Written and edited by Oh Shu Ann, with additional contributions by Calvin Woo and Koh Aun Qi
The National Unity Youth Fellows went on a journey to the Land Below the Wind, Sabah for their second workshop entitled Socio-Economic Issues and National Unity. It was a three-day workshop organized by the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN). We came with the expectation to learn about the history of socio-economic policies in Malaysia and whether these policies have been beneficial to national unity. In addition, we anticipated the chance to learn about how modern Malaysian society has been shaped by these policies.
The journey began when the Fellows boarded the flight to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on April 17, 2015, Friday morning. We reached Kota Kinabalu in the afternoon and were welcomed by a presentation on Workshop Series and Expectations followed by a session with Tricia Yeoh, the Chief Operating Officer of IDEAS.
After dinner, a forum session was conducted with Sabah political parties. The forum was attended by Mr Arthur Kurup, Youth Chief of the United Sabah People's Party (PBRS) and Papar’s UMNO Youth chief Mr Armizan Mohd Ali. Mr Kurup explained that the core of PBRS is to promote unity as the party represents multireligious and multiracial members. He added that national unity is seasonal in Malaysia and post-2008’s election, minority voices are getting louder and sometimes these voices represents only the opinions of the extremist groups. Mr Mohd Ali stated the core issue in Malaysia now is the regional unity of Sabah and Malaysia. The root of the issue according to Mr Mohd Ali is imbalances in socio-economic development.
The National Unity Youth Fellows went on a journey to the Land Below the Wind, Sabah for their second workshop entitled Socio-Economic Issues and National Unity. It was a three-day workshop organized by the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN). We came with the expectation to learn about the history of socio-economic policies in Malaysia and whether these policies have been beneficial to national unity. In addition, we anticipated the chance to learn about how modern Malaysian society has been shaped by these policies.
The journey began when the Fellows boarded the flight to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on April 17, 2015, Friday morning. We reached Kota Kinabalu in the afternoon and were welcomed by a presentation on Workshop Series and Expectations followed by a session with Tricia Yeoh, the Chief Operating Officer of IDEAS.
After dinner, a forum session was conducted with Sabah political parties. The forum was attended by Mr Arthur Kurup, Youth Chief of the United Sabah People's Party (PBRS) and Papar’s UMNO Youth chief Mr Armizan Mohd Ali. Mr Kurup explained that the core of PBRS is to promote unity as the party represents multireligious and multiracial members. He added that national unity is seasonal in Malaysia and post-2008’s election, minority voices are getting louder and sometimes these voices represents only the opinions of the extremist groups. Mr Mohd Ali stated the core issue in Malaysia now is the regional unity of Sabah and Malaysia. The root of the issue according to Mr Mohd Ali is imbalances in socio-economic development.
On Saturday, Dr Wong Chin Huat, a Fellow of Penang Institute gave the fellows a different insight from the mainstream ideas to interethnic and interreligious issues via the historical and current perspectives and future challenges ahead of Malaysians.
In the afternoon, Fellows were divided into three groups to be deployed for three field missions in the afternoon. The three field missions were the visit to YouthPREP Centre, Sabah’s Youth Council and PACOS Trust.
The first group of Fellows who went to the YouthPREP center met Mary Anne K. Baltazar, the assistant manager of the center which was established in 2010. It is funded by Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd, a Catholic based organisation. The center aids locals who wish to migrate to cities in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Singapore and Ipoh to seek a livelihood by checking the employer's background. The center helps locals to find suitable housings in the cities too. Besides aiding workforce migration, the center aims to solve unemployment issues, homelessness and drug addiction.
The volunteers of the center initiated programmes such as YouthPREP programmes in schools, “Borak Kampus” in university campuses. YouthPrep counsels 15 to 17-year-olds on their career plans and assists students with university application. The aim is to expose students to the working world and university life. “Borak Kampus” encourages youths to discuss current economic, political and religious affairs. The most recent initiative is to combat human trafficking in Sabah.
During the discussion session, YouthPREP brought up some issues Sabahans face today. One of the issues is the socio-economic development disparity between the peninsula of Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak. Secondly, Native Customary Right lands in the constitution have not been well-protected. When lands are taken away, natives could not carry out agricultural activities and will have to seek for livelihood in the cities. The third issue is that of the influx of illegal immigrants to Sabah which has costs locals of their chances for job opportunities.
-Calvin
- YouthPREP Center
The first group of Fellows who went to the YouthPREP center met Mary Anne K. Baltazar, the assistant manager of the center which was established in 2010. It is funded by Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd, a Catholic based organisation. The center aids locals who wish to migrate to cities in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Singapore and Ipoh to seek a livelihood by checking the employer's background. The center helps locals to find suitable housings in the cities too. Besides aiding workforce migration, the center aims to solve unemployment issues, homelessness and drug addiction.
The volunteers of the center initiated programmes such as YouthPREP programmes in schools, “Borak Kampus” in university campuses. YouthPrep counsels 15 to 17-year-olds on their career plans and assists students with university application. The aim is to expose students to the working world and university life. “Borak Kampus” encourages youths to discuss current economic, political and religious affairs. The most recent initiative is to combat human trafficking in Sabah.
During the discussion session, YouthPREP brought up some issues Sabahans face today. One of the issues is the socio-economic development disparity between the peninsula of Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak. Secondly, Native Customary Right lands in the constitution have not been well-protected. When lands are taken away, natives could not carry out agricultural activities and will have to seek for livelihood in the cities. The third issue is that of the influx of illegal immigrants to Sabah which has costs locals of their chances for job opportunities.
-Calvin
- PACOS Trust
The second group of Fellows visited PACOS Trust, a community-based organization aimed at improving the quality of life of indigenous communities in Sabah. One of PACOS Trust’s founders and executive director, Anne Lasimbang, gave the group a tour around the PACOS Trust headquarters, a farm and Community Learning Centre. The farm has a small paddy field that stretches 1.5 acres wide, to help local communities to learn how to engage in the sustainable green economy.
The organization deals with over 40 ethnic groups in Sabah. PACOS Trust runs a land rights programme to inform communities about their own rights. One of its missions is to empower the locals to form groups through community-organized training sessions to build the capacity of local organizations to deal with various issues.
Next, the group were led to “Tagal” in Babagon village, a water management system that applies the indigenous approach in preserving a local river called “Sungai Moyok”. PACOS Trust worked with the local villagers to reclaim the ownership of “Sungai Moyok” by cleaning up the previously polluted river. William Gotij, the chairman of the Babagon Tagal explained how the villagers pool RM50 once every fortnight for a truck to take the trash out. The villagers earn revenue by charging a fee on those who fish at the river. This village is an example of how a local community took ownership of their own environment and developed a self-sustaining system with minimal state assistance.
-Aun Qi
- Sabah Youth Council (Majlis Belia Sabah - MBS)
The third group of Fellows met up with Mr Nourman Rayn bin Datuk Dr. Ag. Zaini, the President of Sabah’s Youth Council (MBS) and Ms. Nora Arin, the Secretary of MBS. The Youth Council works with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in order to implement activities together such as the Youth Sports Camp. The Youth Council’s affiliates include the Scouts Association of Malaysia, Sabah (PPMCS) and Junior Chamber International (JCI Sabah), the Girl Guides Association Malaysia, Sabah (PPPMCS).
Currently, the JCI under MBS is planning to assist Missionaries in Sabah that have provided Halfway Homes in the rural areas for school children as a basic shelter place on the way to schools which could take up to 4-8 hours of walk. The Halfway Homes do not get enough funding to sustain itself; school children bring rice and basic necessities to the Halfway Homes from home and sleep in a crowded shelter. This issue occurs in small villages such as Sonsogon Magandai.
According to the representatives, some other issues that Sabahans are facing today include the resettlement of illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia that has crowded some parts of Sabah. Drug usage is concentrated at these resettlements and, due to the influx of illegal immigrants, there are many undocumented children in Sabah. Lastly, according to both representatives, national unity is never an issue in Sabah because everyone sees themselves as Sabahans, not by their race.
-Shu Ann
After we returned from our field trips, we shared our experiences with each other and realized that there are common issues that came up from the discussions but the issues might be viewed differently from different perspectives. We then had an hour plus to prepare for the dinner and the special session with Tan Sri Joseph Kurup after.
During dinner, some Fellows, Ms. Tricia and Mr Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the Chief Executive Officer of IDEAS, Mr Ho Khek Hwa, the Director of Institut Kajian dan Latihan Integrasi Nasional (IKLIN) managed to discuss social issues from the field trips that the Fellows had experienced earlier with Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, the Minister in Prime Minister’s Department and Mr Arthur Kurup.
During dinner, some Fellows, Ms. Tricia and Mr Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the Chief Executive Officer of IDEAS, Mr Ho Khek Hwa, the Director of Institut Kajian dan Latihan Integrasi Nasional (IKLIN) managed to discuss social issues from the field trips that the Fellows had experienced earlier with Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, the Minister in Prime Minister’s Department and Mr Arthur Kurup.
After dinner, a special Q&A session with Tan Sri Joseph Kurup was held, where Fellows got to ask Tan Sri Kurup questions about pressing issues in Sabah regarding the 'hot topics' that had been discussed during the Fellows' field trips as well as current issues in general.
On Sunday, the Fellows had a discussion with Mr Wan Saiful, the CEO of IDEAS, and talked about plans for the upcoming National Unity Conference that the Fellows intend to hold in September. Finally, we left the beautiful land of Sabah in the late afternoon.