Jabu and Empiang (front, fourth and sixth left) join Nottage (front, third left) in a photo-call with other guests, many of whom are New Zealand’s alumni.
KUCHING: New Zealand strives to reinforce its history of friendly relations with Sarawak through education.
According to Education New Zealand (ENZ) regional director (Asia) John Laxon, New Zealand has diplomatic relations with Malaysia for more than 60 years.
“This is particularly so for Sarawak and Sabah, which share several fundamental parallels with New Zealand, such as having prominent indigenous communities,” he told The Borneo Post when met during a special reception hosted by New Zealand High Commissioner-Designate to Malaysia, Hunter Nottage and New Zealand Chargé d’Affairs, Gareth Pidgeon at a hotel here on Thursday night.
Former deputy chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Alfred Jabu and his wife Tan Sri Empiang Jabu, as well as Kuching North Datuk Bandar Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai were among the guests.
Adding on, Laxon said New Zealand’s education programmes ‘is the best to prepare Malaysian students for successful global careers’.
“International students have the option to work part-time during the semester (up to 20 hours per week), and full-time (40 hours per week) during semester breaks – allowing them to attain real-life skills that complement their formal education.
“The New Zealand government recently introduced a generous open three-year post-study work visa for international students.”
Laxon delivers his remarks at the event.
Laxon also pointed out agriculture and tourism as mutually beneficial sectors.
“Sarawak is well-endowed with rich natural resources such as fertile land for agriculture. However, there is still huge unmet potential when it comes to leveraging on the latest technological advancements and research to progress further.
“To promote sustainable development in the country, there are opportunities to strengthen cooperation between New Zealand and Malaysia in key fields of agricultural science, technology and innovation, through knowledge and expertise-sharing.
“On tourism, our country relies on being good friends and host to the world; and part of it is developing the education and training infrastructure to ensure that the industry can support the number of tourists coming in. This is an area that our institutions are looking to explore with their partners here and collaborate in training (the talents) for the tourism sector.”
Laxon and his team were encouraged by the fruitful meeting with Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong on Thursday, during which areas of collaboration were discussed.
“I think what we have explored is academic and research linkages that both could start forging on. Some of the priorities identified are renewable energy, particularly hydroelectricity, forestry, as well as food and agriculture sciences.”
Laxon pointed out that 80 per cent of New Zealand’s energy is generated from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity and geothermal energy.
“We have very strong research (facilities), universities, colleges and faculties specialising in these areas.”
His delegation also had talks with representatives from Sarawak Research and Development Council to connect the academics from New Zealand with Sarawak.
“We need to build research and academic linkages because they all complement each other,” he added.
On his first trip to Sarawak, Laxon said Kuching somewhat reminds him of home and the people have been really welcoming.
He was also struck by the high number of New Zealand alumni in Sarawak who have become prominent members of society, which he regarded as a testament of New Zealand’s international education system.