Brunei - 'We want to develop our nation' youths

YOUTHS of Brunei who recently attended the National Symposium of 2012 expressed their desire to attend the symposium again, as they found it to be a good platform for discussion and debate on issues that pertain to the development of Brunei Darussalam.

"When we (the youth) are together, we work as a team on how to develop our beloved country, and what can we do to progress," said Lenna Norsusilanita Bahari, a final year student from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), and a member of the Brunei Youth Council.

"From the discussions that I have had (throughout the symposium), I have found that our youths are very creative and gave a lot of great ideas."

Most importantly, according to Leena, whilst ideas and discussions were being passed back and forth amongst the youth, she admitted that she did wonder whether their "voices" were being heard.

"Yes, we are here (at the symposium) and doing something positive, but we want to know the action that will be taken after this, because everyone came here with one aim, and that is to voice our opinions," she said.

"We want to develop our nation, and we want people to realise that we (the youths of Brunei) can replace the older generation when they retire. We want to show that they can shift the responsibility to us, that they need us."

When asked what kind of changes she would like to see in Brunei in terms of youth development, she said that the most important change she would like to see is youths help educate other youths in becoming model citizens.

"If we look around, there are many youth dropouts (in Brunei). We need to help them, as they do not like receiving advice from the older generation for fear of being misunderstood, so they need people like us, the youths," she said.

"We can be the ones to save our own youths... we just have to. It doesn't mean that just because they drop out of school they are not able to become model citizens."

Another factor that she brought up was to open up an arts and culture school in Brunei, after hearing numerous complaints from traditional youth dancers and musicians having had to perform without pay for their services.

"It's like their art form is not being appreciated," she said.

She said that having a proper school of arts would give those who are talented in cultural arts proper certification, and, through this, the accreditation of the local arts and culture industry would develop tremendously.

Mohd Mua'z Yusoff, 18, an upper six student from Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah College (Maktab Duli) said that the symposium "pushed him out of his comfort zone".

"Before this, I never really thought about what was going on in the world," he admitted.

"But by being here today, I realise that I do care about the youth in Brunei, and I want to make a change."

The changes, he said, would be along the lines of showing Islam in a more positive light globally.

"When His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam announced us as a Negara Zikir, this was a chance to show the world that Bruneians aren't just about being Malay and showing respect to the Monarchy, but that we are also actually living by the Malay Islamic Monarchy philosophy of life," he said.

Hanawati Abdul Rahman, 18, an upper six student from Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (Maktab Sains) said that she wants to join the traditional dance after the symposium.

She said she learnt so much about culture, and how youth appreciation in their very own culture is lacking nowadays due to possible advancements in technology.

"I would like to see more youths be more involved in cultural activities, because if we don't do anything about it now, our culture would be extinct," she said.

"Development of traditional games such as congkak by creating smart phone or tablet applications for them would probably help in keeping our tradition alive."

HANA ROSLAN

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

The Brunei Times

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