KUCHING, July 9: Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) hopes more organisations from the private sector will follow in the footsteps of DayakDaily in helping to bring books to set up small libraries that will contribute toward inculcating the reading culture among rural and remote communities in Sarawak.
DayakDaily’s D’Drift 2022 Team today delivered more than 1,000 children’s books to SK Lusong Laku after long hours of travelling on timber roads to reach the primary school in the interior of Belaga, which is home to the residents of three Penan villages.
For this cause, BESarawak and Sarawak State Library contributed 500 books, while DayakDaily and Pertubuhan Wartawan Bebas Kuching (Pewarta) contributed 514 books.
In the simple but meaningful ceremony, DayakDaily chief editor Lian Cheng handed over the books to Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon who received them on behalf of the school. Pewarta president Peter Sibon was also present.
BESarawak chief executive officer Amelia Roziman said DayakDaily is an inspirational example for those who wish to do good in society.
“Hence, we encourage NGOs (non-governmental organisations), corporate bodies, and any organisation in the private sector to follow in their footsteps and partner with us in our upcoming Books Build Legacy project.
“As part of BESarawak’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), the project will be a Statewide effort for the business events sector to reach out to local communities and create another powerful social legacy, especially for Sarawakian youth and children,” she said in a statement today.
Amelia explained that BESarawak has, since 2016, been planning on creating a legacy that will positively impact the community and future generations in Sarawak.
After studying the matter, they realised that the business events sector would highly benefit from supporting community and social development.
This led to launching a pilot project in 2020 to set up Batang Ai’s first community library to instil the reading culture among rural children and youth by working with the Sarawak State Library.
“The library has successfully served the children, youth, and even adults of Nanga Ukom and seven other longhouses. It is, therefore, an ongoing success. Today, our mission is to replicate this success in other rural longhouses and villages.
“But we cannot succeed alone. By collaborating with media partners such as DayakDaily on this project, we hope to inspire more organisations from the private sector to be part of this journey towards a more educated and developed destination through reading.
“You don’t need to be in business events to give something back to the community. You just need to work with us to make it happen,” she said while calling on the private sector. — DayakDaily
