lumpur. Melaka and Perak hosted the event in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

To appreciate the contributions and services of media practitioners, May 29 every year has been gazetted as HAWANA since 2018.

The largest gathering of Malaysian journalists is being organised by the Communications Ministry in collaboration with the Sarawak state government, with Bernama being the implementing agency.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KANGAR, A total of 86.99 million trees, comprising 1,823 species, have been planted nationwide since the launch of the 100 Million Trees Planting Campaign in 2021.

Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministy (NRES) secretary-general, Datuk Dr Ching Thoo a/l Kim, said his ministry consistently supports and encourages any interested parties in realising the Greening Malaysia Agenda through the campaign, in line with efforts to instill awareness and a love for the natural resources heritage in the country.

“Perlis is also actively involved in the success of this campaign. I have been informed that to date, Perlis has successfully recorded the planting of nearly one million trees (as of May 14, a total of 940,421 trees planted), which is a very commendable achievement,” he said.

He said this in his speech at the Nakawan Rainforest Festival in conjunction with the Perlis State-level International Day of Forests celebration for the year 2024 at Dataran Pejabat Hutan Daerah Perlis Selatan, Sungai B
atu Pahat Ecotourism Area, here today.

The festival was officiated by the Regent of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail, who was accompanied by Raja Puan Muda Perlis Tuanku Dr Hajah Lailatul Shahreen Akashah Khalil. Also present was Perlis Menteri Besar, Mohd Shukri Ramli.

Ching Thoo added that Malaysia remains committed to preserving and rehabilitating forested areas throughout the country and is committed to maintaining at least 50 percent of the nation’s land area covered by trees and forested areas, in line with the country’s commitment during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.

“At present, the country’s forested area covers 18 million hectares or 54.58 percent of the nation’s land area. At the federal level, the Government has updated and introduced the National Biological Diversity Policy 2022-2030 and the Malaysian Forestry Policy to strengthen efforts in forest conservation and biodiversity conservation in the states.

“In addition, the Fourth National Physical Plan (R
FN) also targets a total of 50 percent forested areas in Peninsular Malaysia by the year 2040,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the National Forestry Act (Amendment) 2022 was gazetted on September 20, 2022, at the federal level, and to date, Perlis is the first and only state to have fully adopted all proposed amendments to the legislation.

“Congratulations to the Perlis State Forestry Department and the Perlis State Government for taking responsibility and acting promptly in the adoption of the National Forestry Act (Amendment) 2022 at the state level,” he said.

In addition, he said financial incentives for biodiversity and forest conservation (Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation – EFT) have been increased to RM200 million this year from RM150 million in 2023 to assist state governments in rehabilitating and establishing protected areas.

For Perlis, Since 2019, the state has received EFT allocations totaling RM16.99 million (2019 to 2024).

Source: BERNAMA News Agency