The mammoth rally and parade to mark the 81st birthday of the Yang di Pertua Negeri (the Governor), Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud last Saturday was an event like no other in past in terms of grandeur and scale.
While such parade would normally be held at Padang Merdeka in the State Capital or the main playgrounds in other divisions, the last parade mounted by 81 contigents comprising uniformed and non-uniformed organizations like the Armed Forces, Police, Rela, Civil Defence Corp and Youth, welfare and community organizations, was held at the Celebration Square near the indoor stadium.
Most people readily agreed with the view that the Celebration Square provided a perfect setting for the event that even the morning drizzle did not dampen the spirit of the participants and the large crowd present to watch it.
After a delay of about 30 minutes, the Military Commander of One Division, Major General Datuk Stephen Mandaw, roared through a public address system for all contingents, each to take the slots that have been allocated to them.
The people could get better view of the parade with the help of three giant screens, which had been installed at strategic locations and fed by mobile cameras on the ground and those fitted in the drones.
The Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg, in his speech to welcome the Yang di Pertua Negeri, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud and his wife Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Hajjah Ragard Kurdi Taib, said the grand birthday celebration should truly symbolize the position of Tun as the umbrella of the integrity of the State of Sarawak and the Government and the unity of the people.
He said Tun Abdul Taib has the distinction of being the longest serving public leader not only in Sarawak but Malaysia as a whole. It is only apt now that Tun Abdul Taib as Sarawak’s No.1 Citizen is a beacon of unity for all Sarawakians in the common pursuit of progress and advancement.
He joined the people in praying for Allah SWT to continue to look after the safety and health of Tun Abdul Taib and Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Hajjah Ragard and will continue to serve as the protector of harmony and prosperity of the people and the State.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg, in addressing the crowd, thanked them for their readiness to spare their time to attend the birthday rally and parade to celebrate the 81st birthday of the Yang di Pertua Negeri Sarawak this morning.
He said their presence to join in the celebration of the birthday of the Yang di Pertua Negeri Sarawak was a manifestation of their love and respect for him as the umbrella of their unity and the progress and development of Sarawak.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari said the position of His Excellency as the Head of State is being accepted as an institution, which is not separate from efforts in pursuit of development in Sarawak. The Head of State has been the constant guide and counsel in the continuous pursuit of progress and advancement for the people, State and country.
He said the institution of the Yang di Pertua Negeri has played no small role in bringing about unity, harmony and prosperity to Sarawak. It is an institution that serves to unite the diverse people so that progress and development can take place smoothly for the benefits of all Sarawakians.
It is much like the institution of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, whose birthday is also being celebrated as a significant event to unite people from all corners of Malaysia.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari said Sarawak, over the years, has made great strides in economic development with the economy being able to maintain a positive growth at 3.2% in 2016 despite facing global uncertainties and low crude oil price.
He expected the growth to improve further around 3.5% to 4.0% in 2017, as export improved along with the economic improvement in other parts of the world. The State’s GDP stood at RM113.6 billion, GDP per capita at RM46, 514 and external trade was worth RM116.3 billion in 2016.
Nevertheless, the challenge for Sarawak today is how to propel the economy to greater heights to achieve a high income and advanced economy by 2030. The State Government wants to ensure that as the economy expands: it will provide more direct impacts and increase the income of the people.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari said the State Administration under him would continue with the policies, which had been laid down by Tun Abdul Taib, while he was the Chief Minister of Sarawak, and matters of great importance namely education that used to be emphasized by him.
He said the State government is very much aware that all that is being planned cannot materialise if the government does not have a concrete program to develop the human capital to achieve the target capacity.
In this regards, the State government has taken steps to develop the Technical Vocational Education program to cater to the needs of industries by setting up technical and vocational training centres in addition to those being provided by the Federal Government.
He said the pursuit towards digitising Sarawak’s economy needs different kind of expertise, which is very limited or the State still does not have it. For this reason, he has asked Yayasan Sarawak to offer bursaries to new discipline of studies through the Tun Taib Education Bursary.
He said it is of utmost important that Sarawak must develop expertise in various fields through the activities of research and development in research universities and institutions both in and outside the country.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari said Yayasan Sarawak has developed the capacity to offer loans and scholarships, including those meant for research at Masters and PhD levels. In fact Yayasan Sarawak is inviting applications for at least 23 courses by research including biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology.
The Yayasan is also inviting applications for cloud computing, data analytics, Big Data and Telemetry, software engineering, micro-biology and human-computer interaction with the development of the digital economy.
He said these are new courses that the government has decided to offer scholars in order to prepare the future development of Sarawak through digital economy.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari assured as the Chief Minister of all races, he would work tirelessly and to the best of his ability to ensure Anak Sarawak, who are qualified and having experience, would be given due consideration for appropriate positions in a company or public service.
All the people, whether they are in urban or rural areas regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds deserve to benefit from development. The religious and ethnic backgrounds have never been major issues among the various ethnic and religious groups and it must remain that way in the efforts to further develop the State.
He said Anak Sarawak, comprising diverse ethnic and religious groups have been living together for a long time and this sharing of things together must be continued for an unforeseeable future.
He said the differences of views and opinions do not necessarily mean that the people cannot be united in pursuing the common dream of becoming a developed state with high income economy by the year 2030.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari said the celebration of the birthday of the Yang di Pertua Negeri should serve as the platform to promote greater unity and solidarity among the people though they may have differences of views.
The celebration, which is being centred in the city of Kuching, also provides an opportunity to the Yang di Pertua Negeri and his wife to be with the people. It is truly a significant day as it symbolizes the position of Tun as the umbrella of integrity of the people and the State of Sarawak.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari said it is the pride and glory of the people of Sarawak to have a Yang di Pertua Negeri, who has the distinction of being the longest serving public leader in the country. As the State’s No.1 Citizen, he is truly a beacon of unity for all Sarawakians in the common pursuit of progress and advancement ahead of them.
He joined the people of Sarawak in wishing His Excellency Happy Birthday and may he and his family will continue to be endowed with the blessing and guidance from Allah SWT in their daily life and continue to live in peace and prosperity ahead of them.
His Excellency bestowed honours and awards to a total of more than 900 people in conjunction with his 81st official birthday.
Heading the list of the recipients of his birthday honours and awards was Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Muhammad Salahuddin, who was awarded the Satria Bintang Sarawak (SBS), which carries the title of Pehin Sri.
The Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg was bestowed the award of Darjah Utama Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Kenyalang Sarawak, which carries the tile of Datuk Patinggi.
Four were awarded the Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak (PNBS), which carries the tile Dato’ Sri while five were awarded the Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang Sarawak(PGBK) which carries the title Datuk, four the Darjah Jasa Bakti Sarawak, which carries the title Datu and 10, the Panglima Setia Bintang Sarawak (PSBS) which carries the title Dato.
The other recipients of the awards were Johan Bintang Sarawak (1), Johan Bintang Kenyalang (JBK) 7, Johan Perkhidmatan Cemerlang (JPC) 2, Pingat Perkhidmatan Cemerlang (PPC) 15, Pegawai Bintang Sarawak (PBS) 28, Pegawai Bintang Kenyalang (PBK) 62, Pegawai Perkhidmatan Bakti (PPB) 140, Ahli Bintang Sarawak (ABS) 84, Ahli Bintang Kenyalang (ABK) 174 and Pingat Perkhidmatan Terpuji (PPT) (131).
