By Simon Bay
If one travels from the Kuching International Airport down to Kuching city, a giant statue of a hornbill can be seen at the BDC or Hui Sing flyover to welcome any visitors to the city.
In Sarawak, the Hornbill (burung kenyalang) is a specially revered bird among the locals. Hornbills are known to be a sharing species and its common to see them passing food amongst each other. It is also a highly protected species under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance since 1998 with strict punishment against those who hunt or keep the birds as pets.
Interestingly, Sarawak is also known as the Land of the Hornbills, hence making the special bird a pride and a state symbol. Kudos to our past and present leaders who wisely accorded the respect to the hornbill by choosing the bird as the state’s symbol. The hornbill is a majestic bird and a symbol of strength for Sarawakians.
Formation of GPS for a better Sarawak
On January 9, 2019, a new dawn enters into Sarawak’s politics when Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) was officially formed and the logo, depicting the kenyalang, was unveiled by the Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg at the PBB Headquarters, in Kuching.
In the shape of the letter ‘S’, Abang Johari says the main concept of the GPS logo depicting the kenyalang reflects the vision and slogan of the party of putting ‘Sarawak First’.
He explains that the unveiling ceremony is a historic day for Sarawak politics because they have formed a coalition party based on ‘anak-anak’ Sarawak to lead and give direction to serve the interests of Sarawakians in Malaysia.”
As the kenyalang is a highly protected species, it is therefore literally incumbent that all GPS members should continuously protect the people of Sarawak.
Abang Johari says the red colour on the logo reflects the supremacy of both the Federal and State constitutions while the white colour represents the fairness of the Rule of Law and the black colour symbolises the pillar of the coalition to uphold its objective.
The three colours manifest that GPS is a coalition that will defend Sarawak’s rights in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Malaysia and Sarawak constitutions, he further said.
In line with the spirit of democracy, he said GPS will continue to bring fairness and justice to all races and religions in Sarawak and ensure that Sarawak will be able to develop and bring added value to the lives and economy of the state. “Your religion is your religion, my religion is my religion,” he always stresses in echoing his predecessor and emphasising the freedom of religion in Sarawak.
“For the GPS members, let us all walk together to defend Sarawak,” said Abang
Johari to the four founding parties of GPS – Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
And this year marks the fifth year Abang Johari is helming the state after taking over from his predecessor, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem on January 13, 2017. Since then, Abang Johari has been relentlessly moving on the ground to continue the legacy of Tok Nan to make sure that Sarawak is heading into the right direction towards achieving development and progress.
More than 100 Initiatives
To date, Abang Johari has implemented more than 100 initiatives which are actually a record of some sort bearing in mind the number of years he was made the Chief Minister. This clearly contemplates his seriousness and concern in solving the rakyat’s problem and in line with the slogan ‘Sarawak First’.
Of course, some of the initiatives are in the planning stages, while some are already implemented and some are just starting. After all, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, as the adage says meaning that it takes some time to do a job properly so that it gives significant impact to the rakyat. Developments take time to be implemented as they need careful planning and execution.
Putting ‘Sarawak First’ is his central priority and the man himself can be considered a game changer in the state in view of his deep passion to uplift Sarawak to a developed state by 2030.
He is a man very passionate to see Sarawakians embracing the digital economy. He is enthusiastic to see the rural areas getting more developed although it is an uphill task as there are no less than 5000 longhouses and villages scattered all around Sarawak.
When the Pakatan Harapan government ruled from May 2018 to February 2020, it cancelled funds for some high impact infrastructure projects such as the bridges at Rambungan, Igan and Batang Lupar but Abang Jo is not a man to easily concede defeat. He quickly sourced the state budget to finance the three projects to ensure their completion for the sake of the rakyat. And for a record, Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia which has an agency known as Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR) to look after the needs of other religions and given more than RM50 million a year.
Five Percent Sales Tax on Petroleum Products
Abang Johari’s vast experience as a leader coupled with capable officers around him positions him to strategically introduced the five percent sales tax on petroleum products which is a smart move to source more income from Sarawak’s resources. “This is one way that the Sarawak Government can give back to the people by implementing more development projects with the money derived from the tax,” he has always say in his many official functions.
One day after the Malaysia day celebration on September 17, 2020, as expected, Petronas finally made the first payment of the sales tax of RM2.95 billion which is certainly a boost for Sarawak’ development. This fund was made to a full use to finance several bridges in the coastal area and other infrastructure projects.
A man of many firsts
Abang Jo is also the man responsible to bring many firsts for Sarawakians. To name a few, he introduces the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS), PETROS, enhancing the Digital Economy, introducing the hydrogen bus, creating Upper Rajang Development Agency (URDA), Sri Aman Development Agency (SADA), Highland Development Agency (HDA), Northern Region Development Agency (NRDA) and Integrated Regional Samarahan Development Agency (IRSDA) and many others for the sake of a well developed Sarawak.
Under his tenure another history was made when Kapit Town was finally connected to the rest of Sarawak with the completion of the trunk road project in 2020. A big present for the people in Kapit Division. It was a dream come true for the more than 90,000 people in Kapit and Song who have been waiting for the important connection for many years.
Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030
In may 2020, amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Minister still managed to form the Sarawak Economic Action Council (SEAC) to formulate the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS). “I am confident that we can realise Sarawak’s 2030 aspirations as we have efficient Civil Service and proactive private sector that are working very hard to develop Sarawak,” he has said.
The Chief Minister’s great concern and care for Sarawakians is again testified in the 2022 state budget which he describes as expansionary budget, focussing on our recovery from he COVID-19 pandemic. “This budget will focus primarily on protecting and restoring the livelihood of the people and small businesses. Its a people’s centric budget,” he added.
As a testimony on his concern for the rakyat affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Abang Johari rolled out seven series of monetary aids known as Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) amounting to RM5.3 billion.
He envisions that by 2030, “Sarawak will be a thriving society driven by data and innovation where everyone enjoys economic prosperity, social inclusivity and sustainable environment.”
It is the Chief Minister’s hope that all Sarawakians will resonate with his slogan of ‘Sarawak First’ to make sure that the hornbill in GPS can successfully fly high bringing with it the vision, hope, aspiration and future that Sarawakians have always aspired for.
What is important now is for all Sarawakians who love peace, stability, continuous economic growth and progress to continue to give Abang Jo and his GPS team their solid support and trust so that they can continue to deliver their best to Sarawak. — DayakDaily
