LABUAN – Having endured the pain inflicted by COVID-19 in 2020, Labuan's economy is on a bumpy road to recovery in 2021, according to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) senior lecturer Dr Romzi Ationg. 

He said the duty-free island, a federal territory like Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, has taken a beating on the economic front as COVID-19 has “rubbed salt into an open wound” in 2020.

But there is still hope if fundamental changes could be made to deal with the unprecedented impact of the pandemic, both in terms of policymaking and the way businesses operate, he told Bernama in an interview.

"There is a need for federal government consensus for fundamental changes in the way Labuan is to be managed. 

"It is generally agreed that changes should include severance of the collusive link between government and business as well as financial institutions," he said. 

Dr Romzi said the pandemic posed formidable challenges to policymakers and had direct and indirect effects on the interconnected global economy.

"Labuan, being Malaysia's international business and financial centre contributing hundreds of millions (of ringgit) in taxes to the government's coffers, was not spared the impact," he added.

"On the supply side, (the COVID-19) infections reduced labour supply and productivity, the lockdowns resulted in business closures and supply disruptions. 

“On the demand side, there were layoffs and the loss of income (from morbidity, quarantine and unemployment) and the worsened economic prospects reduced household consumption and firms’ investment," he said. 

He is of the view that the extreme uncertainty about the path, duration, magnitude and impact of the pandemic could pose a vicious cycle of dampening business and consumer confidence and tightening financial conditions, which could lead to loss of jobs and investment. 

He said the key challenges for any empirical economic analysis of COVID-19 are how to identify this unprecedented shock, how to account for its non-linear effects, how to consider its cross-country spillovers and how to quantify the uncertainty surrounding forecasts, given its unprecedented nature.

To be sure, it had not been smooth sailing for Labuan's economy even before the deadly coronavirus struck early in 2020.

On April 29, 2019, Labuan business chambers submitted a memorandum to the Federal Territories Ministry with a list of 15 economic issues which it said were "sine qua non" for economic recovery. The pandemic simply exacerbated the situation.

Bernama had reported that at least 29 entertainment outlets and sports bars, including karaoke outlets, on the island were at risk of closure after the owners incurred losses to the tune of RM6 million since the start of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18.

The losses led to concerns over the future of the local entertainment industry.

Associate Professor Dr Geoffrey H. Tanakinjal of Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus (UMSKAL) said Labuan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was RM7.6 billion in 2019 according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. 

The main economic leader was the services industry with a contribution of RM5.9 billion (2018: RM5.5 billion), followed by the manufacturing industry (RM1.4 billion), construction industry (RM177.2 million) and the agriculture industry (RM133.3 million), all of which reported increased values.

The situation changed in 2020 due to the pandemic which suspended global economic activity, said Geoffrey, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of International Finance.

"Owing to the need to remain indoors, work losses were inevitable. While work from home has been implemented, the fact that companies are not used to closing their doors during business hours has not changed.

"Labuan also depends on outsiders to spur the island's tax haven status. Education is a significant segment," he said.

He said UMSKAL has a capacity for 1, 900 students, the Labuan Matriculation College usually has around 2,100 students and the Labuan Vocational College and the Industrial Training Institute, 500 each. 

"Approximately 5,000 students from outside Labuan spend on their daily needs, food, transport and accommodation. The trickle-down effect of student spending has had a huge impact on Labuan's economic environment as their spending directly impacted small business establishments.

"Imagine, if one student spends RM100 per month, the total group spending will be RM500,000 per month or RM6 million per year," said Geoffrey. 

Source: https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=1917337

KOTA KINABALU: Professor Dr Felix Tongkul, probably Sabah’s most well-known geologist, clocked out to his retirement as Director of Natural Disaster Research Centre at the Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), yesterday (Wednesday). 

Asked what he considered was the greatest geological event in his career, he said:  

“Mapping the geology of Maliau Basin was one of the toughest and satisfying work I did. It was the toughest because of its remoteness.”

“We had to spend several weeks walking along the unchartered Maliau River and its tributaries to map the rock units and location of the waterfalls. We had to climb numerous waterfalls to continue upstream,” he recalled.  

The answer was quite a surprise because Daily Express expected him to cite the strong 5.9 Richter-Scale quake on June 5, 2015 which killed 18 people on Mt Kinabalu. 

Didn’t that strongest quake ever recorded in Malaysia shock him? 

“Not really. I expected something like that would happen,” he said.

Asked why he had expected something like that to happen, Tongkul added: 

“This is expected based on the return period of earthquake in the Ranau area, which is approximately 25 years for earthquake with magnitude above 5. Previous recorded earthquakes were in 1991 and 1996, although the 2015 earthquake was much larger than I expected.”

Asked what he thinks is Sabah’s greatest geological masterpiece and why, he said:

“The location of Sabah right at the juncture of three tectonic plates - the Eurasia, Philippines and the Australia plates - colliding with each other since 100 million years ago produced the magnificent geology of Sabah, where we have uplifted ancient oceanic crust, such as Mt Tambuyukon  and Mt Tavai in Telupid, uplifted deep water sediments, such as the Crocker and Trusmadi Ranges, uplifted shallow water sediments, such as Maliau Basin, the volcanoes, such as those in Tawau Hills and magma intrusion such as the Mount Kinabalu granite.”

Source: https://www.subscriber-dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?id=163921

KOTA KINABALU: In the midst of shifting from conventional learning method to online learning, more conferences have moved to online platforms devoid of the hustle and bustle of physical attendance.

Two Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) postgraduate students from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FBEA) have proven that online presentation is not an obstacle for them to win and shine at international competitions.

Ng Yen Phin, a Ph.D candidate won the Best Presenter Award for the 3MT – 3 Minute Thesis Competition at the International Postgraduate Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality (IPSTH 2020), an international competition jointly organized by National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (NKUHT), Taiwan and UCSI University, Malaysia.

Ng, who hailed from Lahad Datu, shared the content of her manuscript titled “The Meaning of Work for Tourist Guides” in three minutes using one PowerPoint slide, won the heart of the international panel of judges consisting of industry experts and academia from a total of 25 Ph.D students across Asia

Ng thanked her supervisors, Dr Balvinder Kauer Kler and Dr Oscar Dousin from FBEA for their guidance on script preparation and presentation practices over Google Meet.

Zhang Ke, an international student from China also won the Best Paper Award at the 1st Asian Tourism Research Conference, jointly organized by Mahatma Gandhi University, India and Sunway University, Malaysia.

Zhang, who is also a lecturer attached to Neijiang Normal University, China, is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in UMS. He presented a paper titled “Sunset, Seafood & Sea-gypsies in Malaysian Borneo: An Alternative Destination Image for China Tourists” during the conference via Webex platform.
Zhang co-authored the paper with his supervisor, Dr Balvinder received recognition from a total of 45 full papers presented at the three-day conference.

Being the supervisor for both students, Dr Balvinder expressed her joy on her students’ achievements.
The ceremony which is held through online platform was such a different experience to her.

“When the awards were announced, I was nowhere near my students and could only smile back at the screen,” she commented.

“Although the experience of celebrating was not the same, the key point is that we won, in which is a great end to 2020”, she added.

“Reading, for a Ph.D candidate, can be a lonely journey. So conference attendance is important in building confidence and motivation,” she said while informing her plan to celebrate the victories with her students once life is back to normal.

FBEA Dean, Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Hj Md Mansur was also pleased with the students’ achievements.
Kasim believed that the quality of postgraduate supervision at UMS will continue to thrive during the new normal.

Source: https://www.theborneopost.com/2020/12/30/ums-ph-d-students-shine-at-international-conferences/

KOTA KINABALU: Some 4,639 Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students graduated virtually through the university’s 22nd Convocation declaration, which was streamed live online on the UMS Facebook page and official website.

The declaration, which was made by Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin (pic) as UMS Chancellor, will enable the 2020 UMS graduates to receive their physical scrolls next year. 

“I would like to record my highest congratulations to the 4,639 graduates who will receive a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master’s Degree, Doctor of Medicine, Bachelor’s Degree and Diploma,” he said in his speech during the virtual declaration, here, Wednesday. 

Juhar hoped the new graduates would utilise the knowledge gained during their studies to the best of their abilities.  

“Maybe the field you studied in university will not be the same as what you will face in the workforce later on. 

“Therefore, you must be flexible, be open to continuous learning so that you can become a more creative and innovative person, with integrity and committed to whatever field you pursue. 

“God willing, if all these things are always embedded in the heart, the graduates can face any obstacles in the increasingly competitive workforce and challenging economic environment,” he said. 

Meanwhile, UMS Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hid was reported on Monday as saying that a physical convocation ceremony is proposed to be held in March next year for the graduates. 

The university, in a question and answer statement on its Facebook page, Wednesday, said however, it would be subject to how the Covid-19 situation develops. 

It added that the graduates’ scrolls and academic transcripts will be distributed via post next year on Jan 11 and physically on Jan 18. Physical distribution will be subject to the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMC0).

Source: https://www.subscriber-dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?id=163920