KUCHING: Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian wonder why Malaya has always gotten it wrong when it comes to Sarawak.
It was about time for every Malaysian to know about Sarawak, even during this Covid-19 pandemic, he said.
He was referring to inaccurate reports about the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak by certain Malaya-based media.
Correcting the figures, he said there were 25 districts in Sarawak in the green zone (Ministry of Heath’s classification) with zero Covid-19 cases as at April 17 ― and not 17 districts as reported.
“Another way of looking at it is Sarawak is not as red as Malaya. Thank God,” Dr Sim wrote on his Facebook.
As at April 20, according to him, there were 27 districts in Sarawak in the green zone.
He again reminded Malaysians that Sarawak, Sabah, Singapore and Malaya came together to form a new country called Malaysia 57 years ago.
“We may only have 2.8 million people versus 32 million in the country but Sarawak is almost as big as Malaya, producing more than 60 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 35 percent of oil in Malaysia.”
In another post, Dr Sim, who is also Batu Kawa assemblyman, said he was proud and happy to see Kampung Sungai Tengah folk at Batu Kawa here having their own initiative in refusing entry to outsiders ― similar to what many longhouses throughout Sarawak are doing.
He said the state government, using its immigration autonomy in February, refused entry to foreigners but unfortunately, “we were not able to refuse entry to any Malaysian from visiting, and Sarawakian from outside Sarawak from coming home.”
“Sarawak is still facing the challenge of Sarawakians coming home from outside the state as most of the areas in Malaysia are red,” he added.
