By Lian Cheng and Peter Sibon
SERIAN, Feb 15: Serian is a success story where people like Moggie Beliang who was working in the hotel industry in Kuala Lumpur for 15 years is finally able to come back home and find a job he loves most – being the manager of Roxy Hotel Serian.
“I’m very grateful that I got this job. Now, I’m back home and living close with my family,” Moggie told DayakDaily.
Even as an outsider who hails from Sri Aman, Moggie now calls Serian home and is happy that it offers visitors and residents modern shopping hypermarket such as the La Pa Pa.
“We have two types of vibes here. One is at the old town and this place, La Pa Pa. even at night time, we have people patronizing this place. So, Serian is vibrant not only during the day time but at evening time as well,” he said.
Moggie is very optimistic that Serian will bloom due to its strategic location connecting Kalimantan to Kuching.
“It is a strategic town where travelers from Kuching will stop by to take a break while those from Kalimantan will spend a night before making their way to Kuching,” he told DayakDaily.
No one can blame him for being optimistic. Even before Indonesia shifts its capital to Kalimantan, for the Roxy Hotel which he is now managing, occupancy rate is stabilized at between 20-30 per cent.
“But on festive seasons such as during last Christmas, it was fully booked because many wanted to witness the solar eclipsed on December 26,” he said.
Moggie is looking forward for more activities being organized in Serian to further boost the town.
“Now that we have a 3-star hotel here and places to visits nearby such as Ranchan Pool and Taman Danu, we hoped Serian will be a place where people would converge either for business or for leisure,” he added.
Meanwhile, a resident of Taman Anggerik Chai Tze Siong, 70, was most satisfied with the pace of development in Serian.
“I am really happy with the development taking place in Serian. Now, we have a very big supermarket which is air-conditional. It is a good place to hang out.
“Then, there are many more shoplots coming up. We practically can get anything we need here in Serian. There is no need to go Kuching,” said a beaming Chai.
On the two flyovers, Chai said the opening of one of them had already reduced traffic jam and he was most impressed with the attention the authorities giving to Serian.
“Traffic has improved a lot. Actually, Serian is fast developing. I was also informed that there will be more development around the lake area (Taman Danu Lake) where there will be another supermarket coming up.
“I am very happy with all this development. That means people of Serian how have many places to go,” added Chai. —DayakDaily
