RM1.33 billion spent on human capital under Sabah Maju Jaya
Published on: Thu, Jul 10, 2025
By: Ricardo Unto Text Size: Nizam ( far right ) with other State Assemblymen before the start of the session. Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has spent RM1.33 billion on human capital development under the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) 1.0 Development Plan from 2021 to 2024, with RM848.26 million directed at various educational aid programmes and RM485 million allocated specifically for talent development. Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan, said during question time in the State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that a total of 14 new initiatives valued at RM164.14 million had benefited 210,918 students between 2021 and this year. 'To meet future job market demands, the Sabah State Government established the Sabah TVET Council (MTS) on 19 May 2025 to coordinate over 160 technical and vocational training institutions across the state,' he said in response to a question from Nabawan assemblyman Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohamed Yassin. In the area of social wellbeing, Nizam said RM1.49 billion was disbursed between 2021 and 2024 to assist 336,076 recipients through various welfare schemes such as the General Aid Scheme (SBAM) and Orphans Aid Scheme (SBAY). The government also launched the SMJ Friendly Homes Initiative on Sept 28, 2022, with 7,482 units built or under construction as of June this year, alongside the Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat (Syukur) programme, which provides RM300 monthly for 12 months to 100,000 low-income households under a RM358.5 million allocation. He added that under the Sabah Sejahtera Health Aid Scheme, 100 haemodialysis machines worth RM4.5 million were distributed to 24 hospitals and one clinic, replacing ageing equipment, with an additional RM4 million in treatment subsidies provided. The early-stage 'Program Homeward' initiative has also proven impactful, with 1,169 beneficiaries recorded by mid-this year. On environmental sustainability, the Sabah Forestry Department is working to increase the size of Totally Protected Areas (TPAs), currently at 2 million hectares, with plans to gazette another 220,000 hectares to meet the 30 percent target or 2.2 million hectares of total land area by 2025 under the Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative. As for marine conservation, the State has established 1.015 million hectares of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which will continue to be expanded to benefit future generations. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Express
an hour ago
- Daily Express
LDP urges GRS not to align with BN-Umno in state polls
Published on: Sunday, July 13, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jul 13, 2025 Text Size: Chin chairs the party's supreme council meeting. KOTA KINABALU: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has urged Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to avoid collaborating with Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno in the upcoming 17th Sabah state election. LDP president Datuk Chin Su Phin said it is vital for any winning coalition to maintain a good working relationship with the federal government, currently led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim under Pakatan Harapan (PH). He noted that GRS is expected to negotiate seat distribution with PH, but emphasised the need for PH to show sincerity in the partnership, suggesting it should not contest more than 20 seats. Chin also warned that if PH and GRS fail to reach a consensus, both may contest independently and only discuss forming a new state government after the polls. He urged Chinese voters to support GRS for continued political stability and economic growth, warning that backing Parti Warisan could leave them sidelined if the party fails to form the government. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
2 hours ago
- Daily Express
MNC urged to spearhead Momogun economic identity
Published on: Sunday, July 13, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jul 13, 2025 Text Size: Ewon takes a wefie with several attendees. - Pic by DEB Media PENAMPANG: The Momogun National Congress (MNC) should lead efforts to develop the economic identity of the Momogun community, said Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick on Friday. He urged MNC and its 77 affiliated ethnic associations to actively participate in strengthening the community's economic foundation, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives. Ewon said the ministry's key focus under the 13th Malaysia Plan (2026–2030) is to scale up high-impact MSMEs, while also supporting informal and micro entrepreneurs within the community. He highlighted initiatives already in place, such as the BEEP Plus grant for Bumiputera entrepreneurs in Sabah and Sarawak, financing schemes by Tekun Nasional, and the Tamu Desa project by KUSKOP. During the MNC leadership oath-taking ceremony at Wisma Kinsabina, Ewon also pledged a RM100,000 special allocation to support the celebration of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
4 hours ago
- Daily Express
Chan on his arrest, detention in Kepayan
Published on: Sunday, July 13, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jul 13, 2025 By: Kan Yaw Chong Text Size: Chan in an interview with Daily Express. Also seen are his son and wife he married in 1964. IN yesterday's Daily Express report entitled 'Duo recall the dark ages during Usno', the opening paragraph started this way: 'It was a long-coming rendezvous between former fellow detainees at the infamous 'Kepayan Detention Camp', Datuk Yap Pak Leong and veteran journalist cum editor, Chan Kwong Yuen, both 90, at a book launch here, Thursday. 'The occasion was the launching of Chan's autobiography, 'Sixty years in the Storms of Journalism'.' Calling those days 'dark times', Yap, a former Minister of Labour and Environmental Development (1976-79) under the Berjaya Government headed by Tan Sri Harris Salleh, made this terse remark: 'I am sure you heard about the Kepayan Detention Camp, Chan and myself were there, for me it was two years and seven months, for Chan, 18 months. Those were dark times. We have suffered in Kepayan, we can forgive, not forget.' That Usno-led period in Sabah was labelled as Sabah's 'dark ages'. If you can read Chinese, Chan's book has documented juicy accounts of that datk age from a top-dog journalist. In a post-book launch interview, Chan said he was never told the reason why he was detained. Here is the rest of the interview: Daily Express: What's the reason behind your detention? Chan: Why I was arrested and detained, they did not give reason. Many of those arrested and detained in Kepayan asked why they were arrested and detained, they also did not know for what reason. There were some natives there, although there were a few who were really politically obvious, one is Datuk Yap Pak Leong and several others I could figure out politics must be the reason but there were natives from Kudat who looked like simple kampong folks arrested and detained. They themselves were also baffled why. My guess is the possibility of some explosive kampong discontent. DE: In your case, you also did not know why? Chan: Like me, the reason could the stream of reports we published on Independents opposed to ruling Sabah Alliance (led by Usno) , we did our best to report but is still don't know the precise reason but if you think about it, if not because of those reports, what else? DE: The problem is the reporting? Chan: Yes, but we just reported the political activities by a few individuals, such as Chong Thien Vun who went to Sandakan to mount public political campaigns, we just reported them as what journalist do – reported what's there. DE: What's your arrest and detention like? Chan: What's inside like is in my book, you go in, it's like going into a police station, the night we were detained, we were brought to detention room in the police station. The usual practice is take off your clothes, trousers except your underwear, and then put in a room that can accommodate five to six persons, that's the first step in Sandakan on the night of arrest. We were put into the detention room, for about a week, and then transferred to the Kampung Sim Sim prison where we spent one month, after which they flew us by plane to Kota Kinabalu and driven into the Kepayan Detention Centre. DE: What's the inside like at Kepayan? Chan: There were about 20 of us detained in one big block, there were Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, all detained together, including a few Chinese, a few Kadazans and a few Bajaus. That's Kepayan. From that time, you could be detained one year or two years and after that they had the power to continue to detain you, depending on the political decision. DE: How was life in detention? Chan: Like normal, two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, after that, talk, sleep. If you don't want to be confined, you can apply to come out to work in a factory, you can choose what work you want, such as carpentry, drawing or others. You work until afternoon. Sometimes you can be out to exercise, play games, like volleyball, looks like free but within the confines of the detention centre. DE: What does your heart say about today's book launch? Chan: Originally, I thought this would be just a passing event but later on got so moved when I saw the crowd who packed the room, buy the book and kept me very busy autographing for them. That sort of surprise… respect for a mere journalist was eye-opening and it touched me. DE: You are 90 now, what's your secret? Chan: Nothing special, no special supplementary extras to prop up wellness. DE: How did you manage to remember 60 years of your career? Chan: Some parts I wrote from memory supplemented by 50pc from a search for facts by going back to some published clips I had cut out and filed, the Sabah Archive keep newspapers but anything before 1963 they don't have.
