Bandar Seri Begawan - "Education is Brunei's biggest asset," said Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade when asked by the country's youth representatives about his opinions on youth.

"The best gift that youths have is investing in education and you should grab every opportunity that you can get," the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade added.

He also expressed his opinion that "we must preserve our culture but at the same time we must also connect and move forward with the world".

As the future generation that will inherit and lead the country and our people, we are cleaning up the mess that has been left behind," said one of Brunei's youth delegates to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Youth Forum.

In an exclusive interview, Hjh Siti Rafidzah Hj Sulaiman, Nurliyana Fatin Arifin and
Mohd Anwar Hj Mohammad, all agreed that more still needs to be done in Brunei to "inspire and draw the active participation of youths to help improve the country". They are the Sultanate's three representatives at the annual event for Apec youth leaders, which provides a platform to engage government and business leaders as `Voices of the Future'.

Drawing upon the recent successful example of the local youth non-government organisation, "Sounds of Hope', which focuses on eradicating poverty, Rafidzah, said "It was the first time that we saw an NGO use Facebook to generate awareness that gained momentum from the youth. We can already see that some of our youths are indeed ready and willing to take part in helping these changes, which is a dynamic movement. She is an economics lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

Third-year UBD economics student Anwar agreed with his fellow delegate. "Most youths in Brunei are not aware of global or even local issues and that's why more still needs to be done to educate them on a grassroots level. Even then, more focus must be made on the delivery rather than the message itself."

As part of their weeklong programme, the 120 youths from 21-member economies of the Pacific Rim organisation have been taken on many visits to see some of Singapore's economic and community institutions, meeting with Singapore President S R Nathan at the Istana, meeting with members of parliament, touring high-rise apartments, of Singapore's Housing Development Board, attending the Apec CEO Summit, and attending a symposium with world renowned martial arts actor, Jet Li, and listening to ideas and exchanging opinions.

On meeting the president of the city-state, Anwar replied: "When we were presented to him, it was so different from what we imagined, it was quite very informal and very different from what we are used to in Brunei. I think it's much better to be informal."
Rafidzah shared their conversation with President Nathan: "It was a golden opportunity for us to met him. He spoke to us about how he had been to Brunei twice and about how it's a nice country."

The three youth representatives were selected from entrants in an essay-writing competition on this year's Apec theme `Sustaining growth, connecting the region', organised by UBD.

During their weeklong itinerary, they have brushed shoulders with many world leaders such as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Asean Secretary General Dr Surin Pitsuwan. Out of these dignitaries, who influenced them the most?

"For me, it would have to be Mr Ho Kwan Ping, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings and Chairman of Singapore Management University," said Rafidzah, "because he was very blunt and he told us that there must be a change of values for youths is required.

"He emphasised the need for the world to recognise value creators such as educators and bluntly put down businessmen for the greedy pursuit of greed. Rather than work as investment bankers who cheat people, the world would be a much better place if there were more educators, instilling the next generation with values such as morals, respect and decency," she said.

He urged the 120 Apec youth representatives that as youths they should always question `why' to find out the `real' truth. "As youths, if you want to make a difference, you have to use your voice and your opinions, but you will not have a role to play and you will be a nobody if you don't question the older generation."

Anwar was moved by the words and advice of Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. "There is going to be fear when you start questioning your elders, but just because you are fearful, it does not mean that you cannot address or acknowledge from it, as in the end, you will grow because of it and this will restore the elders' confidence in the youth.

"Do what you think is right. But make sure that what you are doing is for the right reasons.' And be diplomatic and sensitive about it. If you' are successful, it will restore confidence and this would convince the elder generations to trust us," he urged the Brunei youths.

So does this mean that there is a trust issue between the youth and elder generations?
"The youth movement now in Brunei is still at a relatively young stage and in Brunei's context, I think that elders will just give them minimal trust and in Brunei right now, it's all about talk and no action," Anwar said.

Rafidzah said, "Youths will be given minimal trust, but we must start providing youths with platforms for them to exercise responsibility and there must be more programmes for them to carry out community services.

"For youths to take a genuine interest in these programmes, we must first inspire and elevate them and provide them with platforms so that youths can speak out and begin to truly participate in things that really matter to us."

The three Bruneian youth representatives challenged their fellow youths in Brunei: "Instead of complaining about it, why don't you start doing something about it?"-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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