SIBU: A farewell dinner for outgoing Sibu Resident, Hii Chang Kee was held at Tanahmas Hotel on Monday night. In his speech, Hii thanked the staff of Sibu Division Resident’s Office for organising the farewell dinner. “After two years as the Resident of Sibu Division, the time has come for me to leave. It is not easy to say goodbye to an office which I have served for more than two years since Oct 2015. However, all good things come to an end.”
“The new appointment as the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports came as a surprise to me and I accepted it wholeheartedly as the State Civil Service Slogan goes – An Honour to Serve.”
“I wish to thank the State Government for giving me the opportunity to serve in this position and especially the State Secretary, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani for his encouragement and his confidence in me,” he said during the dinner to bid him farewell and to welcome the new resident, Charles Siaw, held at Tanahmas Hotel on Monday night.
Hii had started his service in the local authority in 1992. 23 years of service in Sibu Municipal Council has given him valuable experience in handling the local development issues and frontline engagement with the local communities. He said that experience has helped a great deal when he took up the post of Resident which requires even more engagement with the local leaders and communities. Hii said that throughout the two years, he enjoyed working closely with the heads of Government departments and all the staff of Sibu Division Resident Office, Sibu District Office, Selangau District Office and Kanowit District Office.
“Throughout the two years as Sibu’s Resident, I am proud of the following accomplishments, such as active participation and commitment from community leaders.”
“I am very thankful that under the able leadership of the 3 Temenggongs, most of the community leaders in Sibu Division have carried out their duties diligently. That include cascading Government policies, conveying people’s issues, coordinate and resolve local issues, endorsing official documents, attending official and community functions,” he said. He therefore encourages those who seldom turn up for official functions to do so to carry out duties entrusted by the State Government.
“We have even managed to publish for the first time a directory detailing the delineation of zones for the Chinese community leaders, in which the delineation has helped the community leaders to know exactly the target communities which they serve.
Besides, he said the local communities find it easier to identify their respective community leaders when they need help. According to Hii, Federal and State departments in Sibu Division have been interacting actively thorough whatsapp groups, committees and task force at various levels.
The close cooperation has helped to resolve many issues on the ground in a fast, accurate and efficient manner, he added.
Furthermore, he said that Sibu Division has seen better harmony and interaction among the various racial and religious institutions for the past 2 years, in which it has now become a norm for various racial and religious institutions to extend invitation to other institutions from different racial and religious background to their respective celebrations.
With the cooperation and undivided support from the government departments, community leaders and the local communities, he said that Sibu Division Resident’s Office has won the first place in the recent Chief Minister’s Quality Award (Resident and District Office Category).
“I attribute this to all the government officers, community leaders and the local communities. Without your support, the award will remain as a dream,” he said.
