By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, March 16: School leavers pursuing higher studies should pick courses relevant to the development of the state as well as those in demand globally.
In giving the advice, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg also advised them to study hard and not to be distracted by irrelevant issues.
“We, in the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government, just like the Global Positioning System (GPS), will guide you to the right direction. Do not take heed of issues brought up by others. We take care of Sarawak first. We are heading in the right direction, we have smart kids, we have the resources, we move on … just like riding a bicycle.
“Let us ride together on the bicycle called Sarawak. The riders are ‘anak Sarawak’, and we move on till we reach our destination to become the most developed state in Malaysia by the year 2030,” the chief minister said when launching Sarawak Career and Training (SCaT) Fair 2019 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) this morning.
He told those present, many of them students, that his administration would help Sarawakian students determine the most suitable courses for them through the Sarawak Workforce Information System (SWIS), which was set up last year.
“That’s why we have that system. We want to match Sarawakians’ knowledge, abilities and talents with the needs of the world,” he explained.
Abang Johari also stressed that to be smart and knowledgeable, one has to be creative, adding that the state government had been implementing various ambitious and high-tech infrastructure to spur creativity.
Some of the infrastructure development, he elaborated, was the erection of 600 telco towers all over the rural areas in the next two years as well as working with high-tech companies from China, like Huawei, to make use of their 5G technology.
“Now we have our Centre for Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centex) collaborating with Huawei. Why Huawei? America doesn’t like that giant Chinese telecommunications company because they think Huawei is spying on them.
“The chips (they make) are getting smaller and that’s why they are suspicions that Huawei can spy on everything, but that is basic physics. For us in Sarawak, we don’t care. What we want is we want to know the technology. We want Sarawak to have 5G in terms of digital speed,” said Abang Johari.
In relation to that, he also emphasised the importance of mastering the English Language because it is a global language and a lot of study materials and manuals are written in English.
He also encouraged Bumiputera students to take up Mandarin lessons mainly because apart from America, China is also a global economic powerhouse.
Among those present were Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong, Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs Abdullah Saidol, Assistant Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh and Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan. — DayakDaily
