SOCIALLY-conscious. Innovative. Able to work together as a team. This is how we can proudly describe the youth of Sarawak today.
The reality is that when they put their minds to it, and given the right direction and guidance, the state’s youths can really come up with some amazing ideas. This was something very obvious when Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (Azam) held a youth camp in Lundu last December.
Imagine Sarawak’s youths producing materials to construct homes made out of plant fibre — an idea which could address not just housing but also environmental issues.
Also try to imagine them raising awareness on the importance of maintaining the state’s culture through traditional food and cultural art.
Or imagine the state’s youths creating an online video game to promote tourism — an idea which seems to reflect exposure to Blue Ocean strategy.
These were just some of the ideas presented by the 26 youths — aged between 17 and 25 — who took part in the camp from Dec 11-13.
The camp was part of the Youth Engaged in Social Innovation, Service, Education and Enterprise (YES I SEE) project, under the Youth Empowered and Engaged to Serve (YES!) Programme.
The ideas presented by some of the youths were fresh and creative. For those who attended the event, one of the most exciting moments was when the less outspoken participants shared their ideas, which also saw one of the best ideas to come out of the event.
Participant Timothy Tan, 20, said one of the most important lessons he gained from the camp was to have confidence in his own idea and plans.
“(The trainer) specifically told us not to give up on our idea, even if it may sound crazy because in the future the ideas we have in mind now will not look crazy,” he said.
The participants’ ideas will not just remain at the camp and end up as a fanciful exercise in formulating proposals.
They have already been assigned to groups to turn these ideas into reality in about three months.
Under the concept of the YES I SEE project, each group will also be assigned a mentor, who will guide and advise them to ensure the success of their initiative.
Rata Muda Shalom Eing, 25, another participant at the youth camp, said she hoped to use what she learned from the YES I SEE project to make a change.
“I feel really excited. I feel that now all the doors are open. I can do whatever I want and I’m very excited to start my group project,” she said.
Rata, who just completed her engineering degree at a private university in Kuching, added that what she enjoyed most about the youth camp was the experience of working with people from different age groups.
“I also enjoyed the real-life experience and the examples shared by our trainer and mentors at the camp,” she said.
One of the youngest and most active participants, Julian Sim, 17, pointed out that the YES I SEE project would benefit not just youths, but the state as a whole.
“It is a good programme and really beneficial for youths. The youth camp was an awakening experience and I think the youth who took part in it are learning a lot and are being more empowered to serve the community,” he said.
Next March, the people of Sarawak, and maybe even the world, would be able to see the ideas of these youths — which they hope will benefit Sarawak — come alive.
Coming up with something that will benefit Sarawak was actually the main criteria for the youths, when asked by their trainer to come up with ideas.
Azam CEO Datu Aloysius Dris told camp participants that as future leaders of Sarawak, the youths of today must start focusing on the social issues that affect their lives, their community and society at large.
He explained that Azam came up with the programme to provide the youth of Sarawak with the necessary skills to achieve that objective.
“We are here to equip you with the tools for change. We want to build you up, so that you in turn will be able to build up others,” he said, during a question-and-answer session with the participants.
As they spend the next three months working closely with their group members, the youths will use the knowledge gained from the camp to execute their strategies and plans.
Even though the YES I SEE project is focused more on addressing socio-cultural issues, the youth camp also stressed on wealth and financial management skills.
The idea behind this approach is to instil in the participants the mindset that proper management of financial resources, whether in their own lives or in running their projects, is vital to achieve success.
Azam is the main organiser of the YES! Programme and YES I SEE project, which were both conceptualised and managed by Azam subsidiary Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd.
Saberkas president, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg launched the YES! Programme last August.
At the launch, Johari pointed out that for a programme like YES! and projects like YES I SEE, youths must remember to add focus to their passion, in order to achieve their goals.
He also mentioned that focusing one’s passion was just like a magnifying glass focusing the energy from the sun on one particular spot. With the right focus, even a magnifying glass can harness the sun’s power to create heat and eventually generate a flame.
Meanwhile, Azam plans to work closely with Saberkas — the premier youth organisation in the state — on the YES! Programme and on the YES I SEE project, to ensure that the message of YES! and YES I SEE will reach as many youths as possible.
Azam is also looking into the possibility of collaborating with other organisations, in both the public and private sector, on the YES! Programme and the YES I SEE project.
It also hopes to work with organisations that would fit well with the concept of engaging and empowering youth in social innovation, service, education and enterprise, in line with YES! Programme objectives.
One of Azam’s early objectives for the YES! Programme include grooming Sarawak’s youths to become social innovators; tapping their entrepreneurial or enterprising spirit; tapping their sense of loyalty to their communities and to the state; and getting them more engaged in their communities as well as developing the spirit of service among them.
Several more youth camps under the YES I SEE project will be held throughout Sarawak next year, with Mukah being the next possible venue.
The groups whose ideas are selected will be given support, in terms of funding and management or technical support, to implement their ideas.
It is planned that the whole process of implementing the ideas of the youths would be filmed as a documentary and shown in public, where the audience would be asked to vote on what they think is the best approach or activity.
There can be several winners, such as: The People’s Choice Award (most popular or most moving/touching); The Most Innovative; The Most Participative (an activity which generated the most participation from the community); and The Most Life-Changing (for the youths taking part and for the community they chose to serve).
Apart from getting the opportunity to get funding to implement their ideas, the participants in the YES I SEE project would also get the chance to win a trip to an international youth forum or conference to represent Sarawak and scholarships.
The spark of innovation has certainly been lit at the inaugural youth camp in Kuching, and now it’s up to all Sarawakians to keep the fire burning within Sarawak’s youths to serve their state in the most innovative way they can think of.
