Portland, KK set to be sister cities by Sept
Published on: Friday, December 05, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: Positive changes can take place when like minded people come together, and likewise, the coming together of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Portland, Oregon as sister cities. When United States President Barrack Obama and Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak met this year, a big part of their discussion was on how to elevate the relationship between the US and Malaysia.It had to do with the importance of people-to-people relationships outside of formal diplomatic channels, so that both groups of people could come together.
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As a result, both came up with various initiatives among them encouraging sister city relationships between the cities in the US and the cities in Malaysia.Americans' presence here actually helped the people of Sabah through tourism, language (education), army security training, navy stopovers, army/navy charitable visits, and a few others like the US government's assistance in finding missing footages of Borneo made by American documentary filmmakers Martin and Osa Johnson.A friendship city status with Kota Kinabalu has now been established before eventually becoming sister cities next year. The city of Portland in Oregon, and Kota Kinabalu are set to be sister cities by September 2015 if all goes according to plan, making the relation the first between cities in Malaysia and the United States.
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US Ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Yun couldn't think of a better example than Kota Kinabalu to kick start things between two countries.The initiative was a response to the joint-statement made by Najib and Obama, and thus further anchoring the current relationship between the US and Malaysia, and in this case, Sabah and Oregon.
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An abundance of other goodness comes along with this, highlighting four pillars – education, business (economics), sustainable development and environment.The arrangement will also explore health links between the two cities. Yun elaborated that in terms of education, sister institutions between Portland and Oregon in general will be established with Kota Kinabalu and Sabah."An exchange of people studying in both countries is also expected through this. In fact, discussion steering towards this has already taken place. Universiti Malaysia Sabah has already been approached to further this intention."The key thing is to have people from Sabah study in Portland and people from Portland study in Sabah."He said there would be scholarships, but not necessarily from the US government. "For example, a world forestry centre in Portland that does forest research and so on is offering four scholarships for Sabahans to come and do research there." Yun was interviewed at his Presidential suite at Shangri-la's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa, accompanied by his wife, Dr. Melanie Billings-Yun and two US Embassy representatives during his third visit to the State in November.Discussions with Portland State University and Oregon State University to offer exchanges are also in the process of coming to fruition. "The second pillar has to do with business connections. We want Sabahans and Americans to connect with each other in terms of business."Through this sister city relationship, people from Portland and Oregon in general will be encouraged to invest in Sabah, whether it is tourism, manufacturing or any other field, added Yun."The third pillar is sustainable development … to have liveable cities, green cities, building sustainable cities followed by the fourth one which is more on environment/forestry preservation, wildlife protection."This really is the effort of the cities rather than the federal government … in our case Washington and in your case, Kuala Lumpur."Kota Kinabalu currently has seven sister cities namely Yongin City, South Korea, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand, Rockingham City, Western Australia, Vladivostok, Russia, Heyuan City, China, Jiangmen City, China and Yeosu City, South Korea.Meanwhile, although American tourists are not coming to Kota Kinabalu in huge numbers yet, American Navy troops that are stopping by are benefiting the locals through various initiatives as well as benefiting the local economy through purchasing of groceries in bulk.In relation to this, Yun said the reason for the lack of interest on the American side to come here is due to the distance."They never come in big numbers to Sabah or Malaysia in general because it literally takes about two days to get here and another two days to get back. Sometimes people just have a one week holiday."However, he emphasised the need to promote eco-tourism to Americans. Melanie said it also has to do with the tourism highlights of other states in the US, such as California, Hawaii and Florida which also caters to American tourists who are seeking fun in the sun activities, as well as breathtaking beaches and islands.The promotion of something different, in particular eco- tourism, she added, is certainly a selling point that will grab people's attention."It was a treat to see Orang Utans in the wild. We saw nature at its best there," said Yun recalling his trip to Danum Valley, here."I'm quite optimistic that in the future, Sabah will be an attractive destination for Americans. I'm quite confident that there will be much more American tourists in the coming years."State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun led a delegation of about 11 people including Mayor, Datuk Abidin Madingkir to Oregon."I was there with Melanie and US Embassy officials. I was genuinely impressed by the enthusiasm on both the Kota Kinabalu side and Portland side."In relation to this, Masidi stopped by San Francisco on his way to Portland, Oregon for the inauguration of the Kota Kinabalu/Portland sister city to meet tour agents doing the Far East destinations."The meeting was very fruitful. In fact better than I expected," said Masidi in a separate interview."It was also attended by the North America Asiana Airline Director. Asiana is Sabah Tourism Board's partner to bring more Americans from San Francisco/ Portland to Kota Kinabalu via Incheon as it operates a daily flight and a convenient connecting flight to Kota Kinabalu on the same airline."A number of San Francisco and Portland tour agents would be in Sabah soon on a FAM tour (familiarisation trip)."Meanwhile, Madingkir welcomed the sister city initiative and according to him as a young city, Kota Kinabalu has a lot to learn and can benefit from the city management of a far advanced city such as Portland.The programme could also enhance the flow of investors, tourists and students from Malaysia to the US.On September 2014, Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi announced that Malaysia aims to join the United States visa waiver programme to enable Malaysians to enter the US without applying for visas, and allowing them to stay in the US for a maximum of 90 days for tourism or business purposes. Neighbouring countries that have participated in this programme include Singapore and Brunei.The programme was discussed Najib and Obama when the latter visited Malaysia. When Yun was asked to comment on how this request was progressing, he hoped that it would not take a long time."We're getting there. There are certain conditions for Malaysia to meet before this happens."But, everyone has to meet them. It's on paper. When President Obama came to Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib requested for Malaysia to be considered for visa waiver."Step by step we're making progress in meeting certain conditions.For example, exchanging data between US immigration and Malaysian immigration."As for a consulate in Sabah, he said that there are no plans to set up one. But he assured that they would be doing a number of programmes here related to people, education and culture to further gravitate people in both countries, cementing the relationship that has already been forged.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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