Perutusan Tahun Baru Cina Ketua Menteri Sarawak

PERUTUSAN TAHUN BAHARU CINA 2020

YANG AMAT BERHORMAT

DATUK PATINGGI (DR) ABANG HAJI ABDUL RAHMAN ZOHARI 

BIN TUN DATUK ABANG HAJI OPENG

KETUA MENTERI SARAWAK

1. Salam sejahtera, Salam Ibu Pertiwiku dan Salam Sarawakku Sayang. Bagi pihak saya sendiri, isteri dan seisi keluarga saya ingin mengucapkan Gong Xi Fa Cai kepada seluruh Anak Sarawak daripada kaum Cina di mana sahaja saudara dan saudari berada ketika menyambut perayaan Tahun Baharu Cina pada tahun ini. 

2. I wish all our Chinese friends a happy Lunar New Year and may the New Year, which is Year of the Rat according to the Chinese Zodiac brings prosperity, unity and good health to all of us in our beloved Land of the Hornbills. 

3. According to some narratives the rat is clever and quick thinking, successful but content with living quiet and peaceful lives. Perhaps, sometimes we should reflect upon these traits of the rat in the way we conduct our lives as we strive to be a useful member of our society. 

Dear friends, 

4. Ushering in the Lunar New Year is a time of joy and celebrations for our Chinese friends according to the tradition handed down to them from generation to generation. The Lunar New Year is a much-awaited occasion every year and well-before the actual day, one cannot but feel and notice the anticipation in the air. Malls and shops are adorned with traditional decorations mainly in the colour red and we can see our Chinese friends busy around the house with their sprucing up, cleaning and painting.    

5. I sincerely hope that our Chinese friends will take time off during this joyful occasion to indulge in the simpler and down-to-earth things in life like enjoying your favourite food or drinks, the joy of reuniting with family members and having a pleasant time in the company of friends. Make it also a time for us to connect with one another and bring cheers to people who have less than us and those who are unfortunate in one way or another. 

Dear friends,

6. Our Sarawak is a place where the respective races are free to practice their culture, tradition, and religion without hindrance. We celebrate and find strength in our differences rather than letting them divide us. For us diversity is beauty and strength, and not division. 

7. As we join our Chinese friends to celebrate the New Year, I invite all of you, especially the older generations, to look back at the past where our multi-racial society was more closely-knitted in the ways we conduct our everyday lives. We played, went to picnic, frequent the same coffee shops and have fun together, not caring very much whether one is Malay, Chinese, Dayak or Orang Ulu. We must relive this spirit of togetherness and trust in each other in order for Sarawak to continue to be a harmonious and a happy place for all of us. 

Dear friends,

8. In conjunction with the festive season, on behalf of the Sarawak government I would like to give the reassurance that the GPS Government under my leadership is doing all we can to strengthen our economy because a strong economy is paramount to our wellbeing. We are always trying to be consistent and firm in our policies to use our resources to generate more revenue for Sarawak which will eventually be returned to the people in the provision of infrastructural facilities and utilities. 

9. The hundreds of infrastructure and utilities projects, especially in the rural areas, worth billions of ringgit being implemented within these two years starting last year is a testament to the GPS government’s commitment to ensure that Sarawak is well-connected in order to prime it for a robust growth towards 2030 and beyond. 

10.  I am confident that with the increase in public spending and more funds being injected into our economy from our annual budget and from the Alternative Funding initiative, our economy can register a growth of between 5 to 6 % this year. We have to achieve at least 6 % growth per annum if we are to achieve a developed state status by 2030. 

Dear friends,

11. We can take pride in the fact that we are not behind others in some aspects of the development of a modern economy that is driven by technology. I have just launched the free public service of our three hydrogen-powered buses in addition to the electric buses which are already on the road in Kuching. The hydrogen production facility in Kuching is the first in the country and in South East Asia and neighbouring countries are indicating that they are also on the path towards emission free public transport.

12. On the judicial front, our courts are well ahead of other courts in the country in the use of technology developed by SAINS to aid in the administration of justice. Our court is using Artificial Intelligence or AI to assist the judiciary in meting out the appropriate sentences for criminal offences which is being adopted as a benchmark by the country’s judicial system. 

13. Our land administration system or LASIS I believe is the first in the country to be able to issue land title within a day of registration. In addition, the Mobile LASIS app which one can download from the apps store is a mobile platform providing information and services to the public.   

14. We are also ahead in the effort to produce more food in response to the federal government’s call to enhance the status of the country’s food security. We have set up a trade and tourism office in Singapore called STATOS and there have been some visible signs that our trade co-operation with the island republic is showing some initial results. We are exporting tilapia fish from Batang Ai to Singapore and this would be followed by chicken eggs once the essential certifications are completed according to Singapore’s standard. 

Dear friends, 

15. These are some of our achievements thus far in the period of three years after I came into office. There are of course many other things that we are doing for the benefit of all Sarawakians which I cannot possibly mention all here as we have 81 initiatives in total to date being implemented. 

Saudara dan saudari sekalian, 

16. Saya menyeru kepada saudara dan saudari untuk terus berusaha ke arah memperkukuhkan perpaduan dalam kalangan kita yang mempunyai pelbagai agama, bangsa dan budaya di Bumi Kenyalang yang tercinta ini. Ambillah peluang bersempena Perayaan Tahun Baharu Cina ini untuk mengeratkan tali silahturahim antara kita dan semoga Sarawak akan terus harmoni dan rakyatnya saling hormat menghormati. 

17. Akhir kata, sekali lagi saya mengucapkan Selamat Tahun Baharu Cina 2020 dan bergembiralah di samping keluarga dan rakan-rakan. Saya bagi pihak keluarga sekali lagi mengucapakan Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Terima kasih.