KUCHING: While people may not be able to celebrate the Chinese New Year (CNY) with extended family members and friends from near and far, they can take comfort that advanced technology such as video conferencing and social media will allow them to stay in touch during this festive season.
In saying this, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan noted that CNY this year could be celebrated only with immediate family members and with a maximum of 20 persons at a time, as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
“Let us all celebrate this CNY under the new norm by strictly adhering to the SOP,” he said in his CNY message.
“As we celebrate the Lunar New Year, we also like to thank our frontliners who have shown great courage, dedication, and professionalism in combating the pandemic to keep us safe.”
He said the CNY celebration would be very different from past years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With vaccines on the horizon, he hoped everyone would be able to return to their normal lives soon.
“The Sarawak government has made a commitment to ensure that every Sarawakian will be given the vaccine for Covid-19 free of charge,” said the Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources.
He noted that the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO) and conditional MCO had caused hardship for all, but emphasised that this was necessary to contain the pandemic.
In order to assist the people and businesses during the pandemic, he said the federal government had provided many assistance measures through the Prihatin, Penjana, and Permai packages.
“Apart from the assistance provided by the federal government, the Sarawak government has also provided both financial and non-financial assistance through five packages of Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) worth about RM3.14 bln.
“This includes the additional RM141.7 mln financial assistance for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which the Chief Minister has approved recently under BKSS 5.0,” said Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development.
He said SMEs who required financial assistance could apply for loans under the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme (maximum RM50,000), Targeted Relief and Recovery Facility (maximum RM500,000), and Penjana Tourism Financing (maximum RM300,000), where the interest for three and a half years would be subsidised by the state government.
“For B40 (low-income) entrepreneurs, they will enjoy zero interest for their loans up to maximum of RM10,000 under the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme.”
He said graduates and school leavers who wanted to start-up or expand their businesses could apply grants up to maximum of RM20,000 under Graduates-to-Entrepreneurs (Gerak) or Technical and Vocational Entrepreneurs (Ustev).
He also said SMEs who wished to go onboard digital marketing and e-payment could apply for grants up to a maximum of RM10,000 under the Go Digital Programme from his ministry.
“I wish all our Chinese friends a Happy Chinese New Year and may the Year of Ox bring us strength, diligence, dependability, and determination.
“I hope these qualities of the Ox, according to the Chinese Zodiac, will help us to overcome future challenges and build a better Sarawak for ourselves and our children.”
