TUESDAY - As the Kampung Kobuni on a fast track to become the next tourism destination in Sabah, 21 villagers and homestay operators took part in a workshop on food preparation and handling at Hotelab, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) recently.

The workshop was organised by Borneo Tourism Research Centre, Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy and Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) where it focuses on menu planning, food and beverages preparation, handling, safety, storage and table setting.

The workshop was officiated by Deputy Dean of Postgraduate and Student Affairs for Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Dr. Arif @ Kamisan Pusiran.

In his speech he said, it is important for the villagers to know how to prepare and handle food correctly to ensure safety of the food that will be served to the visitors and tourists.

“Food and beverage is an important part in any tourism experience and it is the responsibility of the provider to ensure the food experience is always positive”.

He also commended the effort and the enthusiasm of the villagers in building their capacity to excel in the tourism sector.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the program, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Awangku Hassanal Bahar Pengiran Bagul hopes that the villagers will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation on high quality and standard of food and beverage, which directly contributes towards more positive tourism experience for the visitors and tourists.

“The workshop organised by UMS and DBKK is very valuable in preparing the villagers to go into tourism and this is an exciting times for the village as they are now receiving local visitors some from Japan and Korea,” he said.

Also present at the event was the Chairman for Village Development and Security Committee of Kampung Kobuni, Aji Rumbuton; and the Director of Economic, Tourism and International Relations Bureau DBKK, Fauziahton Awang Samad to represent the city hall and handing out the certificates to participants at the end of the workshop.

For the record, Kobuni Village is located in Inanam with close proximity to Kionsom waterfalls and launched its homestay programme in March 2018.

Last year, the village won the Cleanest Kampung Award under City Hall’s Litter-Free Kampung Competition.

Source: FPEP

WEDNESDAY, 03 OCTOBER - About 40 community members from Kampung Ovai and Kampung Kambizaan and students of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St Mary spent their last Saturday morning partaking in river water quality monitoring.

The community empowerment training was organised by Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC) from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in partnership with Global Environment Centre (GEC).

This workshop was organised under ITBC’s Outreach Programme @ Tagal System Garamatoi River, funded by the National River Care Fund (NRCF).

The half day workshop was aimed to raise awareness and empower the local communities and students to protect their local rivers and also to celebrate World Rivers Day 2018.

The World Rivers Day is celebrated every year on the fourth Sunday of September. Begun in 1989 in British Columbia, Canada; World Rivers Day is a day to raise public awareness and promote the preservation and conservation of rivers around the world.

Dr. Arman Hadi Fikir, Project Leader of Outreach Programme @ Tagal System Garamatoi River who was present to launch the workshop thanked NRCF for funding the programme and Professor Dr Monica Suleiman, Acting Director of ITBC for full support given throughout the outreach programme. 

“Improper sewerage system, uncontrolled hill-cutting and irresponsible littering are the main issue of degradation of river basin and its water quality. We have to tackle these problems to ensure healthy aquatic ecosystem which has direct relation to human well-being” said Dr. Moh Pak Yan, Head of Water Research Unit of UMS

Participants were seen getting their feet wet looking for aquatic insects underneath river rocks and at the river banks that indicate the health of Garamatoi River and taking water sample to test the river water quality using YSI ProDSS Multiparameter water quality meter.

To make the workshop more interesting, various fun educational games on river and freshwater ecosystem were also organised for the participants.

Leonardo Jainih; one of the ITBCs’ postgraduate student and the project coordinator for Outreach Programme @ Tagal System Garamatoi River said he will keep in touch with the villagers especially participants from water quality and aquatic insect training to monitor their progress and keep giving support in educating them about the significant of having clean river system.

Based on the data collected, the water quality of Garamatoi River is in good condition categorized under Class 1 according to Interim National Water Quality Standards for Malaysia (INWQS).

Source: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation

WEDNESDAY, 05 SEPTEMBER – A total of 21 poor and orphaned children of Home Tuaran situated at Kampung Kota, Tuaran Sabah were made ‘adopted children’ by some members of the Housewives and Women Staff Club Universiti Malaysia Sabah (KESUMBA) during the club’s recent visit there.

The programme called, ‘Ziarah Ukhuwah Fillah dan Projek Anak Angkat Bersama Home Tuaran’ saw the President and some Exco members of KESUMBA visiting the centre and distributed goodies to the inmates of the home.

Among the objectives of this programme were to express love and concern towards the needs of surrounding community making members of KESUMBA as ambassadors of UMS who champion those who are underpriviledged. 

“This visit is also to strengthen relations between the two parties and sustain the relationship through the adoption of the children”, said the Religious and Welfare Bureau Chief, Norazah Hamzah who was the organiser of the programme.

Among those present were the President of KESUMBA, Datin Roha Asmara, wife of the Vice-Chancellor of UMS; Deputy President of KESUMBA, Dr Aza Sherin Mohamad Yusuff; the Chairman of KESUMBA Labuan International Campus, Hayati Salleh Baihaki; and several Exco members.

SOURCE: BPP, KESUMBA

TUESDAY, 04 SEPTEMBER - Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FPEP) from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) showed its "Love for Malaysia" by performing their CSR project at Kampung Sayap, Kota Belud during Independence Day.

The faculty members headed by the Dean, Associate Profesor Dr.Raman Noordin conducted a two day event in SK Kampung Sayap.

Kampung Sayap located at Kota Belud is unique in terms of its biodiversity and cultural heritage. The faculty members with their expertise helped to equip the knowledge and practical skills of the villagers by enhancing their potentials into converting Kampung Sayap as an edu-tourism and eco-tourism destination.

Activities in conjuction with the 61st National Day like drawing competition, creative fashion design and the Workshop on the Motivation for UPSR were conducted for children between the ages of 4 to 12 years old.

Cooking competition, the Workshop on Table Setting and Food Safety were carried out to enhance the skills of the homestay operators on how to prepare food for the tourists.

This will also help them towards preparation of appropriate menu for the local as well as foreign tourists.

The Workshop on Finance helps the homestay operators as well as the farmers in managing their accounts more efficiently. The Dean confirms that this effort is an ongoing activity and it will not stop here.

After discussing with the village head and the head of the Parents Teachers Association, he assured that skills and expertise will be delivered through workshops in the future based on needs of the villagers.

The Dean and the faculty members were happy that they could use the opportunity to show how much they love Malaysia by helping the villagers to increase their socioeconomic status as well as conserve the natural and cultural beauty of Malaysia through Kampung Sayap.

The unique bondage between the villagers, the supporting Parents Teachers Association of SK Kampung Sayap and their faith in God drives them to hand in hand to spread the wonders of their richness in culture and biodiversity to every corner of the world.

Their efforts to mould the younger generation as the tour guide add wonders to this village. In line with this the launching of the book titled "In with Edutourism and Out with Conservation: The Future of Kampung Sayap" also took place.

According to the Dean, the book covers the history, socioeconomic profile, and the tourism products like the unique flora, fauna, biodiversity, the potential conservation, the business opportunities and challenges in Kampung Sayap.

This book hopes to promote Kampung Sayap as the hub for edu-tourism and eco-tourism with the help of Sabah Tourism Board.