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KUCHING, Aug 28: Teachers should educate students on the importance of democratic governance, says Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) Speaker Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar.
In pointing this out, Mohamad Asfia, who is the acting Head of State, emphasise that the Malaysian system of democracy, which was inherited from the British and is based on the Westminster system, has served the country and Sarawak well over the years.
“It is crucial for teachers to teach the importance of the democratic process to their students as it will help them to understand the kind of political system which we have been practising in the country in the past 60 years,” he said in his speech to teachers and pupils of SK Udin, Sarikei at the Astana Negeri Sarawak here today, according to a press statement.
Mohamad Asfia stressed that the DUN is the highest lawmaking body in Sarawak and that the Speaker plays a crucial role in managing the meetings of its elected members.
“In Sarawak, the Governor is the head of the DUN. He is the ‘head’ so to speak, and the Speaker is like the chairman of the meeting,” he added.
It is Sarawak’s law that in the absence of the Governor, the DUN Speaker will assume his duty, such as the current situation whereby Mohamad Asfia as the DUN Speaker, assumed the role of the acting governor, as the governor Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is currently recuperating overseas.
On the same note, Mohamad Asfia also hoped that teachers will teach their pupils and students on the importance of Sarawak’s history including from before the arrival of the Brooke administration.
“It is very sad that the school curriculum only focuses on Sarawak history dated back to the Brooke era and it doesn’t mention about Sarawak’s history before that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Astana Negeri Sarawak’s Senior Administrative Officer Riziandy Nawawi in his welcoming speech, thanked SK Udin teachers for their effort to visit the Astana to provide learning exposure to their pupils during the current school holidays.
SK Udin headmaster Leonard Lee Ambrose Lawrence led nine teachers and twenty-three pupils to visit the Astana today.
Besides the Astana, they also visited the DUN Complex, Borneo Cultures Museum, Petro-Sains at Dewan Suarah Kuching, Sarawak Cultural Village, and Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC). — DayakDaily
