Kongres Belia Kebangsaan 1st-3rd April 2008

Nurul Adibah and I, Atiqah represented the Brunei humanitarian affairs volunteer group (Kelab Sukarelawan Belia) to the National Youth Congress 2008 which commenced on the 1st of April and ends on the 3rd. The National Youth Congress 2008 was the first of its kind to be held in Brunei- an initiative to hear the voices of our youths. This aim was reflected in its theme: "Memperkasa belia: suara kami, masa depan kami" ("To empower youth: our voice, our future") Participants were divided into 5 discussion rooms, each of which discussed one of these topics:

1. Youth and Leadership
   
2. Youth and Society/social problems
   
3. Training and employment
   
4. Role of NGO’s to the development of youths and the country
   
5. Enterprising opportunities for youth.

Dibah was placed in the group discussing about Youth and their social problems while i was placed in the group discussing about the Training and Employment.

The opening ceremony.

And the best part of any congress is always the GOOD food. =D heheh

Goodies given to every participants

The opening ceremony took half the day. These were some that i managed to note down (as a secretary). Day one:

-Speeches by the Pengerusi majlis kongres.

-Speech by the Minister of culture youth and sports whereby he mentioned that 47% of Brunei is made up of youths and that up until 2007, the statistics from the Jabatan Buruh showed that 4000+ people from the age of 14 to 30 registered for employment. (For some it may be a small matter, however, if we take such things lightly for now, it will get worst in the future)

The minister also cited some pantun which one of it sounds like this:

Dimana letak manis bahasa,

kalau tidak pada tuturnya,

Dimanakan letak aset negara,

Kalau bukan pada belianya.

We had a little break after that. And in the afternoon, the discussions started. Each of the groups has one or two facilitator and a secretary whose job is to guide us through the following days of round table discussion and also stimulate our thinking on the given issues.

My group.

Our facilitator

It is a very good initiative indeed as the participants attending the congress are within the age range of 17-30+. The age barrier was obvious as there were arguments due to differences in opinions (and age) but at least we learnt how to deal with such situations and accept that not everyone have same opinions.

Day 2:

Still discussing about the given topics. The topics were generalized and there are a lot of different angles at which it could be discussed. At the end of the day we had a rehearsal for the next day- the day where the resolutions and action plans were to be presented in front of a few ministers, deputy ministers and SUTs.

The flaming debate.

Lecturers from UBD giving a short talk

The rehearsal

And at night, there was a rehearsal for those who would be on stage- all about protocols and stuffs. Some of my colleagues did come to ICC that night to help with the unfinished resolutions. It was a tiring night.

Last minute work 2nd night.

Rehearsal with the SUT on stage the 2nd night.

Day 3:
Presentation of action plans and dialogue with the Ministers invited. The Ministers and Deputy ministers who attended were- Menteri Kebudayaan, Belia dan sukan, Menteri Hal ehwal Ugama, Menteri Hal-Elwal Dlm Negri, Timbalan Menteri Hal Ehwal Dalam Negri, Timbalan Menteri Jabatan Perdana Menteri & Timbalan Menteri Sumber-Sumber Utama.

Dibah and i.

It was a wonderful experience. I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the congress (the organisers, participants, food supplier =p) And also a big thank you for opening our minds and letting us speak up.