KUCHING, Aug 9: Dato Richard Wee Liang Chiat was re-elected as president of the Federation of Chinese Associations of Sarawak (Sa Hua Zong) at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Miri last Sunday (Aug 7).
During the meeting, Wee highlighted four priorities to be focused by the newly formed committee for 2022-2025 session.
They are to build a permanent premises for the Federation, promote multi-racial relations and harmony, encourage more Chinese youth to join the public services and recruit young members for the Federation.
Additionally, 11 resolutions were deliberated and unanimously passed during the meeting attended by representatives from all nine affiliated members associations, namely Kuching, Samarahan and Serian division; Sri Aman and Betong division; Sibu; Miri; Limbang; Sarikei; Kapit; Bintulu and Mukah.
The resolutions are as follows:
1) To support the stance of the Sarawak United Association of Chinese School Boards of Management (Sa Dong Zong) to reject the teaching of Jawi in Primary 4, 5 and 6 syllabus of the vernacular schools.
2) To encourage more Chinese youth to join the public services sector in order to better serve as the linking bridge between the general public and the government agencies,
3) To inspire more Chinese youth to become teachers in order to overcome the shortage of teachers in Chinese primary schools.
4) To urge the Federal and Sarawak government to implement short and long term strategies to recover the badly hit economy and to maintain a smooth food supply chain to fulfil the daily needs of the public.
5) To urge the Federal and Sarawak government to simplify, systemize and expedite the application process for foreign labour in order to curb the shortage of man-power supply in major industries such as agriculture and construction.
6) To urge Sarawak Museum Department to incorporate Chinese description and audio in all introduction of the Borneo Cultures Museum.
7) To urge Sarawak government to expedite the construction of infrastructures throughout the state and to provide alternative medium of transportation to ease the increasingly heavy traffic congestion problem.
8) To urge the telecommunication service providers to upgrade the quality and expand the coverage of internet service which is very crucial to the development of the economy and daily life of the general public.
9) To urge Sarawak government to employ public servants base on ratio of multi-ethnic population in the state to better reflect the unique identity of Sarawak’s multi-racial society.
10) To urge the government and Bank Negara to take immediate action to protect the customers’ bank account from being hacked and deposits stolen, to conduct thorough investigation, to arrest and take stern action against the criminals, and to compensate the victim appropriately.
11) To urge the government to postpone the price rise for daily necessity such as electricity, chicken, eggs and cooking oil in order to help the people from the inflation.
At the same time, Wee reiterated that the Federation has always had a good relationship with the government.
“Over the years, the Sarawak government listened and reacted to the calls of Sa Hua Zong.
“We appreciate the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) by the Sarawak government, annual grant allocated to the Chinese independent schools, allocation of land to sustain the schools and assistance from Unit For Other Religions (UNIFOR) for temples and churches in Sarawak.
“We strongly believe through close relations and collaboration, we can continuously make Sarawak a role model for other states in Malaysia,” he said in a statement today. — DayakDaily
