For now, any happening out of the ordinary is superficial because what Sibu needs are good paying jobs to get locals to stay.
It was a normal quiet Sunday afternoon on July 31, but there was much fanfare in town because a Guinness World Record had been created by the local boys and girls.
The achievement was a welcome break for the town which needed something extraordinary to boost up its image especially to the national and world scene.
The 600 participants, who were mostly students, should be given a pat on their shoulders for braving the sweltering July heat to create the world record. The scotching sun was right on top of them but against all odds they had managed to complete the graffiti scroll in six hours.
Measuring 1,676m, their scroll had surpassed the previous mark of one set by Danone employees in Brazil last March 3.
The feat happily eclipsed several events that had made Sibu famous for the wrong reasons. Among them was of course the cancellation of the proposed 10th annual Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF).
The Opposition of course had a field day lambasting the organisers and saying they were taking away the business opportunities and the joy and excitement that the people were used to every year.
Apparently cornered, the organisers said BCF would be a biennial affair, meaning Sibu would not see BCF this year, which was why the scroll record was a welcoming replacement.
Yes, the scroll record was what Sibu needed to get people, including youngsters, interested in the town, more so when its younger generation has been migrating elsewhere due to lack of job and business opportunities.
Methodist Pilley Institute principal Judy Wong, had, in her institute’s “Appreciation Nite”, labelled Sibu as “an old folks home.”
Wong knew very well what she was talking about.
Sibu, she said had the highest number of graduates but not many of those who had their tertiary education abroad are coming back to work.
“I even have students, who, after graduating from MPI migrate elsewhere just to find job,” she said.
She said she had once posed a million dollar question to her former students: “If we use the Blue Ocean strategy to development Sibu that will offer job opportunity, will you come back?”
The reply she got was shocking: “Sorry, teacher, it’s too late.”
Nonetheless, Wong was adamant that the migration of youth in Sibu elsewhere could be overcome with reasonable success.
Private colleges in Sibu, she said, should run degree courses for them to do their tertiary education here.
“But what happens now is that the youths have no choice but to go elsewhere, and upon completion of their studies, the first thing they do is look for employment, meaning they are not coming home,” Wong said.
Wong strongly believes her suggestion for local colleges offering degree courses will begin to bring the children home. Her college is taking the cue by offering three degree courses in accounting, marketing and nursing.
All private colleges in Sibu are currently offering courses up to diploma level only.
One other aspect that Sibu must be able to offer is plenty of job opportunities paying competitive pay.
Economic development in the last 10 years or so has slowed down as the timber industry, which the town heavily depended on, has become a sunset industry.
Sibu will now depend on Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) to spearhead its growth.
With SCORE expected to offer 1.5mil jobs, it will serve as a catalyst for the youths to stay back and work nearer home.
A local think-tank, Dr Gregory Hii said: “The answer is high-paying jobs, and more jobs.”
Another think-tank, Johnny Wong, said for the moment there was nothing to shout about in the town
“Yes, anything that occurs out of the ordinary, like the scroll record, would add up to Sibu’s attraction, but the fact is there are not many jobs in town, and of the existing ones, most are not giving good salaries.”
He said it was because of low pay that local Ibans were in Singapore working as welders and technicians in dockyards where the pay is “five or even 10 times higher”.
Johnny said in the long run if the situation was not being addressed properly and systematically, no amount of the extraordinary like the scroll record could bring Sibu its glory days of the past back.
Borneo Beats
By ANDY CHUA
stephenthen@thestar.com.my
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