Kuching still does not have enough hotel rooms to meet demand, the Sarawak Premier told reporters on October 6, putting the city's overall inventory at roughly 13,000 rooms. He said some visitors had to turn to homestays and linked the pressure to business events and major conferences choosing Kuching. He made the remarks after a hotel opening in the city. The 13,000 figure describes the overall stock of hotel rooms, not how many rooms are vacant for a particular visit. The Premier said more detailed and updated figures could be obtained from the state tourism minister. His remarks did not quantify the shortage or provide date-by-date occupancy figures. For conference organisers and travellers, the distinction is practical: the citywide total cannot establish availability on their event dates. Nor did the remarks specify room rates or how many additional rooms would be needed. More hotels can add to the stock, but the reported pressure concerns whether accommodation matches demand when visitors arrive.

Kuching is included in a Hong Kong–Singapore fibre-optic network project, with an agreement signed for Sarawak's participation, according to Converge ICT Solutions Inc's chief executive. Speaking after an IDECS meeting in Kuching on October 5, the executive said Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) initiated the project and would invest in a connection with a branch to Kuching. The wider network would run for more than 3,000 kilometres and also have branches to the Philippines and Thailand. For Sarawak, the proposed connection is about access to regional digital hubs, rather than a new household broadband package. The executive linked the investment to the high-capacity connections needed by data centres, cloud computing and AI, with Singapore providing onward links to other networks. A signed agreement is not the same as an operating connection. The account gives no commissioning date, network capacity or retail service terms, so it does not establish when Kuching users would gain extra bandwidth or whether their broadband prices would change. BCCK was the meeting venue; the precise Kuching connection site was not identified.

The arched roof on Jalan Channel is a useful first clue: Sibu Central Market is a large working building, not a row of souvenir stalls dressed up for visitors. I would start downstairs rather than head straight for breakfast. The rows of produce counters explain why this address matters to Sibu; the meal upstairs makes more sense once you have seen what comes through the market below. [image: 1791243315969-130941995-resized.jpg] Pangalau / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2023 photograph, unchanged. The present Central Market was completed in 1996. It brought the former wet market and the Lembangan native market together in one complex opposite the express-boat passenger terminal. That change is more interesting than a claim about being the biggest market: an everyday town shopping stop and a trading place for indigenous produce were brought to the same address. You can read that purpose in the mix of vegetables, fruit, poultry and handicrafts, rather than looking for a ceremonial monument to it. I would give the ground floor the unhurried part of the visit. Jungle produce and local vegetables are not decorations for a cultural display; they are things people buy. Iban vendors and the wider mix of traders make the market a place where Sibu's different food traditions share the same practical space. Availability follows the day's supply, so treating a particular fruit or forest ingredient as a guaranteed attraction would miss the point. [image: 1791243316647-138294972-resized.jpg] Wee Hong / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · September 2023 photograph, unchanged. There is one detail that is hard to mistake for another town's polished food hall: live chickens sold with their bodies enclosed in newspaper tubes, their heads visible above the paper. The packaging is a distinctive local trading practice, not a performance arranged for a camera. It is worth noticing because it keeps the connection between an animal, a purchase and a household kitchen visible—something neatly packaged supermarket poultry removes from view. That also sets a real limit on the recommendation. Anyone uncomfortable around live poultry may prefer to avoid that section. I would not turn the animals into a handling activity, and I would ask before making a close-up photograph of a seller. These are working counters with customers to serve. [image: 1791243317332-170497228-resized.jpg] Wee Hong / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · September 2023 photograph, unchanged. The second part of the route is upstairs, where food and drink stalls sit alongside clothing and other merchandise. Downstairs is the buying; upstairs offers somewhere to pause over breakfast. I like that two-level sequence because it prevents a market visit from becoming just a hunt for a famous bowl of noodles. Kampua can be part of the morning, but the stronger reason to come is to understand how ingredients, trade and meals occupy the same building. The older interior photograph below is from 2008, not a promise about today's stall arrangement. Together with the 2023 views, it helps show the long-running role of the open trading floor. The building has been maintained and sections can change; individual stalls should not be treated as permanent exhibits. [image: 1791243317674-16109910.jpg] Benjy8769 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 2008 archival photograph, unchanged. For a first Sibu trip, I would use this as the morning anchor of a town-centre walk, then continue towards Tua Pek Kong Temple and the riverfront. Add the Heritage Centre only after checking its opening day. The market is worth an intentional stop for someone interested in food supply and everyday Sarawak, but I would not make a special journey from Kuching solely for it. If your ideal outing is a quiet, air-conditioned gallery or an evening souvenir-shopping circuit, choose a different anchor. Find it on Jalan Channel, Sibu: Sibu Central Market on Google Maps. The market trades daily from early morning, around 6am, but that does not mean every section keeps the same hours. I would arrive in the morning for produce and breakfast, keep about an hour flexible, carry small cash and drinking water, and wear shoes that cope with wet-market floors. Follow any temporary barriers rather than assuming every aisle is open. The most useful souvenir may be a better understanding of what Sibu buys for an ordinary day.

A chip designed by a Sarawakian and made at a Sarawak-based foundry has been purchased for use in electric meters to be marketed in China, the Premier said on October 3. The update, delivered in Mukah, places both the design and manufacturing work in Sarawak. China is the intended market for the meters, rather than the location identified for making the chip. No chip model, buyer, order value or quantity was specified in the update. It therefore establishes a reported commercial use, but does not provide enough detail to measure the size of the business or say when the meters will reach customers. There is a separate, documented background to Sarawak’s work in this field. On August 13, SMD Semiconductor and Jiangsu Linyang Energy signed an agreement to evaluate and integrate semiconductor solutions into smart-meter and battery-storage products. That collaboration included technical qualification before commercial deployment. The October remarks did not identify the purchased chip as an SMD product or link it to that agreement. Keeping those developments separate matters: an industry partnership and a reported purchase are different milestones, and neither supplies the missing order figures.

Sarawak is still calculating the house types and costs for its planned middle-income housing initiative, with the first pilot intended for Jepak and an area next to Kampung Nyalau in Bintulu. The Premier’s October 3 update identified the second area near Samalaju and said affordability would be tested in Bintulu before the approach was extended elsewhere. Kuching, Miri and Sibu were among the urban areas mentioned for a possible later expansion. For middle-income households in Kuching, that makes this a policy-development update rather than a local housing launch. The remarks did not give a final selling price, application window or construction timetable. The initiative addresses a gap for families who may not qualify for lower-income affordable housing but cannot comfortably buy higher-priced homes. In Bintulu, the Premier identified expensive land and densely developed areas as obstacles that the pilot must address. The idea was first outlined in February, when a RM300,000–RM550,000 price range was being explored. That earlier range is not a newly confirmed October selling price: the current formula is still being worked out, and wider expansion depends on the pilot producing homes within an affordable range.

Keys to the first 22 Rumah Spektra Permata (RSP) homes in Balingian were handed over on October 3, while another 32 units are planned for the remaining lots. The completed homes at the Balingian Village Expansion Scheme are two-storey detached units with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, measuring 850 square feet. The first-stage package, including infrastructure, was completed on April 14 after work began on April 19, 2024. The key ceremony is therefore a handover milestone, not the date all construction finished. Each home is sold at RM150,000. The state provides RM10,000 in deposit assistance, leaving RM140,000 to be financed through Mutiara Mortgage & Credit. That balance is financing, not a second subsidy or a promise of the same monthly repayment for every buyer. The wider RSP approach provides infrastructure, electricity and water alongside housing rather than allocating residential lots alone. Housing Development Corporation’s programme information prioritises recipients of lots under village extension and resettlement schemes; this handover is not an announcement of unrestricted sales to all home-seekers. The proposed additional units would bring the Balingian scheme to 54 homes. They are separate from the 22 completed units, and no completion date for the next stage was given in the handover update.

People still unable to use WhatsApp should use its official appeal and support channels, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said on October 3. MCMC said Meta had told it that a technical error wrongly treated legitimate activity as rule violations. The error affected more than half of the cases in the first batch the commission referred to the company — not more than half of all Malaysian WhatsApp users. According to Meta’s response, the error was fixed at the end of September and affected legitimate accounts were restored, including some whose users had not appealed. That update does not mean every outstanding suspension has been resolved; MCMC said it would continue monitoring the remaining cases. For Kuching traders who use WhatsApp to take orders or contact customers, the separate business-messaging guidance is important. Sending high volumes of messages or contacting people without consent can be detected as spam. MCMC advised businesses to obtain recipients’ consent before sending bulk messages. Meta also said WhatsApp’s enforcement policies and terms of service had not changed. MCMC has asked for clearer appeal confirmations, review-status updates and faster recovery processes so users are not left guessing about their accounts.

Sarawak households and businesses will have to wait for the coming State Budget for details on electricity tariffs, Premier Abang Johari Tun Openg said in Mukah on October 3. He said the Budget would set out the state’s revenue outlook and electricity-tariff direction during the coming Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting, scheduled for October 12–21. His remarks did not set out a new rate, an effective date or which customer categories would be affected. That distinction matters for anyone planning household expenses or business operating costs: a promise to explain tariff policy is not itself an announced increase or a guarantee that charges will stay unchanged. Abang Johari put state revenue at about RM14 billion, compared with roughly RM6 billion to RM7 billion under an earlier administration. He linked the stronger revenue base to Sarawak’s ability to fund its own development projects rather than rely entirely on federal assistance. The next concrete details will be in the Budget presentation — the proposed spending, revenue assumptions and any specific electricity measures. The October 3 speech did not provide the full allocations or tariff schedule.

Debak’s maternal and child health services will move temporarily to an improved building behind the existing health clinic while a RM11 million redevelopment goes ahead. The replacement project will remove ageing timber blocks and provide a two-storey concrete building. The maternal and child health unit is planned for the ground floor, with the dental clinic upstairs. Dental chairs, oral X-ray equipment, air-conditioning and electrical works form part of the package. The implementation period runs from July 27, 2026, to March 26, 2028 — 20 months. That is a construction timetable, not an announcement that the new facilities are already open. The temporary maternal and child health premises have been improved by the Sarawak Health Department to keep services available during construction. For families in Debak and nearby communities, the immediate change is where care is provided; the larger building and additional equipment come later. The development is intended to complement the clinics in Pusa and Spaoh and Betong Hospital. Staffing and equipment will still be needed alongside the new building, while a proposed expansion of the surrounding area to address parking remains separate from the confirmed construction scope.

A Sibu study is examining how Sarawak’s stormwater-management requirements can be applied to developments on soft ground. The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Sarawak brought agencies, councils, developers and engineering professionals together at Wisma Sanyan to discuss compliance with the Sarawak Urban Stormwater Management guidelines, known as SUStoM. Their technical feedback will inform the study. SUStoM already forms part of development control. It covers planning submissions, earthworks and erosion-and-sediment control, followed by stormwater engineering plans. The Sibu discussion concerns how those requirements work under local ground conditions, rather than an announced exemption from drainage standards. Complete technical submissions and timely assessments were among the priorities raised. For developers and surrounding neighbourhoods, the issue links approval efficiency with drainage and flood protection. The latest statement did not announce revised requirements or a date for adopting any changes.

Mukah’s Basong Water Treatment Plant expansion is 15.1% complete, with completion targeted for September 2028. The RM243.98 million Phase 3 project is designed to add a new plant producing 60 million litres a day, taking Basong’s total treatment capacity from 60 million to 120 million litres daily. It also includes an 18km raw-water pipeline with a diameter of 1,000mm. The October 2 progress update puts the state-funded project ahead of schedule. Construction began in September 2025; the additional capacity is still being built, rather than already supplying households. The expansion is intended to meet future residential and industrial demand in Mukah Division. Raw-water availability remains part of that planning, particularly during dry periods when intake conditions can affect treatment operations. Sarawak’s wider water-grid planning also includes a central-region system covering Mukah, Sarikei, Sibu and Kapit. Rural areas that cannot yet connect fully to the grid continue to be served through alternative water-supply arrangements.

Sarawak wants permission to recruit doctors directly, but that change still needs federal agreement. Deputy Premier Dr Sim Kui Hian said in Kuching on October 2 that he would seek a meeting with the Health Minister to discuss recruitment policy, funding and postgraduate training opportunities together. The meeting date depends on the minister’s availability. The discussion goes beyond offering higher payments to attract doctors. Dr Sim said opportunities to train as specialists also matter to doctors deciding where to work, and should be part of a longer-term response to Sarawak’s staffing needs. He also wants the discussions to consider employing foreign medical graduates who studied in Malaysia but cannot currently be employed here. That remains a policy proposal. For hospitals and patients, the distinction is important: this is a proposal to change how personnel can be recruited, not an announcement that new doctors have been appointed. No direct-recruitment approval or start date was announced in the October 2 remarks.

A RM95 million upgrade of the Kampung Semeru–Kampung Kuhom link road has begun, with completion targeted for May 2028. The route serves nine villages in the Tebedu and Tarat constituencies. The project is under the Greater Kuching Coordinating Development Agency (GKCDA), with Sarawak’s Public Works Department (JKR) implementing the work. Its stated construction period is 24 months. The upgrade is more than resurfacing: it includes work to JKR R3 standards, realignment of hazardous sections and bends, new road sections, drainage and related structures. These are the changes intended to improve access to facilities and local economic activities once the project is completed. The villages covered are Kampung Semeru, Kampung Bukit Nanas, Kampung Plaman Dunuk, Kampung Senah Rayang, Kampung Padus Stubot, Kampung Bisira Rayang, Kampung Kuhom Mawang, Kampung Kuhom Mandeg and Kampung Rudan. An earth-breaking ceremony was held in Semeru on September 30. The May 2028 date is the project’s completion target, not an announcement that the improved route is already ready for use.

Kuching school and club teams returned with podium finishes from two national aesthetic group gymnastics competitions held in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 26 and 27. Track & Dance’s TD Elite Prime won the IFAGG Short Programme for ages eight to ten in both the AGG Dato’ Malek Cup and the AGG Malaysia Championship. Those are wins in a specific age-group programme, rather than an overall team championship. S.L. Elite from SJK (C) Sungai Apong won the School Under 12 division at the Dato’ Malek Cup. SJK (C) Chung Hua No. 6’s Hexa Legends placed second in the School Under 12 category in both meets, while its Hexa Heroes took third in School Under 10 at both. The Sarawak contingent comprised 69 gymnasts competing in the IFAGG, NAD and Compulsory programmes at Endah Parade. Other podium results included Lubak Phoenix’s second places in the Mixed category and Track & Dance’s Night Stone taking third in Club Under 12 at both competitions. For the local school teams, the results show participation beyond the state-level circuit. The two competitions and their separate age and programme categories matter when comparing placings; these were completed meets, not an invitation to a coming event.

The Sarawak Secretariat Office has reported resolving 96 per cent of more than 56,000 public complaints within four days, as of October 2026. The figure was highlighted as the office received seven national recognitions for complaints management at an Oct 1 ceremony in Putrajaya. The recognitions were under the 2025 Public Complaints Management Audit, with assessments of all 13 State Secretary Administrations conducted from May 14 to July 30 this year. The recognised areas included response and service-delivery efficiency, work processes, complaints governance, staff competency, public communication and digital innovation. The four-day figure describes reported performance across a large caseload; it is not a promise that every new complaint will be settled within that time. Kuching and other Sarawak residents can submit feedback and follow case progress through Talikhidmat. Its official service lists a 24-hour contact number, 082-555999, and an app with case tracking and notifications. Keeping the case record makes it easier to follow up on an unresolved report.

October’s monthly SARA assistance began being credited to eligible recipients’ MyKad accounts on Oct 1. The amount depends on the recipient’s category. Under Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR), households receive RM100 a month, while eligible senior citizens and single adults receive RM50 each. Those qualifying under both STR and eKasih receive higher monthly credits: RM200 for households, RM150 for senior citizens and RM100 for single adults. A RM200 household credit is therefore not the standard amount for every recipient. For eligible Kuching and Sarawak shoppers, SARA is cashless spending support for approved necessities at participating shops, rather than cash to withdraw. The aid covers 15 categories, including rice, eggs, cooking oil, frozen food and school supplies, at more than 14,700 selected supermarkets and grocery stores nationwide. Eligibility can be checked through the official SARA portal’s status-check function. This monthly credit is separate from the RM100 one-off SARA Untuk Semua payment made in February.

Samalaju’s second-phase water infrastructure project has a contractor and a RM517 million contract, but the award is not a completed supply upgrade. Sarawak-based KKB Engineering accepted the government’s letter of acceptance on Sept 28 for the SCORE–Samalaju Water Supply Physical Infrastructure Phase 2 project. The award was made through the Regional Corridor Development Authority, RECODA. The contract allows 36 months for completion. KKB must also enter into a written agreement with the government. That makes the agreement and subsequent construction progress the next milestones for an infrastructure project serving Sarawak’s Samalaju industrial corridor. The announcement does not give a commissioning date or say when users will receive additional water supply. The 36-month period should not be read as a firm calendar opening date without a confirmed commencement date.

PETROS and Höegh Evi have agreed to jointly develop Kuching's proposed LNG terminal, with first gas targeted for the end of 2029. The agreement, reported on Oct 1, covers joint development, ownership and operation. Plans include a floating storage and regasification unit, mooring facilities, subsea and land pipelines, and an onshore receiving facility. The terminal forms part of the Kuching Low-Carbon Hub. PETROS says it would deliver natural gas to Kuching and surrounding areas, supporting electricity generation and future industrial demand. Truck loading, small-scale LNG distribution, bunkering, storage and reload services are potential uses, not a list of services already operating. For local households and businesses, the important distinction is timing: this is a development agreement, not the start of gas delivery. End-2029 remains a project target. The partners are assessing whether delivery can be accelerated, but have not announced an earlier date.

Two separate road projects launched in Sarikei on Oct 2 aim to ease traffic around Jalan Repok and provide better links into town. The larger job is a 3.6km upgrade of Nyelong By-Pass to a four-lane, two-way road. Its RM86 million cost falls under the Sarawak Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development, with JKR implementing the project. A separate link of about 2km will join Nyelong By-Pass to Kwong Ming Minah. This RM12 million project is under the Rajang Delta Development Agency and is intended to relieve peak-hour congestion, including traffic near SMK Tinggi Sarikei. The figures refer to two different projects, not two estimates for the same road. At the groundbreaking, RM5.32 million in land compensation had been paid for 28 of 29 titled parcels involved in acquisition. No completion dates or detailed diversions were given, so road users should follow current on-site traffic controls rather than treat the new links as already available.

Kota Samarahan's new SMK Sri Samarahan is expected to open in October, adding secondary-school capacity in the growing district. Preparations were inspected on Oct 2 by the deputy rural and regional development minister, who is also the Kota Samarahan MP. The opening is intended to improve students' access to a more suitable learning environment. Earlier project plans place the school near Kampung Meranek and Kampung Empila, with capacity for about 1,500 students. Its stated purpose is to ease overcrowding at SMK Muara Tuang and SMK Kota Samarahan; that planned capacity should not be mistaken for the size of the first intake. The October opening announcement does not specify an exact first school day or enrolment arrangements. Families considering the new school should confirm intake and transfer instructions with the school rather than assume the announcement itself is an instruction to switch schools.