He said with the opening of all economy sectors, hopefully there will be more job opportunities for locals as many had their income affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This Year of the Rabbit, we hope the economy will recover like before with more job opportunities and more people being able to rebuild their lives,” he told reporters after officiating a ceremony to donate bags of rice to those in need at Tudan’s Guan Yin Temple here.

Lee said with the reopening of the country’s borders last year, Miri has witnessed an influx of visitors to city, especially from neighbouring country Brunei Darussalam.

“Even though the number of visitors is not as high as before the Covid-19 pandemic, it has slowly enlivened the city’s atmosphere and the economy. Apart from Brunei, we can also see an increasing number of domestic tourists from Peninsula Malaysia as well as Singapore coming into Miri.

“Earlier, I was also at Miri Times Square for an event and saw that the atmosphere was back to how it was before the pandemic – with people starting to flock out either to shop or visit the food premises, making the atmosphere cheerful and ‘alive’ again around the city,” he said.

On the charity event today, Lee said a total of 800 bags of rice were donated to the less fortunate, comprising the disabled, dialysis patients, members of the Association of Parents of Children with Disabilities (Pibakis) and senior citizens from Home of the Aged.

“This charity activity is in line with our efforts to nurture a caring society among the locals. I am happy to see this wonderful initiative by the organiser – Guan Yin Temple, Tudan – contributing to the less fortunate and the poor.

“Through this small contribution, the recipients also get the celebrate Chinese New Year as they are not forgotten, especially during the festive season,” he said, adding his thanks to all generous donors, companies and non-government organisations who contributed to the programme.