Sarawak Next International Convention Travel Award Winners

Assistant Minister in Chief Minister Department and Vice Chairman of Sarawak Convention Bureau, Y.B Larry Sng Wie Shien announced the second year winners of the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) International Convention Travel Awards on 5th of October 2010.

Seven awards, valued at up to RM10,000 for their travel, accommodation, association membership and convention registration fees are awarded for recipients to attend an international convention of their choice.

“My heartiest congratulations to the seven winners and I am very proud to see Sarawakians are taking a positive step to attend international conferences”, Y.B Larry Sng Wie Shien said while welcoming the recipients to his office.

“One of our initiatives to bring more conventions to Sarawak is funding new bidders by showcasing the benefits and opportunities of attending conventions. We can nurture future convention hosts willing to bid to bring a meeting here. This is because most association meetings require an invitation from a local member branch to meet their bid selection criteria”.

“Sarawakians need to be more active. Not surprisingly, most of our existing Malaysian Associations with international affiliations are headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, so it is important for Sarawak to also develop its own association base with active members”, he added.

A judging panel consisting of representatives of the Sarawak Convention Bureau who has shortlisted the finalists from the written applications and conducted interviews with selected applicants.

Award winners for 2010 are:

1. Dr. William Rovina Nating
Director of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture (Limbang)
- Global Conference of Rabies Control in Seoul, South Korea

2. Mr. Ho Chiung Ching
Undergraduate student, University Putra Malaysia
- 2011 International Conference on Computational Science and Applications in Santander, Spain

3. Mr. Johan @ Achu Anak Jupan
Senior Treasury Accountant, Accountant General Sarawak
- World Congress of Accountant 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

4. Ms. Dayang Hassanah Binti Abang Haji Abu Bakar
Administrative Office, Chief Ministers Department
- Toastmasters International District 72, Taranaki Convention in New Plymouth, New Zealand

5. Ms. Siti Rafizah Binti Mohamad Kasiran
Civil Engineer, Public Works Department Head Quarters
- International Construction Law Conference 2010 in Hong Kong

6. Ms. Rosalind Sia Juo Ling
Town Planning Officer, Department of Land and Survey
- 11th International Joint World Cultural Tourism Conference in Hangzhou, China

7. Ms. Constance Chin
Lecturer, MARA University of Technology
- Aix-en-Provence Annual Conference, France

The International Convention Travel Award is an initiative from SCB, the marketing arm for the State to market Sarawak as MICE destination. SCB primary role is to assist meeting planners to present competitive bids, develop new meeting, maximize delegate attendance through delegate boosting and develop tailor-made incentive proposals.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Jill Henry, Chief Executive Officer of SCB, added, “We are very pleased with the response to date and intend to expand the award program in 2011.  Closing date for entries in the third round is first quarter of 2011 for travel to conventions being held in 2011 or 2012”.

Now entering its third year, the International Association Convention Travel Award applications are open to all residents of Sarawak over 18 years of age from the educational institutions, private companies or Government Departments, students of tertiary institutions with support from their University or College. They must either be existing members of non-profit or Government associations or eligible to join.  The selected convention must rotate among different destinations and have the ability to be hosted in Malaysia.

Application forms are available from the Sarawak Convention Bureau or can be downloaded from www.sarawakcb.com.