The Chinese the world over from Hong Kong to New York, albeit at different time, are celebrating the New Year 2018 as the Earth Dog Year, which enters its fifth Day today. The Horoscope 2018 predicts that the year of the Brown Earth Dog is going to be a good year in all respects but it will also be an exhausting year.
Among the many good traits of Earth dogs are once they are refreshed and regenerated, they can accelerate the initiations of all things. Understandably, this will bring pressure and stress to the people in their everyday life too.
For this reason, astrologists are optimistic in their forecast that the year of Earth dog promises a more favourable time as compared to the previous year with both political and economic situation starting to stabilise in the world.
In Chinese astrology each zodiac year (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig) is not just with an animal sign but also one of the five elements namely gold (metal), wood, water, fire and earth.
The year 2018 meets elements of earth to qualify it to be considered earth dog year. It suggests that planning, postponing and negligence are words that can be removed from the vocabulary during the year.
The Governor of Sarawak Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, in his Chinese New Year message, which was broadcast by RTM on the eve of the New Year, said the people should ponder on opportunities and challenges ahead in building Sarawak to become a richer and more prosperous State towards the year 2030 for all the people.
He said Sarawak, as the people all know, is a multi-racial State, not only in terms of originality but in terms of ways of the people deal with each other. Undeniably, the people are getting closer and closer to each other as they move forward.
Understanding the ways of each other much more from time to time helps the people to develop stronger sense of belonging and come together more closely. Personally, Tun Abdul Taib feels the people’s stronger sense of belonging creates opportunities for Sarawak to be recognised as a multi-racial country since Independence.
Undeniably, the Chinese have been playing major roles in building the country to become more prosperous and successful for the people. They have been doing so through hard work and co-operation among them, in unique way through their own smaller associations, and work together in a big movement to enable them to understand how economic life in the country can be built up by efforts of all races.
Tun Abdul Taib believes Sarawak has been able to evolve good economic policy guidance, which has been able to give the country greater prosperity and more importantly to get the Rakyat to be involved in the efforts of development. The people have been able to enjoy the fruits of hard work and the success of each community, through well organised and relatively more advanced commercial practices.
The Chinese, for example, have been able to bring to Sarawak to more orderly development. For example, the people can see that Sarawak has a more orderly distribution of employment opportunities and the close relationship between all the races.
He believes the trend towards a more prosperous society, which benefits not only the commercial class but all levels of the society, will be continued as Sarawak moves forward to become not only a developed State but the richest State in the country towards the year 2030.
Undoubtedly, the people have been able to add in greater measure in Malaysia, in Sarawak in particular, efforts to expand economic activities to become much more organised. The State has been able to rope in more and more people with real talents to make them becoming more effective in economic development to enable everybody to benefits from the fruits of development.
Tun Abdul Taib said the people of Sarawak, after many decades of working together, have been able to build a pattern of economy that enables them to bring about a greater distribution of wealth even to the remote community, who used to be rural dwellers through the widespread benefits of education among children to play greater part in the economic development.
As a result the people can see today, although not completely, the trend that every race will benefit from whatever greater achievement that the country will be able to get through the development of resources. They have been able to get through the co-operation between all races the choice of better people to do the work according to their ability rather than the old ways of relaying on racial associations.
Tun Abdul Taib said the change happening in our midst has brought greater unity among the people, greater co-operation between the races and much greater deployment of talents and skills in carrying out economic activities. Generally, the people have the ability to expand economic activities mainly through the consolidation of traditional economic base and developing the prosperity from simple agriculture to commercial agriculture.
Even the people in rural areas have been able to undertake much more economic activities from the self –help activities all the way to produce fruits and vegetable for the markets in the overall efforts to develop the economy of the country. That is the overall picture that the people ought to understand from its simple to complex forms.
Tun Abdul Taib believes the people are beginning to see the buildup of a multi – racial society where greater interaction among the people of various races can be seen in almost all functions of the economy; even the rural area is functioning very well. No longer can the people say that the development of rural areas is only trying to help the Natives. It is just like a gift from the Government to the people.
But now that kind of feeling is no longer there. Generally, the people understand the more prosperous the country becomes the more flow of economic activities drag the people into the shell that share the prosperity. For example, look at the rural areas, which have been producing not only the agricultural produce for the market for consumption but the workforce.
The rural areas have been able to produce thousands of well educated people, who are beginning to play greater roles in the development of the economy. In the old days Chinese were mainly in commerce and the Bumiputras, in agriculture. The people were divided based on their economic functions.
Tun Abdul Taib said the development of the economy is getting more sophisticated, which requires people with relevant knowledge, training and skills. However, the kinds of work will grow from the development of the integration of the economy and will benefit more and more races and greater co-operation among them.
Tun Abdul Taib said Sarawak today is developing from Kuching all the way towards the North. Now the people can see even Lawas that used to be the isolated corner of Sarawak has become a place where rural people can find opportunities to upgrade themselves gradually into taking up commercial activities that make the people, who are natives and non natives of Sarawak working together more and more to improve their livelihood.
He said the general trends, which the people have been able to see during the last 50 years, will be intensified in the process of development and bring together much more closely the Chinese, Malays, Ibans, Bidayuhs and Orang Ulu and to be conscious of the fact that the country is getting more prosperous.
More importantly, the opportunities for their children will be much more varied and rewarding than before. This is what he has tried to impress all races that they must support and get involved in the process of the transformation of the economy.
Tun Abdul Taib believed the State has achieved a great deal in the socio-economic development, which is giving the people a greater promise for the future. He is confident that the State will be able to take more straight forward steps into much more sophisticated economy in the overall efforts to expand the role in the external market. The people of various talents and skills must be dragged into the greater and modern work force of Sarawak and Malaysia.
He said this is development in rough analysis and the roles in modernising the community and opening up of opportunities to all races namely Malays, Chinese, Ibans, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. This trend must not only continue but get more sophisticated in nature. The people, comprising all the races, must work harder together make this to happen.
In this regards, the people will no longer depend on their connections whether through relatives or friends but more and more on their ability to pick up greater skills and knowledge to do their jobs.
They can move the economy that becomes more modern to spread all the way from Lundu to Lawas to benefit more and more people. That is the Sarawak or Malaysia, which the people have been dreaming of since more than 50 years ago; now it is happening.
He said it is beginning to unfold although not all the people have understood it. At least all the people whether they are Malays, Chinese, Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu can feel there is a change in their livelihood. What else do the people want from the country? Generally, the people want continued ability to make use of all opportunities to become their progress and prosperity as they move forwards into the future. There will be people, who will probably come in to share their growing prosperity.
Meanwhile, the National economy is anticipated to achieve a higher growth from 5.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent as compared to the projected growth from 4.3 per cent to 4.8 per cent for 2017. World Bank has also revised Malaysia economic growth upward from 4.9 per cent to 5.2 per cent for this year.
The State economy performed favourably supported by a strong growth in both domestic and external demand driven by recovery in the world economy. Hence, the projected economic growth of the State for the year is from 3.5 per cent to 4.0 per cent.
The State and country are constantly being challenged by a global eco-system operating in an increasingly volatile economic environment. At the same time, global market is characterised by dramatic transformation as a result of rapid technological advancement and the fast emergence of digital economy.
These forces will inevitably reshape the global economic outlook and drive the way the people do business. The will no longer be able to carry on with business as usual. In this context, special emphasis has been placed on transforming Sarawak into a digital economy, which is becoming an unstoppable force.
The convergence of advance communication technology is driving change in all spheres, particularly in the way that the people conduct businesses. They have to embrace digital transformation or face the risk of being left behind.
For this reason, efforts are being made by the Government to step up human capital development with priority in technical and vocational education. In this regards, the government will construct more educational institutions such as Pusat Pembangunan Kemahiran Sarawak (Skill Development Centre), Kolej Mukah and Kolej Laila Taib and centers of Electrical Technical Excellence (CENTEX) in Kuching, Lundu and Lawas.
Understandably, the State Government’s priority on such investment is pivotal in providing strong foundation for the necessary infrastructure as well as incentive so as to trigger collaboration with strategic partners to implement key strategic projects that should be able to deliver both social and economic benefits and returns in the years to come.
In this regards, the people, each having equally important role to play in developing Sarawak, must continue to be committed and determined to work harder towards achieving the development goal.
Hence, it is incumbent upon the private sector, which has been the driving force and the back bone of sustainable economic growth, to be involved actively in the development of the State. It must be prepared to assume bigger role as the engine of growth as outlined under the New Economic Model that necessitates them to enhance productivity and competitiveness.
In this regard, appropriate measures must be put in place to ensure that the business environment is conducive and friendly for the private sector, particularly the SME to thrive. At the same time, such measures must be put in place to entice higher participation by the private sector in the State development agenda.
Obviously, the State Government will continue to support in the provision of the necessary basic infrastructure, enhance connectivity and availability of utilities, provision of training institutions, incubation centers to step up skill training and capacity building, provision of industrial estates and innovation centers and provision of e-Government service delivery.
These are essential elements to foster closer collaboration with deeper public- private partnership.
Understandably, the State Government is targeting to increase the investment in the industrial sector as industrialisation is the way forward to propel the growth and the development of the State’s economy to attain the status of a developed nation with high income economy by 2030.
With such a vision, concrete action plans to transform the economy and train manpower and the good traits of being hardworking, resourceful, courageous and talented, Sarawak should be on the right track to become the most progressive, prosperous and successful state by the year 2030, God willing.
Tun Abdul Taib said he would continue to talk about the economic progress and development to help the people of all races to know that the State and the country on the right path towards becoming a developed State by the year 2030. Tremendous efforts have been made to put Sarawak on a proper footing in economic development and that the transformation of development has involved all races.
He took the opportunity to wish all his Chinese friends and non Chinese friends, who celebrate the New Year almost the same way as the Chinese in the Sarawak way, a happy and more prosperous 2018. Gong Xi Fatt Cai!
