Borneo Post reporter first woman president of Sabah Journalist Association - Borneo Post Online (2025)

KOTA KINABALU (April 13): Sabah Journalist Association (SJA) welcomes its first woman president, Mariah Airiens Doksil, following a biennial general meeting in Penampang on Sunday.

Mariah, a reporter at The Borneo Post who has published many writings on various topics including human rights issues in Sabah, vowed to not only continue the legacy of past SJA president Datuk Muguntan Vanar, but also bring her own vision to the association.

The first aim is to encourage more younger writers to join the association and its training programmes, especially with many reporters in the state not coming from mass communication or journalism backgrounds.

She added that SJA plans to hold courtesy calls to the authorities including the police, court and Information Department (JaPEN) to empower its writers with better access to stories and more information on the ground.

“I think it’s important for SJA to play the role of not only providing training to refresh their knowledge, but also update them on the latest international terms such as regarding gender equality, ethical writing and human rights problems.

“Because apart from having the perspective of Sabahans, we also need to have the latest information, especially the relevant terms in international standards. So, having not only national, but international training is important.

“We are also aiming to encourage more writers to submit more quality articles for the Kinabalu Press Awards. Hence, the association is mulling the idea of increasing the prize pool for the main winners this year,” she said.

As the first woman SJA president since the association was founded in 1994, she hopes to inspire more women to take up writing or more women reporters to join SJA, while dispelling the notion that they cannot achieve good work-life balance in this line of work.

Mariah noted that despite the various reasons given by other female writers, she will strive to prove that it is still possible to manage both career and family commitments in this regard.

“Many have told me, they cannot go for training programmes or go for outstation jobs because they have to look after their family. But as a mother of three young boys myself, I want to show that we can still do all this as long as we delegate our work properly.

“And I can say that SJA now is empowering women. They trust me to be the leader of this huge association with hundreds of members, and I won uncontested without any male contenders – that means they believe that women can do this,” she said.

Mariah, who is also active on social media platforms such as TikTok, hoped that the new SJA lineup for the 2025-2026 session can do their best to contribute to the association.

With the 17th state elections right around the corner, she also expressed hope that SJA can bring about more vibrancy to the reporting scene in Sabah.

Mariah also envisions the association as a safe space for reporters to express their concerns involving journalism issues, and as a platform to encourage its members to do more write-ups on issues in the state.

“With the rapid development of social media, I always say that SJA cannot be the police for reporters.

“We encourage all kinds of stories, especially in Sabah where there are many human rights issues such as regarding undocumented people, children and indigenous communties.

“However, we also need to practice self-censorship and be more responsible, especially when writing on such sensitive issues.

“There are some stories that sensationalise these topics, but I think that we can be there to do the right thing. What matters is that we are contributing to Sabah,” she said.

Meanwhile, Muguntan, who had led the association since 2017, in his outgoing speech conveyed that he decided not to contest in this year’s elections to give way to the younger generation, expressing his full support to the new president.

The elections also saw Ricardo Unto (Daily Express) elected as the new vice president, Siti Aisyah Narudin (Utusan Borneo) as secretary, Mohd Nazlie Zainul (Kosmo!) as assistant secretary, Angela Tan Giok Seh (Sin Chew Daily) as treasurer and Nancy Lai (The Borneo Post) as assistant treasurer.

The new committee members are Vivi Olviana Najurus (Utusan Borneo), Fardy Bungga (Nabalu News), Sandra Sokial (The Star), Stephanie Lee (The Star) and Jegathisan A/L Sivanesan (The Borneo Post).