KUCHING: World renowned South African explorer Mike Horn would be among the guest speakers to grace the Sarawak Youth Assembly 2010 to be held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) this July 24-25.
FOR THE ASSEMBLY: Sng (right) handing over the plaque to Mohamadon as recognition to BCCK being the co-partner and official venue for the assembly to be held on July 24-25.
Assistant Minister of Social Development and Urbanisation (Youth Affairs and Training) Larry Sng said: “The adventurer is currently climbing K2, the second-highest mountain on earth after Mount Everest. If he can’t attend, he would be doing a live feed streamed from the K2 in the Himalayas to the BCCK,”
“I’m sure his participation would command great anticipation and excitement among the outdoor adventure loving youths,” he added when addressing the media confirming Horn’s participation at the BCCK Sponsorship Announcement during a press conference at BCCK yesterday.
Horn’s top international acclaimed status was achieved when he became the first man to circumnavigate the world along the equator. He baptized the expedition ‘Latitude Zero’, travelling alone around the world in 17 months from June 1999 to Oct 2000 without any form of motorized transport.
Sng who is also Pelagus assemblyman mentioned that seven distinguished speakers including former Australian minister Dr Jane Lomax-Smith have confirmed that they would give talks during the conference.
Other speakers are former Europe-based media and communications officer Tengku Datin Paduka Setia Zatasha Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Malaysia Think Tank director and co-founder Tunku Zain Al’Abidin Tuanku Muhriz and Limkokwing University president Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato Dr Lim Kok Wing.
In addition, Sng also said that among those who would be gracing the event are Gracie Geikie from UCSI University, Ganesh Kumar, the youngest chief executive officer of a public registered company in Malaysia and one of the co-owners of ‘Facebook’, a public networking website billion dollar company.
Sng also stated that the assembly would have the biggest youth turnout where an estimated 45,000 of them would be involved in the two day event be it directly or indirectly. On the morning of the first day alone, he anticipated the event would be attended by 5,000 youths.
Touching on the opening ceremony, which would feature a 20-minute musical styled after the hit TV program Glee, Sng said that the audition had been done last week and 22 participants were selected among the 60 who auditioned.
Two months leading to the youth assembly, numerous activities planned to be held statewide such as futsal, 3-on-3 basketball competitions and a remote control boat race competition to be held at Bleteh Pond at the Kapit light industrial zone have been confirmed.
Other activities include the Belia Modern Dance Competition, a Tecktonik and Street Dance Competition, as well as a Putera Puteri Belia idol-like competition also to be held statewide on May 22-23.
For music enthusiasts, a battle of the bands called Band Clash is also on the cards. Mountain climbing lovers would get the chance to compete at a rock (wall) climbing competition called Rock On Kuching to be held at The Outlook in Tun Jugah Mall and at BCCK during the assembly.
For aspiring artists, there will be a realistic art competition also to be held statewide. A photography competition would also be held, followed by a photography master class conducted by Malaysia’s award winning professional photographers at the Open University Malaysia here.
Hoping that more corporate bodies and private sectors would come forward to sponsor the event, Sng said: “Currently there are over one million youths in the state. The government is hoping to inspire them by putting forward a very strong message.
“By engaging the youths, we are creating a two way communication and we want to take this opportunity to deliver an impact towards the consciousness of the youths to know that they have a role to play in the society today,”
Also present at the press conference, BCCK executive director Dr Mohamadon Abdullah said that being the host and co-sponsor of the event, BCCK would demonstrate its commitment in the form of making the venue and facilities available at a very minimal cost for the organiser.
“The gratis convention services, extended to the organisers in terms of monetary value come to almost RM200,000. In co-sponsoring the event, BCCK have put aside its commercial priority for a brief moment and shoulder its social responsibility as a good corporate citizen.”
Mohamadon also said that the youth assembly is very important because it is about developing the intellectual maturity of the local ‘belia’ (youth) populace to bring the state to a higher level of achievement. It is also about the need to continuously change paradigm to meet the demands of the ever changing social and economic environment.
After the press conference, Sng handed over a partnership recognition plaque to mark BCCK’s involvement in the project to Mohamadon.
Source: The Borneo Post, 30 April 2010 (http://www.theborneopost.com)
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