Mandarin classes for airport frontliners

Participants attending a Mandarin class at the Sandakan Airport.

KOTA KINABALU: Basic Mandarin Language classes are ongoing for frontliners of the Sandakan and Tawau Airports to ease the difficulties in communication experienced by tourists, particularly those from China.

As discussed in a meeting earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew had said the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) would facilitate and organise basic Mandarin language classes for officers and staff members serving in the Tawau and Sandakan Airports.

She said this move was necessary as a remedial measure, following the incident last year where four Chinese tourists from Shanghai were detained in Tawau for 18 days until December 28, 2019 for failing to get their passports stamped on arrival at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on December 4, 2019. STB general manager Noredah Othman said the participants of the basic Mandarin classes were making progress.

“We (STB) arranged the classes with full support from the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment. The classes are sponsored by the ministry as the tutors are outsourced from the private sector,” she said.

Updating the minister this week on the classes attended by 55 participants, Noredah said these started on July 9 this year, twice per week for a duration of three months until October 9.

At the Tawau Airport, the classes for 25 participants are held every Tuesday and Thursday from 11am to noon, while those at the Sandakan Airport for 30 participants every Wednesday and Friday from 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

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