By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, January 23: What is there for the Bidayuh younger generation especially those below 40 (B40)?
Temenggong Austin Dimin, the Bidayuh paramount chief of Kuching Division found the B40 group to be idealistic, independent-thinking and with a tendency to be anti-establishment.
“I find this group difficult to handle as they tend to be idealistic and also tend to be anti-establishment as well.
“And what is worse is that they tend to blame the old generation like myself for shortchanging them and not doing enough for them.
“So to me, something must be done to reach out to them so that we can move as one towards a more challenging future, especially when the nation is gearing up to become a developed nation by 2020,” Dimin told DayakDaily today.
As for the younger generation, Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh stressed that B40 group must be proactive and must possess self-determination to succeed.
“The Bidayuh younger generation need to be more independent and strive for success. Education is the pillar of success for any community in the world.
“They should focus to succeed in education and career. There are so many opportunities around that could be grabbed. And they must be ready with all the necessary knowledge and skills to face the job market.
“They can also pick up knowledge and skills from social media and the Internet which they can easily pick up through their handphones,” said Miro.
He pointed out that the Bidayuh B40 must also be willing to learn from other races who are successful such as the Chinese and the Malays.
“We must also be willing to learn from other more advanced communities such as the Chinese and Malays if we are to venture into business,” he said.
Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin on the other hand said the B40 group must be categorised into various groups such as by profession, semi-professional and those who are not well educated.
“While those professional and semi-professional may have settled down by 40, they need a good business environment and opportunities to develop their careers,” he said.
Willie who was a former banker pointed out that the challenging categories to tackle would be those without proper education and skill training.
“So they must be given a second chance in life such as to obtain certain skills from Giat Mara, ILP or community colleges. This way, they will have a better chance to succeed in life as most of those who have the skills such as servicing air-conditions and welding are 95 per cent employed,” he said.
Willie said he was willing to go the extra mile by providing personal training and coaching for youth who want to be involved in business and information technology.
“In fact, I have conducted training for youth before. So for me, the Bidayuh community must move forward as an entity regardless of our political affiliations,” he said.
Numbering slightly over 200,000 people, the community, which is the fourth largest in terms of population in Sarawak, after the Ibans, Malays and Chinese, has been able to gain better education and job opportunities as they live on the periphery of major urban centres in Kuching and Serian. — DayakDaily
