KK to host Malaysia's first Asia Suzuki Music meet

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Kota Kinabalu: The 4th Asia Suzuki Music Conference, the first to be held in Malaysia, will be hosted in the State from Aug 3 to 7 this year.

The conference has attracted over 300 participants, including several three-year-old violin students from Hong Kong, South Korea and the Philippines and 15 top-notch music educators from Asia.

It is being organised by the Malaysian Suzuki Association (MSA) in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

MSA President, Peter Chua, said this during a press conference here, Friday.

"The reason why we chose to bring this music conference to Malaysia, particularly Sabah, is because I personally think Sabahans have a lot of talent in music and the environment is also very conducive.

"There is the sea, mountain and most important, we have fantastic tribes, there are a lot of things we can explore in music. That is why Kota Kinabalu has been chosen," he said.

He explained that the Suzuki method of teaching music is relatively new in Sabah (about three years) and is often mistaken as a method that applies only for children or sometimes mistaken for a vehicle.

"The philosophy of this method does not stand on music alone, we are looking into the holistic development of a human being, hence it is good to start from an early age, which can be build up into a more responsible individual.

"This method emphasises on a lot of sounds and listening.

A lot of music teachers are not qualified to teach because they are not teachers."

The conference carries the theme "It makes beautiful music from beautiful heart"' to reflect the philosophy of love and compassion in music education encouraged by Shinichi Suzuki, the founder of the Suzuki method.-Daily Express

"Among topics that will be discussed are methods of teaching music, how to compose music, improvised music and rearrange music.

"These are creative learning and not academic learning.

Academic is where a higher rate of memorisation is being used," Chua said.

7K Run draws 11 000 participants

The 11th Sutera  Harbour 7K Sunset Charity Run saw more than 11000 turning up at the starting point on Saturday evening.
 Despite the gloomy weather children, teachers, parents, friends and even special children all came together to raise money in aid of the event’s  beneficiaries, the special Olympics Sabah and Sabah Thalassaemia  Society.
Minister for youth and Sports, Datuk Peter Pang who flagged off the run, praised Sutera Harbour Resort for their strong commitment in assisting the local community.
He said the organizer has set a benchmark for all to follow with their spirit in making difference in our society.
He also applauded the sponsors fortheir role in helping to stage the event with their contributions.
Meanwhile, Foo Kia the director of Sutera Harbour who was instrumental  in starting the charity run back in 2000 was very pleased with their huge turnout.
He told that it was due to public supports that the event has become household event in Sabah.
“The event are getting bigger since it’s humble beginning where only 3000 turned up in the first year. We no longer have to call up for public participation.  Nowadays, everyone is looking forward to the Run and eager to participate.”
He said the idea of the charity events was first mooted when their trying to find ways to raise money for the Special Olympics Sabah.
“We knew then it was harder to ask an individual for a large sum of money. Therefore, we decide to organize the Run where everybody can chip in with their small contribution.”
Foo is glad to know that the run has probably become the biggest Sunset Run in the country.
Special Olympics advisor Simon Koh said the event enable the public to interact with the disabled so they get a better understanding about the disabled and their abilities. Some 55 athletes from the special school took part.
“We need to expose them. Give them an opportunity to interact with society through sports achievement. Help them gain the confidence that they need and the skills necessary for a role in society,” said Simon.
“It is good for everyone and especially for people in need” said Suzie Yanti Wenson, a disabled young girl since birth. It was her first time participating in the charity run.-Daily Express

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Sabah to proceed with the registration of illegals

Published on 13 July 2011, Wednesday (Daily Express)

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah will proceed with implementation of its 5P amnesty package on July 18, although the registration of illegal foreign workers nationwide - ahead of an amnesty exercise - has been shelved indefinitely.

"We will continue with it as I have announced earlier," State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman said, after he attended the Chief Minister's Department and Finance Ministry monthly gathering at the State Assembly building, Tuesday.

He was referring to his announcement last week that the State's 5P (registration, amnesty, monitoring, enforcement and deportation) amnesty package would be carried out.

He had said that Sabah would only apply five of the 6Ps in the amnesty package with no regularisation exercise since these have been done four times previously - in 1997,1998, 2008 and 2009.

The move is also to prevent any more illegals entering the State to take advantage of the documentation process, apart from preventing foreign workers from changing their identities.

There are foreign workers who deliberately change their identities in their passports that they acquired in Sabah, said Sukarti.

State Immigration Department Director Mohammad Mentek had also said that the focus of the amnesty programme this time was to get the illegals properly registered.

There are nine locations at which they could register - in Kudat community hall, Menggatal community hall, Ranau community hall, Keningau community hall, Sipitang community hall, Tawau community hall, Lahad Datu community hall and art gallery in Semporna.

Registration is free during the two-week exercise and the authorities won't take any action such as arresting the illegals. They want them to go for the registration so that "we can obtain data from them including biometric data and their mug shot."

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, in announcing the postponement earlier, said the decision was due to several technical issues and national security matters that need to be sorted out first.

The Federal Government has now decided to postpone it till Aug 1.

The introduction of the biometric system at 67 immigration entry points nationwide recently saw minor glitches that marred the whole exercise.

He also did not fix a time frame as to when the amnesty would be implemented.

The said nationwide registration exercise, aimed at encouraging an estimated two million illegal workers to register by being fingerprinted via a biometric system, was supposed to have started Monday.

It was meant to grant them amnesty so that they could work legally or leave the country without being caught and jailed.




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