By Ling Hui and Nur Ashikin Louis
At the beginning of the year, face masks were compulsory anywhere we went and today, it has become a choice. Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was also our prime minister at the beginning of the year, and today, veteran Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim leads the nation.
A new year can begin only because the old year ends. Today, 2022 comes to an end, and tomorrow, another new year starts again. A new chapter for DayakDaily awaits, but let us all take some time to look back and reflect on the major events that took place throughout the year that was 2022.
Eric Chang, the 4-year-old boy who was never found
To this day, the body of four-year-old Eric Chang who was allegedly murdered by his caretaker and husband, has still not surfaced.
Eric was reported missing from Taman Riverview, Bintawa on March 7 while under the care of a friend of his mother. After the news of Eric’s missing made headlines, the entire city of Kuching went into a frenzy trying to locate the toddler.
Days later, Eric’s mother, father, caretaker and her husband were all arrested for investigation into Eric’s disappearance. On March 13, there was a dramatic turn of events when it was reported that Eric’s body was believed to have been dumped at the Muara Tebas Wharf by two suspects, the caretaker couple, who were subsequently placed in police custody.
While the investigation was reclassified into attempted murder, a search and rescue (SAR) operation was launched to locate Eric’s body at the wharf. However, after seven fruitless days of searching, on March 19, the operation was called off.
The two suspects were later charged with several other offences. As of Aug 17, they were sentenced to five months imprisonment and a fine of RM3,000 respectively, for administering dangerous drugs.
As for the murder charges of Eric under Section 302 of the Penal Code, the case is still pending as it awaits the prosecution to tender the forensic report in relation to the alleged murder.
Electrocuted couple in Cameron Highlands
On March 10, a married couple, both Sarawakians and farmworkers, were electrocuted to death in their flat unit bedroom in Brinchang, Cameron Highlands, leaving behind two daughters and a son. The eldest of them is only 10-years-old.
About a week after the incident, the three children were flown back to Kuching to reunite with their families. It was a tragic and sorrowful homecoming at the Kuching International Airport (KIA) as family members and close relatives huddled around the siblings to console them.
All expenses to fly the children back was born by the Sarawak Volunteers with assistance from Rumah Sarawak in Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) raised and donated RM22,850 to the surviving children.
The siblings are now under the care of their late mother’s brother and his wife who themselves have three children.
Read ‘Heritage Snippets from Sarawak’ on DayakDaily column
March 31, 2022 was a date to remember as DayakDaily signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Friends of Sarawak Museum (FoSM) at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) with the presence of Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
The ceremony marked the start of a collaboration where FoSM will be contributing an article fortnightly for three years from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025 to DayakDaily in a column known as ‘Heritage Snippets from Sarawak’.
Since then, DayakDaily has edited and published over 20 articles provided by FoSM. Some of their more popular stories include ‘The Prince and the Dyaks’, ‘The sape’s evolution in Sarawak’s traditional music legacy’, ‘A glimpse of the ‘ghost monkey’ in Kuching’, ‘Puso’s Jar (Part I & II)’, and ‘The story of Anyi’s door’.
The column was set up intending to provide accurate information with regards to Sarawak’s history and tangible, intangible, built and natural heritage to the general public. It is also an attempt to generate interest and love for history and heritage among DayakDaily’s readers.
D’Drift 2022 and book donation to Penan children of SK Lusong Laku
In July, DayakDaily’s D’Drift 2022 team embarked on its third annual-reporting trip. This year, the team added a worthwhile cause to the 10-day trip by carrying a special delivery of over 1,000 children’s books to be donated to SK Lusong Laku.
Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) and Sarawak State Library contributed 500 books while DayakDaily and Pertubuhan Wartawan Bebas Kuching (Pewarta) managed to collect 514 books from the general public.
All the books were handed over to the headmaster of SK Lusong Laku on July 8, the fifth day of the D’Drift trip, while witnessed by Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon and Pewarta chairman Peter Sibon.
As for the rest of the trip, DayakDaily reporters managed to visit Engkilili, Jakar, Sibu, Tatau, Bakun, Bintulu, Samalaju, Mukah, Batang Ai, and Lachau. We hunted for the anaconda in Engkilili, found turtle eggs at Samalaju National Park, went on a mural tour in Sibu, ate wiggling sago worm sushi in Bintulu, heard legends and tales of orang-utan ancestors in Batang Ai National Park, and tasted ‘empurau’ by the Lusong Laku Waterfall.
DayakDaily is committed to uncover more hidden gems and tell more untold tales that can only be found in this Land of the Hornbills. Stay with us and let’s look forward to D’Drift 2023 together!
Sarawak sets up sovereign fund for future generations
The Sarawak government has successfully set up a sovereign wealth fund for the State this year.
The Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund Board Bill, 2022 was tabled by Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and passed in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on Nov 22.
There will be an initial injection of RM8 billion from the State Consolidated Fund through appropriations approved via resolutions passed by the august House, followed by annual appropriations of RM300 million from year two to five; RM550 million from year six to 10; and RM650 million from year 11 to 20.
Abang Johari, who is also the Minister for Finance and New Economy, assured that the Fund will be disbursed into the Fund’s Investment Fund Account and be managed strictly in accordance with the Investment Mandate stated in Second Schedule of the Bill.
There are also provisions in the Bill to regulate the expenditure of the Board of Guardians whose annual budgeting expenses will have to be approved by the Sarawak Cabinet.
The Board of Guardians, or also custodians of the monies in the sovereign wealth fund, will be independent of any political interference.
Sarawak passes anti-party hopping law to put an end to political frogs
On Nov 22, Sarawak passed the anti-party hopping law which prevents elected representatives from switching parties.
The Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) (No 2) Bill, 2022 was tabled by Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN).
With the law being in force, an elected representative who is a member of a political party, will have to vacant their DUN seat immediately if he/she resigns or ceases to be a member of that political party willingly.
The same shall also apply to an independent candidate who subsequently joins a political party.
However, his or her DUN membership will not be affected upon the dissolution or cancellation of the registration of his political party; his resignation from the membership of his political party upon election as a Speaker; or the expulsion of his membership from his political party.
The tabling of the Bill followed the passing of the Constitution (Amendment) (No 3) Bill 2022 which amended the Eighth Schedule of the Federal Constitution in Parliament on July 28 earlier this year.
This is to prevent another Malaysian political crisis which was caused by several Members of Parliament (MPs) changing party support that leads to loss of parliamentary majority and collapse of governments – Pakatan Harapan (PH) under premiership of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in February 2020 and Perikatan Nasional (PN) under premiership of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Aug 2021.
GE15, gamechanger for a better Malaysia and Sarawak
On Nov 19, Malaysia went to the polls and as predicted, not one coalition held the majority to form the Federal government.
After five days of having a hung parliament, on Nov 24, Tambun MP and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief Anwar took his oath of office as the tenth prime minister of Malaysia (PM10), leading a unity government consisting of three main coalitions namely PH, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
Political analysts saw this as an end to Malaysia’s political crisis since the Sheraton Move in 2020. In less than 18 months, Malaysia has seen the collapse of two successive coalition governments and the resignation of two prime ministers.
Continuous political instability then led to a 2022 snap general election and eventually the formation of a unity government, forcing Ismail Sabri to be the shortest-serving prime minister for only 15 months.
Zooming into Sarawak, although GPS won only 23 out of 31 Federal seats which fell short of expectation, GPS managed to land a thunderous representation for Sarawak in the Federal Cabinet.
GPS chief whip Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof was appointed as one of the two deputy prime ministers and it marks the first time in Malaysian history for a DPM post to be held by a representative from the Borneo States. Meanwhile, four other Sarawakian MPs were appointed as full ministers and six others as deputy ministers.
GPS secretary-general Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi was appointed Works Minister, taking over Fadillah’s former portfolio while Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president Dato Sri Tiong King Sing was appointed as Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Santubong MP Dato Sri Nancry Shukri was appointed as Women, Family and Community Development Minister, and former Deputy Health Minister Aaron Ago Dagang from Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) was appointed a new portfolio as the National Unity Minister.
The six Sarawakian deputy ministers are Dato Hanifah Hajar Taib (Economy), Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong (Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Rubiah Wang (Rural and Regional Development), Datuk Hasbi Habibollah (Transport), Dato Sri Huang Tiong Sii (Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change), and Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Health).
Long-awaited ART project is finally materialising
The first phase of the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project, which involves the construction of a 69.9km route for the long-awaited Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART), was finally launched on Dec 16.
Phase 1 is divided into three urban lines, namely the Blue Line — a 27.6km route from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Hikmah Exchange in Kuching city centre; Red Line — a 12.3km route from Kuching Sentral to Pending; and Green Line — a 30km route from Pending to Damai Central in Santubong.
The Rembus Depot will be built on an 80-acre site, which will also house the depot for the KUTS project’s hydrogen feeder buses as well as a hydrogen production plant.
The first hydrogen-powered ART vehicle will arrive in Kuching in the third quarter of 2023 for Sarawak Metro’s proof-of-concept exercise for the vehicle, which is scheduled to be held in July 2023.
Meanwhile, the passenger service for ART is scheduled to be introduced in stages, starting in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg envisions the completed ART system to be similar to that of the London Underground system in England.
Sarawak explores new hydrogen, carbon, algae economy
Under the leadership of Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, Sarawak is now exploring into new economy such as hydrogen, carbon and algae.
Since Sarawak has an abundance of water, it aims to develop hydrogen gas as a new energy source with ongoing efforts include the construction of its first hydrogen plant in Bintulu as well as memorandum of understanding (MoU) with several parties on hydrogen-related studies and projects.
To date, Sarawak already has three hydrogen buses operating in Kuching and is anticipating to have hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) in several years to come.
With Sarawak acknowledged as one of the potential regions in the world for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), it has passed the Land Code (Amendment) Bill 2022 in Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) on May 18, which seeks control over Sarawak’s airspace, the emission of carbon dioxide and the possible monetisation of carbon dioxide.
Subsequently after that, the Sarawak government has entrusted Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) with the responsibilities of CCUS resource manager where several MoUs have been signed with relevant parties and investors on studying potential sites and formalising the CCUS business.
On June 7, Abang Johari informed that the Sarawak government is looking into the mass cultivation of algae to produce biofuel or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that can possibly power aircrafts in the future.
Additionally, Sarawak is also looking at the possibility of producing composite materials from its gas resources such as methanol and ammonia where Sarawak hopes to venture as one of the marketers of components (composite materials) in building aircraft.
The State also aims to add wind energy to its renewable resources where Abang Johari on Oct 29, stated that it is currently experimenting with a new innovation using lightweight turbine blades to harvest wind power.
The return of festivals in beloved Sarawak without mandatory masking
Wearing face masks was made mandatory after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the nation in 2020.
Fast forward to this year, Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted one by one and face masks was made optional outdoors on May 1 and optional indoors on Sept 7.
At the same time, ‘ngabang’ (visiting) and open houses, be it indoors or outdoors, are allowed just in time for this year’s Hari Gawai Dayak celebration after two-year restriction.
The best part about lifting the restrictions is the return of festivals and activities in Sarawak which also see the borders being opened and tourists allowed to enter the State.
Among the festivals making their comeback were Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), Miri Country Music Festival, Neon Borneo Festival, Sarawak Regatta, Spartan Race Sarawak, Kuching Food Festival (KFF), Kuching Marathon, Bintulu Mountain Bike Challenge, Pesta Kaul, Pesta Benak Sri Aman, Pesta Tasik Biru, Borneo Cultural Festival, Borneo Jazz Festival and 16th Borneo International Kite Festival.
Sarawak has been hosting new festivals too, such as Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia, Borneo Music Festival Live (BMFL), Sunbear Festival as well as Samarahan Food and Cultural Festival.
At the same time, ‘ngabang’ (visiting) and open houses, be it indoors or outdoors, are allowed just in time for this year’s Hari Gawai Dayak celebration after a two-year restriction.
As 2022 comes to an end, Sarawak will enter a new year with more challenges. It is projected that the world will face an economic recession next year, but Malaysia is predicted to have a bright outlook with political stability ahead. — DayakDaily
