PUNCAK BORNEO: The Bidayuh community has been urged to get out of their comfort zone and leave the old thinking “we don’t have to work hard, we won’t starve because we have plenty of land to cultivate” aside.
Member of Parliament for Puncak Borneo, Datuk Willie Mongin, who made the call said such an attitude can no longer be practiced in this advanced and modern era.
“We (Bidayuh) must cultivate our land diligently with crops of high commercial value to generate high income, and at the same time be able to increase our income and raise our economic level,” he said to the exco and members of the Persatuan Kaum Bidayuh Bisitang at his Puncak Borneo Service Centre yesterday (Sept 17).
He said the people should cultivate their crops as diligently as Chinese entrepreneurs do until they are exported to foreign markets.
In this regard, he praised the efforts of the Persatuan Kaum Bidayuh Bisitang (Bidayuh Bisitang Association) in taking the initiative to organise an entrepreneur’s carnival aimed at fostering interest in doing business among the Bidayuh.
The Bidayuh Bisitang Association consists of 13 villages whose population consists of the Bidayuh Bisitang sub-tribe.
The three-day carnival will take place in Kampung Bangau here from Oct 27-29.
In order to make the carnival a success, Willie presented a grant of RM50,000 which was received by the organising chairman of the carnival Federick Jorey.
The festival is also expected to be a platform and a place for the Bidayuh people of Bisitang clan to gather and strengthen their relationships.
Willie also reminded the exco of all the Bidayuh community associations to be proactive in planning and organising various activities for the benefit of the association and its members including in the field of education, bumiputera customary land (NCR) surveying initiatives and infrastructure development projects.
“Every Bidayuh association should have a vision and goal to achieve,” he said.
He added that in the field of education, the Bidayuh people need more intelligent people in various fields and he urged the association to play a role, such as holding workshops for students.
“Now there are many graduates among the Bidayuh community, but there are our students who are smart but offered the wrong courses and in the end they don’t get a job after they graduate from universities
“This is the aspect we need to deal with now because we want our graduates to take up courses that are compatible to their achievements in public examinations,” he stressed.
He also reminded village heads and members of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) to work together with MPs, assemblymen and relevant government agencies so that development at the village level can be carried out in an orderly manner.
He said, village heads and JKKK also need to play a role in identifying poor villagers who need help so that they can be assisted by the government.
