Practice healthy lifestyle practices as a daily routine

KUCHING, Oct 18: Healthy living practices should be made part of the daily routine of Sarawak people and not just focused on health campaigns in certain months, said Deputy Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.

He said, the Malaysia Month of Health and Well-being (BMSS) should be a catalyst for sustained lifestyle changes, especially as Sarawak faces the challenges of population aging and low birth rates.

"As Sarawak grows and thrives, we want everyone to stay healthy so that they can enjoy the progress. We don't want Sarawak to flourish but the people are sick.

"We have to bring the spirit of Healthy Malaysia Month every month towards a National Agenda for Healthy Malaysia (ANMS) that fosters a healthy lifestyle culture. That is our ultimate goal and this BMSS will complete the agenda effort", he said.

He said this while addressing the closing ceremony of Sarawak State Level 2026 Malaysia Month Sihat Sejahtera (BMSS) in Kuching Sentral, today.

According to him, the low birth rate needs to be taken into consideration in order to avoid Sarawak becoming more dependent on foreign workers to meet local labour requirements in the future.

He also encouraged people to perform physical activities as appropriate, including walking in shopping malls when hot weather or rain makes outdoor activities difficult.

"If there is free time, walking for a half to an hour around the mall is also a physical activity, so there is no reason such as too hot or rainy weather because the mall is equipped with air conditioning", he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of State Health Sarawak (Public Health), Dr Mohamad Nazarudin Bahari said that the ANMS and BMSS complement each other with the ANMS as a national strategic framework and the BMSS is expanding its implementation through community engagement.

"The success of ANMS and BMSS is not only measured through the number of programs or community participation, but through positive and long-term health behaviour changes.

"The ultimate goal is to form healthy individuals, prosperous families, resilient communities, and thus contribute to the well-being of Sarawak's people as a whole", he said.

He said that the implementation of BMSS focuses on six main domains, namely physical activity, healthy eating, mental health, non-smoking and non-vape practice, self-health and environmental hygiene.

According to him, the concept of health ownership is also emphasized to ensure that each individual has the knowledge and awareness to make better choices for their personal and family health.

He hopes that cooperation between government agencies, the private sector, NGOs and communities can continue throughout the year to ensure BMSS' message translates into sustainable healthy living practices. - TVS