SARAWAK’s very own television station, TV Sarawak, will go on air next Saturday (October 10), Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg announced today.

The chief minister said the launch of the station is in conjunction with the official birthday of the Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The governor will be launching the station.

The station’s debut programme will be live broadcasts on ceremonies to mark the birthday on the grounds of the state legislative assembly in Petra Jaya.

The broadcast, including of the state dinner at the banquet hall of the legislature, can be watched on Astro’s channel 122.

In his address to open Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu’s Sibu zone special assembly this afternoon, Abang Johari said the programmes will be Sarawak-centric to make up for the lack of coverage on the state by the country’s main television stations.

The first promise he made for the station was to revive popular events that were mooted by Sarawak and used to be broadcast live by RTM.

He named the Bintang P. Ramlee singing competition and the Chief Minister’s Debate Championship as just two of those events.

When Pakatan Harapan took over power in Putrajaya after the 2018 general election, the Bintang P. Ramlee and the debate were yanked out.

The debate championship, now in its 35th year, is a competition most looked forward to by secondary school students.

It also comes with lucrative prize money, with the winning team getting RM5,000 and the runners up RM3,000. – October 3, 2020.