Santa and Elves to climb Mount Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: A staff team from the UK charity, Raleigh Borneo, will attempt to climb Mount Kinabalu to raise funds for their Host Country Venturer Programme on December 13 and 14.

In conjunction with the festive season and to encourage donors, they will be scaling the mountain with added charm – one climber will be dressed as Santa Claus and the rest will be dressed as elves.

So far the event has raised over RM10,000, but Raleigh Borneo is still RM50,000 away from its target.

“The current amount raised will help fund just two Malaysians for 2011,” explains Raleigh Borneo’s Recruitment, Support and Media Coordinator, Yolanda Graham.

“We’re hoping to raise enough to fund 10 Malaysians.”

Yolanda will be one of the elves ascending Mount Kinabalu.

With a permanent base in Kota Kinabalu, Raleigh expeditions have been run in Malaysia since 2002. The organisation has been helping rural poor Sabahan communities by building basic necessities such as gravity water feed systems, kindergartens and community halls.

Their projects also include environmental conservation missions within the state, such as helping build the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok and building infrastructure to enable scientific research in various environmentally protected sections in Sabah.

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Firefly introduces new routes into Sabah and Sarawak

We are pleased to inform you that Firefly has introduced two new routes into Sabah and Sarawak from Main Terminal Building, KLIA on our new fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which seat up to 189 people.

Effective 15 January 2011, the two new routes are:

1. Kuala Lumpur – Kota Kinabalu (BKI) : 3 flights per day after 24 Jan 2011

2. Kuala Lumpur – Kuching (KCH) : 4 flights per day after 24 Jan 2011

The commencement of these routes presents an amazing opportunity for our esteemed passengers to enjoy even greater savings through our new fee and fare structure. Additionally, our growing route network lets our passengers enjoy incredible value further afield.

To celebrate this milestone, Firefly offering:

Fare: RM 59 (all-in fare, one way)
Booking Period: BOOK NOW – Dec 12, 2010
Travelling Period: Jan 15 – March 31, 2011

Thank you

FlyFirefly Sdn. Bhd.

3rd Floor, Administration Building 1, MAS Complex A,
Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport,
47200 Subang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
http://www.fireflyz.com.my

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Waterfront Boardwalk in Kota Kinabalu ready for New Year

Kota Kinabalu: The City Hall will hold a New Year's eve bash and at the same time celebrate the official opening of the new Dataran Bandaraya (City Square) at the Waterfront Boardwalk in Anjung Senja here.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun said he was informed that works at the Anjung Senja Boardwalk Phase 1a were now 40 per cent complete and City Hall and developer, Waterfront Urban Development Sdn Bhd are expecting it would be completed on time.

Met after inspecting the project site and briefing by Mayor Datuk Iliyas Ibrahim and Waterfront Urban Development Executive Director, Johnson Koh, Masidi said he was satisfied with the progress of the development.

He said the planned New Year's eve celebration at the park on Dec 31 is expected to be officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Masidi was also informed that among the features at the City Square are a 7m tall and 1m diameter totem pole to be known as "Nantapuan" or meeting place and adorned with Murut motifs.

The Square itself is 40m X 28m that is being built on the inner side of the 500m Boardwalk (from the Wawasan Plaza roundabout in Anjung Senja).

Iliyas said they were proud because the name of the square was proposed by Chief Minister himself.

It was designed to be a public multi-purpose space and accommodate events or ceremonies as well as for parking.

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Travel agents want Sabah exempted from ITC

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah travel agents want the State tourism to request that the Transport Ministry give special consideration to the state in dealing with the Inclusive Tour Charter (ITC).

The ITC was enforced in September this year to bar foreign chartered flights from getting Malaysian passengers.

The move is bound to affect the tourism industry in Sabah, said Multiclients Travels Sdn Bhd, managing director Nicholas Liong.

Liong who had been doing chartered flight services for the past 10 years said the ITC was imposed to protect the national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia but it did not benefit the tourism industry in Sabah and Sarawak.

“For peninsula, this policy is not a problem to them but for Sabah it will hurt the tourism sector because we don’t have direct flights to certain popular destinations such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Guilin and Taipei.

“Because of this, we decided to introduce chartered flights for all these destinations which do not have direct flights from Kota Kinabalu. This service benefited a lot of people in the hospitality industry and the state economy.

“We urge our State Tourism Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun to look into the matter and discuss it with the Transport Ministry for a solution,” he said.

Nicholas said the imposition of ITC has nothing to do with the closure of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) runway extension project which started in May this year.

The KKIA runway is closed from 1am to 5am and all the chartered airlines avoided these hours, he said adding that chartered flights would arrive at 11pm and 6am and depart within an hour.

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Sipadan Island - A diver’s paradise

Sipadan is the country’s only oceanic island and the Government has taken drastic steps to protect this national treasure.

THE water around Sipadan Island in Sabah is so clear you can see happy, healthy colonies of fish, turtles, corals and other marine life in it.

But less than 10m from the shore, the turquoise water turns completely dark. The sea suddenly plunges into the dark unknown — a scary prospect for snorkellers.

But all is good. This distinct change in colour marks one of the island’s famous dive sites: The Drop-Off. It’s 600m straight to the bottom and it’s what makes Sipadan unique.

You see, Sipadan is really an underwater mountain. It is an oceanic island, which means it is not connected to any continental shelf but rises straight from the deep ocean floor.

Most of the diving done in Sipadan is wall diving where the coral reefs are vertical, not below the diver as is the case in other places.

This is a great place for divers to hone their buoyancy skills — you do not want to go below the 30-35m safety limit of recreational diving — while enjoying the scenery at the same time.

But you can’t stay on the island as it has no resorts. This has been so since 2004. Many believe that this was done for security reasons. In 2000, 21 people were taken hostage by armed gunmen on the island (they were later released unharmed).

According to Clement Lee, managing director of Borneo Divers Resort, tourists are not allowed to stay on the island because of environmental reasons. The only evidence of civilisation there is an army camp.

Borneo Divers began operation on Sipadan Island in 1983. Recreational scuba diving was virtually unheard of in Malaysia then, especially in Sabah.

“We were the pioneers in diving tourism here. It started earlier in the peninsula, at least 30-35 years ahead of us although it was very sporadic,” says Lee, who comes from Kota Kinabalu.

In 1988, maritime legend Jacques Cousteau visited Sipadan to shoot a documentary, Ghost Of The Sea Turtle.

Over a period of 20 years, however, Lee witnessed the degradation of the marine life and the environment. There were too many divers and operators, he says.

The small island could not withstand the traffic it was getting.

In the past, the island was at the centre of a territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia. The matter was brought for adjudication before the International Court Of Justice and, at the end of 2002, the Court awarded the island (along with the island of Ligitan) to Malaysia, on the basis of the “effective occupation” displayed by the latter’s predecessor (Malaysia’s former colonial power, the United Kingdom) and the absence of any other superior title.

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