BAU, June 23: The Bidayuh community has been urged to put aside personal agendas and to be united for the benefit of the community as a whole.
Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong said it doesn’t matter who is appointed as leader; as long as everybody has a common goal, purpose and direction for the benefit of the community, everybody in the Bidayuh community would gain benefit in the long run.
He opined there have been too many people fighting with each other just to be the leader, and then those who lost become self-appointed leaders. In the end, there are too many leaders and the leadership among the Bidayuh community becomes too diluted.
This, he said, would not benefit the community, and in the end the community would be left behind compared to other ethnicities in the state because they could not move forward.
“We cannot have a common purpose and direction if there are too many leaders. There is a need to have a leader in the community, and we hope to create a leader so that it would be a symbol. It may not be very clever but we take it as a symbol of unity so that the rest will follow.
“Let us think of the woods (sic) rather than the trees. So we must think of the community rather than individuals. We will look at somebody to lead us and the community. To achieve all this there is a need to have personal sacrifices so that we have a common goal, a common purpose and create strength among ourselves,” Manyin said during the Bau Gawai Dinner on Saturday before hundreds of Bidayuhs at the Bau Civic Centre.
As such he urged the Bidayuh community to be prepared to subordinate their personal interests and personal agendas to that of the bigger, community agenda.
“Think of the community first rather than we look at individuals. Think of the woods (sic) rather than the trees. If we are able to do that I think the Bidayuh community, with so many graduates now, kampung accessible by roads, having treated water and electricity supply, I think we are on the way to a better future, if only we put our heads together and don’t quarrel among ourselves,” he said.
Manyin also pointed out that when he was Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications back in 2011, he discovered that the Bidayuh community was among those that enjoyed the best accessibility behind the Chinese and the Malays in the state.
He said almost all Bidayuh villages now are accessible by road, at least gravel roads, and enjoy treated water and electricity supply as well as telecommunications services.
“Yes, in the next state election we must have one mind, one heart, and one purpose. If we are able to do that and make sure the next state election the eight Bidayuh state seats (Opar, Tasik Biru, Serembu, Mambong, Tarat, Tebedu, Kedup and Bukit Semuja) are won by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), I think we pay what we owe to the state government. Because compared to the others I think the state government has done a lot for the Bidayuh community.
“I always say in my own area (Tebedu), the state government has given us a lot so now is the time for us to pay back. It’s not for the government but for ourselves, because if we are united we are strong, and we can move forward and progress, and make the Bidayuh community progressive, dynamic and able to participate actively in the development agenda of the state,” said Manyin, who is also Tebedu assemblyman. — DayakDaily
