Sumbangan Belia Dalam Pembangunan Negeri

Wajah ceria para belia bersama-sama Ketua Menteri Sarawak
(YAB Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud) dalam program belia anjuran
Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (AZAM Sarawak) dan Institut Pembangunan Sarawak (SDI).

Menurut takrifan Kementerian Belia dan Sukan, golongan belia merujuk kepada mereka yang berumur diantara 15-40 tahun dan jumlah belia di Sarawak merangkumi 30% iaitu kira-kira 750,000 orang daripada 2.5 juta penduduk Sarawak (Statistik Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia, 2010).

Statistik ini menunjukkan lebih daripada suku penduduk Sarawak terdiri daripada golongan belia yang berpontensi dibentuk untuk menjadi pemimpin masa depan negara yang berwibawa.

SUMBANGAN BELIA SARAWAK

Salah satu matlamat Wawasan 2020 adalah untuk masyarakat antarabangsa mengenali dan menghormati masyarakat Malaysia melalui usaha kecemerlangan di dalam pelbagai bidang. Belia di negeri ini tidak terkecuali dalam meningkatkan imej negara contohnya dalam bidang sukan apabila mereka mampu mengharumkan nama negara di persada dunia.

Bryan Nickson Lomas, penerjun negara dan juga Mohamad Azlan Iskandar, pemain squash negara adalah antara anak Sarawak yang telah menempa nama di kejohanan antarabangsa.

Sumbangan sebegini mampu menyumbang ke arah pembangunan belia dalam menentukan hala tuju dan masa depan negara. Pencapaian mereka dalam mengharumkan nama negara amat membanggakan dan membolehkan mereka bersaing secara sihat dengan belia antarabangsa.

KEMAHIRAN TEKNIKAL DAN BELIA

“Sektor teknikal akan memberi ganjaran lebih besar kerana pembangunan Sarawak yang seterusnya adalah di bawah SCORE, akan bergantung sepenuhnya terhadap kejayaan Sarawak melancarkan industri berat”. (Utusan Borneo, 4 Oktober 2011)Kata-kata Ketua Menteri Sarawak, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud ini menunjukkan bahawa belia yang berkemahiran dalam bidang teknikal amat diperlukan kerana mereka merupakan jentera yang menjana ekonomi Sarawak pada masa akan datang.

Koridor Tenaga Yang Boleh Diperbaharui Sarawak (SCORE), dengan industri – industri yang dibawa masuk oleh pelabur antarabangsa menawarkan banyak peluang pekerjaan dari peringkat pengurusan kepada peringkat teknikal. Kesemua peluang ini memerlukan pelbagai kelulusan akademik dan kemahiran teknikal yang boleh diisi oleh belia, khususnya belia dari Sarawak.

Banyak institusi – institusi yang menawarkan kursus teknikal di Sarawak telah membuka peluang pendidikan yang relevan dengan kehendak semasa, bukan sahaja kepada mereka yang berpendidikan tinggi, malah juga kepada belia yang berpendidikan rendah.

Dalam hal ini, sokongan daripada ibu bapa juga adalah penting supaya anak – anak mereka menanam minat untuk berkecimpung dalam bidang teknikal yang mampu memberi sumber pendapatan tinggi.

MERAPATKAN JURANG GENERASI DAHULU DAN SEKARANG

Selain itu, suara dan pendapat daripada golongan belia juga adalah penting kerana mereka boleh menyuarakan idea serta pendapat yang akan memberi manfaat kepada proses pembangunan negeri.

Program anjuran Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (AZAM Sarawak) dan Institut Pembangunan Sarawak (SDI) iaitu, Sesi Dialog Belia bersama Ketua Menteri Sarawak, telah memberi peluang kepada para belia di empat bahagian di Sarawak iaitu Kuching, Sibu, Miri dan Mukah untuk mengemukakan pelbagai jenis soalan dan memberi maklum balas terhadap isu-isu pembangunan semasa di Sarawak.

Belia berkeyakinan memberi idea dalam meningkatkan pembangunan belia.

Menerusi sesi –sesi dialog tersebut, antara lain, golongan belia telah mengutarakan persoalan – persoalan yang berkenaan dengan perpaduan dan keharmonian negeri, peluang pekerjaan bagi golongan yang berpendidikan rendah, serta langkah-langkah kerajaan untuk menarik minat belia melibatkan diri dalam SCORE.

Program Bicara Tokoh, anjuran AZAM Sarawak pada 14 Julai yang lepas adalah salah satu usaha untuk merapatkan jurang antara generasi dahulu dan sekarang.

“Penduduk terpaksa menggali lubang setinggi 10 kaki di bawah rumah untuk menyelamatkan diri dan keluarga daripada terkena tembakan”. Pernyataan oleh Dato Sri Dominic Dago, salah seorang penerima anugerah Tokoh Kemerdekaan tahun 2010 ini menceritakan semula pengalaman beliau ketika menjadi wakil rakyat ketika itu. Ini dapat kita bayangkan situasi kesusahan dan ketakutan yang perlu masyarakat lalui sebelum mencapai kemerdekaan.

Kita bersyukur kerana tidak perlu melalui perit dan kesusahan yang dialami mereka, maka adalah perlu untuk semua lapisan masyarakat bersatu-padu mengekalkan keharmonian negeri untuk memastikan proses pembangunan yang lancar. Program Bicara Tokoh ini juga telah memberi inspirasi kepada Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang (IPGKBL) untuk menganjurkan Wacana Tokoh bersama pihak AZAM Sarawak pada 27 Julai yang lepas. Antara lain, objektif program tersebut adalah untuk menghargai perjuangan tokoh-tokoh kemerdekaan serta mengukuhkan hubungan etnik di Malaysia amnya dan Sarawak khasnya.

Pengetahuan tentang sejarah negara penting dalam memantapkan pembangunan belia.

RUMUSAN
Golongan belia sering dilaungkan sebagai pemimpin masa depan negara. Peranan dan sumbangan mereka amat penting dalam mengekalkan keharmonian dan perpaduan kaum di samping menjadi tonggak kepada pentadbiran dan kepimpinan negara.

Oleh itu, adalah penting untuk semua pihak, sama ada pihak kerajaan, badan bukan kerajaan dan masyarakat untuk memastikan belia dipimpin dengan sebaik – baik nya dan para belia pula harus melengkapkan diri mereka dengan pengetahuan yang tinggi, kemahiran yang relevan untuk pembangunan ekonomi di samping berpegang pada nilai – nilai yang boleh menyumbang kepada kestabilan sosial di negeri ini.

Rencana ini disediiakan oleh Nursyuhada binti Mohd Aris merupakan Pegawai Komunikasi (Pelatih Program Latihan Pemerkasaan Keupayaan Siswazah di Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (AZAM Sarawak). Nota Pemansang merupakan rencana terbitan AZAM Sarawak dengan kerjasama Utusan Sarawak yang mengetengahkan isu-isu pembangunan semasa. Rencana ini akan diterbitkan dua minggu sekali pada setiap hari Selasa dalam ruangan Stail Pembangunan.

(extracted from the article which was published in Utusan Sarawak on 12 October 2011 with the permission from AZAM Sarawak)

Significance of Ramadhan

Going without food, drink, snacks and other habitual amenities from before Sunrise to after Sunset is observed on a daily basis for the whole month. Breaking the fast after sunset is a real delight. It is a challenge not to overeat at that time.

So, why do we fast? This may sound like a very simple question. Perhaps it is, but perhaps not. One may enumerate many reasons, based upon the Qur’anic verses and hadith.

1. In obedience to the command of Allah swt.
2. As an obligatory act (one of the pillars of Islam)
3. To earn rewards and blessings (multiplied many times) from Allah
4. To earn a special reward, yet unknown, from Allah (Hadith Qudsi)
5. To seek and receive forgiveness from Allah for our sins and shortcomings
6. To receive increased sustenance from Allah, by observing the “Night of Qadr.”
7. To guard against evil (practice taqwa)
8. To practice self-restraint

Some of the benefits that we know from observation and experience include:

1. An opportunity to get rid of undesirable habits
2. To inculcate and increase fortitude and patience
3. To empathize with less fortunate members of humanity who suffer from hunger due to poverty.
4. To keep Satan and his prompting away
5. To improve physical health.

Spiritual benefits of fasting

1. Satan is far removed and, “his face is darkened.” (Hadith)
2. Increased concentration in acts of worship, including Salaat
3. Dikr and supplications are more enjoyable.
4. Acts of worship are more accepted and better rewarded.
5. Peace of mind and tranquility occur during the entire month of fasting

Health benefits of fasting

1. Weight reduction
2. Improved gastrointestinal function
3. Improved eating habits. (Escape from unhealthy “munching” habits).
4. Overall feeling of physical well being

Let us pray that our fasts are purely for the sake of Allah, free of other motives, like reward, material benefits, etc. Let our fasting be to show Allah our gratitude that He rightly deserves. Amin!.

[Extracted & summarized from the article "Significance of fasting in the month of Ramadan by Syed H. Akhtar, Austin, Texas"]

50 Mobile Youth Facts You Need to Know in 2011

Today a slide deck with 50 facts on the Youth and their Mobile. Did you know for example that 1.6 billion youngsters have a mobile phone? And that they spend together 330 billion Dollars on mobile (that’s 12 times the size of the global recorded music industry). This generation uses an average of 10 apps per day and over 83% of the teens use their mobile to take photo’s. There are 100 million YouTube videos played in mobile devices a day and 60% even sleeps with their phone. 44 more facts in the great slide deck below:

50 Key Mobile Youth Facts

View more presentations from Graham Brown

(Extracted from http://www.slidescene.com/mobile/50-mobile-youth-facts-you-need-to-know-in-2011/)

“Continuing the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony under the 1Malaysia Concept: The Role of Sarawak’s Youth”

“Continuing the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony under the 1Malaysia Concept: The Role of Sarawak’s Youth”

Hi.....We would like to share a presentation by Professor Dr. Chandra Muzaffar during the 1st Dialogue with Sarawak Youth on Continuing the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony under the 1Malaysia Concept 'Legacy of Freedom and Harmony – Passing on the Torch to our Future Leaders' at the Dewan Undangan Negeri Kuching on 8 February 2010. He is the Chairman of Trustees, 1Malaysia Foundation.

Welcome your comments on the presentation. Thanks.

Assalamualaikum, salam sejahtera, peace be with you. I’d like to begin by thanking SDI for this very kind invitation. I am happy to be here in Kuching again after a few years. It is not very often that I come to Sarawak. I was just remarking to my friends as we were driving to the Dewan Undangan, that Kuching always impresses me with its beauty and its cleanliness. If I have to recommend a city to visitors from abroad, I wouldn’t be in doubt to recommend Kuching.

Friends, you could not have chosen a more appropriate day to talk about the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony. Why? The 8th of February is the birth anniversary of Tunku Abdul Rahman. The Tunku as you know, the 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia, the Father of the Nation, is the person responsible for this entire legacy that we talk about. The legacy of freedom and harmony, he perhaps more than any individual, has to be credited for ensuring that freedom and harmony would be part of the foundation of the Malaysian nation. The Tunku chose to commit a young nation, called “Malaya” at that time in 1957 to Parliamentary Democracy which enshrines the principles of freedom and he chose to commit the people to a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious nation. That this would be the nation that we try to build, in other words, both freedom and harmony were part of the Tunku’s mission, they have become part of the nation’s legacy. I don’t know whether it is a coincidence or you chose the 8th of February by design but whatever it is, I think it is most appropriate that you are discussing the legacy of freedom and harmony on the 8th of February. If the Tunku had been alive today, he would have been 107 years old. He was born in 1903, our 1st Prime Minister and this is important for your generation; you must always connect with your history as a people, as a nation. We cannot forget this, only if we value our history, we will be able to move forward because...........

For the details of this article, Please go to Articles Pages or click the Here.

‘Great Expectations’

LET’S sit and imagine this — you have just graduated and you’re in job-hunting mode. You applied for a job and then there you got it! But wait, you have no idea how your workplace is going to be and what awaits you.Suddenly you are lost and become clueless in a sea of work, your employer’s expectations, your colleagues’ expectations and your own as well.

The initial expectations were perhaps just a matter of getting experience. However, most graduates would be rather clueless on how competitive things are out there.

What most fresh graduates may be unaware of is that the workplace is beyond a certain job scope and the physical setting itself.

What they fail to know and realise in the first place are the hard facts on how to manage their time and their tasks, how to manage their employers and superiors, how to apply their skills accordingly, how to solve problems which are beyond their control and how to think out of the box.

Currently, most courses offered in our local colleges and varsities provide industrial training and internship stints with companies and organisations, but how effective are such trainings in developing our undergraduates towards real life demands?

How much have undergraduates who have gone through internships adopted from their training period?

It seems that many graduates have failed to perform as expected and some are still unemployed. What could have brought us to this scenario?



Looking at current trends, there are some agencies, companies or employers which have offered internship placements for undergraduates seemingly for nothing.

The interns or trainees were assigned to do clerical or mundane tasks such as serving coffee, photocopying papers, data entry, when they could have been assigned tasks relevant to their respective field or discipline.

Consequently, on whom shall we put the blame — the employers or the current graduates themselves?

Has our own society lost faith in our own ‘products’? Or has our society lost the capability of producing quality graduates?

Could it be that everyone is at fault?

All our lives, we have been delivering based on standards and expectations set by our parents, our teachers, the institutions and society at large.

Living up to others’ expectations is normal and we tend to set expectations ourselves as well.



When graduates are out there, they are expected to blend in — to adjust to the working environment.

In the working world, graduates need to be more discerning and analytical to meet society’s high expectations.

Therefore, ensuring that one is equipped and driven to face whatever challenges may come, should be instilled constantly.

For a start, having soft and hard skills would come in pretty handy because most employers today are looking for versatile individuals and good thinkers who ‘may likely think unalike’.

For graduates, remaining unemployed could be one of the lowest points of life.

They may feel they do not have what it takes to fit in the working world.

This should not be the only concern.

What needs to be emphasised more is ensuring that graduates set a high standard for themselves.

This is to ensure that they are sufficiently prepared mentally and emotionally for the real world — the working world, that is.

In the mean time, graduates should just keep on absorbing whatever they can, keep on learning whenever they can.

Perhaps it is not about the system or society.

It could just be about graduates continuing to grow and not to be ignorant about what happens around them.


There is not much time to linger on the same spot. Having said all this, as much as graduates should learn how to adjust and adapt to expectations quickly, society at large should also have some faith in them as well.


Deborah Sian is a communication officer with the Communication and Knowledge Management Unit of Azam. The 3rd Voice, initiated by Azam and SDI is published fortnightly. Feedback can be channelled to deborah@azam.org.my or add the Azam Facebook group link.