Heroic Brothers Run For Lives

Pure determination or hardiness of two brothers to recover their father's stolen motorcycle saw them narrowly escape after being chased by a group of armed men believed to be connected to the theft.

On Friday the brothers from Kenyalang Park got word that their father's bike, which was stolen from a relative's house at Chawan Road earlier that afternoon, was discovered at Tabuan Foochow.

The duo quietly went to the settlement and managed to recover the bike from a house believed to belong to the thieves and wheeled the machine back towards the main road.

However, they were apparently spotted by the thieves who then called out to a group of village youths and chased after the brothers brandishing machetes and other sharp weapons.

Realising their lives were at risk they pushed the bike as fast as they could without looking back and were relieved as they reached the main road to see the armed gang had turned back.

After being informed the police head to Tabuan Foochow the same night where they spotted a group of armed youths fleeing the scene on foot as they arrived at the suspects' house.

At the suspects' wooden house, which was empty, police found the structure had been 'outfitted' with a makeshift escape hatch to enable a quick getaway for the suspects in such a situation.Recovered from the house were a host of offensive weapons.

Flood & Landslides Updates

Residents along the riverbanks and hillslopes in Bintulu, Miri and Limbang divisions are advised to be on extra alert as the current poor weather may trigger minor landslides.

Several areas in these divisions such as Tatau and Batu Niah have been identified as landslide prone areas.

Some roads that had been cut off by landslides which hit the northern region of Sarawak on Friday morning were still impassable.

Continuous torrential rain since Thursday triggered at least five landslides in and around Miri on Friday, forcing 342 people to be evacuated from their houses.

It was reported that the landslides destroyed eight houses, a bridge in Sungai Rait and buried several vehicles.

14 flood evacuation centre were still operating throughout the state with one in Batu Kitang Jaya, Kuching; three others in Simunjan; four in Selangau, Sibu; three in Tatau, Bintulu; and three in Miri.

It is estimated that there are about 1,800 people who are still seeking shelter at all evacuation centre in Sarawak including 360 families and 200 people in Batu Kitang Jaya, Kuching.

For More updates: Click FloodInfo

Slides of Land

It was nearly a repeat of events which occurred more than two weeks ago after heavy rain in the whole region triggered several landslides.

This time around heavy rain caused four separate landslides in Miri, endangering eleven houses which are located close to the scene of the landslides.

At around 9am a house at Kampung Lereng Bukit and another house was hit by earth and mud flow from the direction of Kampung Hj Wahed at Canada Hill.

The second landslide occurred again at Kampung Lereng Bukit at about 1 pm, however this time it brought down another six more houses and two vehicles at the site.

Mud and earth which slid down from the hill slope blocking the main road inside the village also toppled down an electric post cutting off power supply to the area.

The other landslides were at Kampung Lereng Bukit, Taman Futee, Kampung Tunku Abdul Rahman and Sungai Rait.
No casualty were reported as villagers and residents already on the alert for possible dangers after a long rainy spell.

At Taman Futee, the slope gave way at a semi-detached house, destroying a store in the backyard while in Kampung Tunku Abdul Rahman, a nearly completed house was in danger of collapsing after a landslide occurred the back of the house.

Villagers there has helped put sandbags and cover the exposed slope with canvass to keep rainwater out of the earth.

The previous landslides the past two weeks claimed five lives in the northern region where three timber workers in Medamit, Limbang and two petrol station workers in Miri were buried alive.

Here Comes The Rain Again

There was a sense of Deja Vu today, when incessant rain brought back another round of flooding not only in Kuching but also several parts of the state as well.

Several low-lying areas in Miri, Sibu and Bintulu suffer the same fate with evacuation centres being reactivated after the last flooding on Jan 11.

The flood scene at some part near Bau-Batu Kawa road

By noon today some 795 people were evacuated from these areas. While in Selangau in Sibu some 800 people were evacuated five longhouses while some more from three villages.

While in Kuching the worst hit areas are the same area in Bau, Batu Kawa and certain parts of Malay vilages located near the Sarawak River.

However by this evening, (thank goodness) most of the water in the flooded areas has subsided and hopefully it would not rain cats and dogs tomorrow.

The rain cloud in this radar image (taken this afternoon) does not look promising for folks in the central region

Long Monday Night Blues

Nightfall is expected to be earlier and long throughout Sarawak tomorrow due to the annular or partial solar eclipse which starts around 4.30pm (local time) until sunset and beyond as darkness falls.


Though it will not be a total solar eclipse, the occurence of this natural phenomenon towards the late evening would create a situation that feels like an early nightfall.

Unlike total eclipse which will see the sun being covered by the moon, the annular or partial solar eclipse is not like total eclipse will see the sun looking like a ring circling the moon.

Due to this, there will be gradual darkness due to the sunlight being blocked as well as the moon's shadow covering the earth.

It may cause diurnal (active during the day) animals such as birds to be confused and 'tricked' into returning to their nests earlier than usual.

The annular solar eclipse will occur for three hours and 45 minutes starting from the Indian Ocean to western side of Indonesia.

The 'first touch' where the position of the moon starts to block sunlight is expected at around 4.30pm. The moon will continue to be in the way of the sun and forms a crescent shape until eventually causing total darkness by 5.50pm.

It may or may not be an auspicious occasion for the Chinese community who are celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Ox this year.

More Details: CLICK HERE and HERE for explanation on phenomenon

Cat Burglars (Really)

Really, a family of five is believed to be making a living out of stealing hybrid cats and kittens in the city!


Their operation was discovered when they were caught on a surveillance camera monitor on Tuesday.

They were believed to be involved in a theft of a British Short Hair kitten from a pet shop in Satok, Kuching.

It happened when two men and a woman, accompanied by two small children, entered the store around after noon.

At the time, there was only a female employee in the store manning the cashier's counter while the rest of the staff were out back cleaning several animal pens.

According to the unsuspecting staff at the shop, the group appears to be family members, the eldest of the group- a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap- walked to the rear of the store while the other two adults, together with the small children, crowded around the counter in front of her querying about products sold at the place.

After several minutes, the entire family left the premises after purchasing several packets of cat food, and it was only after 30 minutes later that employees discovered that the kitten, worth over RM1, 000 (about USD250) was missing from its pen.

The store owner believed the thieves had been eyeing the kitten for some time since it was offered for sale two weeks ago.

A quick check of the security footage revealed that the baseball cap-wearing middle-aged man had calmly walked to the rear of the store and removed the kitten from its cage.

The man placed the feline underneath his jacket before walking calmly to the front and leaving the shop with his cohorts.

Duh... It's Only Antique

An antique porcelain trader could not believe what he experienced this morning when five thugs who went to his open-air stall not only took his money and cellphone but also smashed up several of his precious merchandise.


The dealer who opened his antique stall early in the morning near a shopping centre in Kuching was approached by five thugs who demanded some money from him.

Out of fear the trader gave the men RM500 (about USD130), who found that it is not enough and decided to snatch the victim's cellphone.

Before they left the scene, the five men then went on a smashing spree, breaking several big vases and precious antique merchandise on display worth RM30,000 (USD8,000)!

These men totally don't even know what they are doing. This is not to advise the culprit but just to ponder; Was it not better for them to carry away the precious merchandise rather than to rob money from the poor fellow?

Killer Landslip Claims Two Lives

A landslip killed two petrol station workers in Miri early today. The landslide occurred near a hill slope along Pujut-Miri road.


It occurred at about 1am local time when an Indonesian worker and a young local were sleeping inside a cabin below the slope.

The landslide destroyed a concrete foundation of the premises partially destroying the building.

Police arrived at the scene earlier before enforcement to help search the two missing workers.

At about 7 am, three excavators from the Miri City Council were dispatched to help a search team to locate the victims.

It was only after nearly 13 hours that the first body was recovered while the second body was recovered not far away at about 1.45pm.

Landslide can occur any time after the soil has been soaked heavily by rain and especially risky for those living near hill slopes.

During this monsoon season several landslides also occurred in Sibu and Kuching today, luckily no casualties were reported.

She Came,She Slipped,She Fell

I'm digressing a bit today, out of my normal territory to comment on an interesting story and a miracle or damn luck, as some might say, of a woman in Larkin, Johor who had second thoughts about committing suicide, slipped and fell from a top floor of a three-storeyed shop.

The drama began at 8.30am, when the woman stood on the ledge of the building, intending to leap to her death.

It was learnt the firemen were preparing an air-bag to cushion her fall but the woman, prematurely slipped and fell on a fireman instead.

Had the 25-year-old woman missed falling on a fireman, she would have landed head-long onto the tarmac.

Earlier, the firemen and members of the public spent about 50 minutes, discouraging the depressed woman from ending her life.

Well such an act is not condoned and for those intending to commit suicide is committing an offence under Section 309 of the Penal Code which carries imprisonment up to a year or a fine, or both.

Flood Receding for now

Some 4,000 evacuees in Sarawak have returned home as the flood situation improves.

The Malaysia Meteorological Department downgraded its red alert warning to orange in Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Betong Divisions until tomorrow.

Red is the highest level of alert where there are widespread storms and flooding while orange is for moderate storms.

There would only be scattered rain throughout the state in the next few days adding satellite images show that the rain clouds have moved out of Sarawak to Sabah.

The state capital recorded merely 4mm of rainfall up to 3pm yesterday, a sharp drop from the 205mm on Sunday.

However, the city and low-lying areas could continue to be flooded until tomorrow evening because of the ‘’king tide” phenomenon, which forced water level in the Sarawak River to peak.

Aerial survey of the flooded areas, saw water was still rushing down from the upstream reaches of the Sarawak River in Lundu and Bau districts to the city.

Flooding forced the closure of 119 primary schools and 13 secondary schools in southern part of Sarawak yesterday.

Many of them are expected to remain closed today and headmasters may use their discretion to close their respective schools if the situation warranted it.

The number of villagers still sheltered in more than 30 evacuation centres had dropped from nearly 9,600 from 1,474 families to below 5,000 as of yesterday afternoon.

There were only two roads in Bau district which were still submerged in the floodwaters, down from 21 while the flood situation in Sibu and Bintulu Divisions had also improved.

Photos and More Reports: CLICK HERE

Flood Warning and Evacuation

Flood Alert

“We are bracing for the worst. The Red Alert warning until Jan 14,” said Tan Sri Dr George Chan this morning after a media briefing at the state flood operations room at Wisma Bapa Malaysia.

He said the rain clouds which had moved inland from South China Sea two days ago would bring more rains in the next few days.

The city has experienced rainfalls about four times’ higher than average in the past 24 hours.

Another Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said the Suba Buan area in the Bau district was worst hit and it was under nearly 5m (15 feet) of floodwater.

Rescuers have evacuated 108 villagers from their homes.

Prelude To A Deluge

Suba Buan - one of the villages in Bau near the overflowing Sungai Sarawak Kanan - may be affected if it rains continuosly in the next few days.

Nine families in Kampung Suba Buan in Bau has already moved in with their relatives after their homes were hit by flood several hours before noon on Friday.

The water level at these affected houses were then four feet high.

Other areas facing the danger of flood are Tondong, Belimbing, Segubang, Bogag and Siburuh.

A villager could not start his bike on the water

Get updated with latest hydrological data by visiting Drainage and Irrigation Department's website at Infobanjir.

Also at Kampung Opar in Bau more than five houses and part of the access road leading to the village were affected by flood.

They Got By With A Little Help

This is a cheerful story which, I got from a friend and literally can ‘brighten’ up the day.

Folks of Buduk Bui, a remote village in Ba'Kelalan, Lawas is now supplied with 24-hour electricity free of charge.

Power from the small river

A group of nine Rotary Clubs from Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia have successfully completed a Micro-Hydro Electricity Supply Project for the village with approximately 40 homes with 400 residents on Nov 18 last year.

The total cost of the project is US$41,500 which is approximately RM140,000.

The hydro powered generator set

Although the electricity supplied is mainly for lighting, televisions and small electrical items such as washing machines and small refrigerators can also be used.

The project was made possible through the combined efforts of the nine Rotary Clubs, District 3310 and the Rotary Foundation which provides the most needed funds, and also the hardworking villagers who did most of the physical work.

Buduk Bui folks will never again have to worry about high cost of diesel used by generator engines.

The Micro-Hydro project is environmental friendly because it does not produce any noise, pollute the air and water, and the 4-foot dam does no damage to the surrounding river bank.

With that, the villagers can now have the right to protect the catchments from other sinister organisations such as timber operators.

Popular Eatery Nearly Razed

Eatery stalls located at the old section of Kuching town, popularly known as the ‘Open-Air’ Market nearly became history of a sort on Monday night when one of the stalls there caught fire.

Popular with Kuchingites and visitors alike, crowds who patronise the stalls had to leave behind their meals when the fire broke out.

However as soon as two fire engines were dispatched to the scene and personnel were able to bring the situation under control within minutes, preventing worse damage to the 40-stall market which originally had been built in the 1940s.

Later it was revealed the blaze started at a kitchen area of a stall selling pork porridge located at the center of the market.

The stall owner confessed that the fire was a result of a leakage in one of the rubber hoses connecting the gas cylinders to the stove due to excessive heat during cooking.

The gas leakage apparently ignited and burst into a jet of flame which shot upwards and set fire to the roof.

Odd Vacant House Fire

It was quite odd that a vacant house, undergoing renovations can catch fire, but it happened at Kampung Cemerlang at Jalan Airport early this morning.

According to neighbours, the former owner officially moved out recently on Dec 31 while the house is said to have been sold to another neighbour opposite.

The new house owner planned to renovate the unit where bricks were also seen left in front of the house ready for renovation work.

The fire did not involve other nearby houses as it is detached from other units.

3-Year Cycle Alert

Parents should take precautions. I heard that the deadly enterovirus 71 (EV71) that occurs in hand, food and mouth (HFMD) is spreading in the state.

The cycle peaks every three years and this year is the third year.

At the moment 14 patients were still warded out of which six in Sibu Hospital and five in Miri Hospital.

Sources from the health department said that 10,505 cumulative HFMD cases occurred between Jan 1, 2008 and Jan 2 this year, a big jump compared to 6,571 cases in the corresponding period.

Kuching had the highest number of cumulative cases with 3,295, followed by Miri (1,608), Sibu (1,572), Bintulu (1,465) and Samarahan (662).

Sibu had the highest number of cumulative admission at 504, followed by Miri (475), Limbang (139), Kucihng (107) and Sarikei (106), while Miri Hospital had four new admission, Sibu Hospital (two) and Sarikei Hospital (one).

In 2007, there were no EV71 virus but in 2008, the virus was detected and spreading.

Last year a total number of cumulative admissions are 1,513 with 28 children were seriously sick and admitted to hospitals.

Experts from Universiti Sarawak Malaysia and State Health Department expected that the disease would be at its peak after the Lunar New Year around March and April.

School fees gone, for now

At least it is a good start for the year, especially as parent to a primary school going children, since the Malaysian government had decided to scrap all school fees this year. Syabas!

It was a pleasant surprise when I need to pay only RM1.50 (just for the Takaful insurance fee, I was told) when I came to register my daughter at her school today!

Just imagine before that if you have four school-going children and you need to pay about RM100 each for school fees, you will be bringing tons of cash, that is if you are rich. For the poor, it is sure a burden for them.

The class teacher said that no school fees are required for this year and any subsequent payment for fees such as school badges, workbooks,name tags or the like, as well as parent-teacher association membership fees, were waived and only be required 'as is when is' basis over the school term.

Being a curious person and a skeptic, I enquired further and found out that the directive from the education ministry was given in the eleventh hour, last week before school opens, which of course arouse more of my curiosity.

Because what I can only think of was that there has been issues raised at the end of the last year with regards to the policy by the government that all school fees were scrapped but not followed through by the schools.

This was a hot issue among parents last year as the government had announced in the 2008 Budget that there would be no more school fees for all national school students. When their children turned up for school, they were told to pay additional fees.

Instead they reasoned that the policy only applies to the scrapping of school public examination fees. Of course such a flip-flop indecisiveness of the authority irked the people to the extend that it becomes a political battleground for some politicians.

And I got a feeling that this waiver of school fees may not be permanent, and probably act as gimmick since the state of Terengganu is in the midst of a by-election where polling is due on Jan 17.

That particular state in the peninsular, is regarded as among the poorest in the country and anything that makes the people happy will be used by current adminstration to win votes.

Another proof that it is not going to last long, is that some urban schools are not enforcing the waiver, still charging about RM150 for registration, although these schools received similar directives last week.

I am not sure of other rural schools as well, I just hope that there is no 'hanky-panky' going round again, where such directives are not followed, and the poor among the rural community have to fork out more money than they should, instead of enjoying the waiver.

With the extra saving, they could otherwise use for other presssing needs during this economic uncertainties.