Manyin going for five more years as Tebedu representative

SERIAN: Tebedu assemblyman Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong wants to be given a mandate of five more years to work together with the people to further develop the constituency and the Bidayuh community.

“Work together with me for five more years. You work with me, and I work with you so that N21 Tebedu constituency can further develop, more development can take place in Bidayuh areas and the Bidayuh community can further progress,” he said at a dinner in Kampung Taee near here on Saturday night.

Manyin, incumbent for Tebedu since 1996, was already announced by Chief Minister and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem as one of three Bidayuh PBB incumbents to be retained in the coming state election.

He pointed out politicians are the ones who should be grateful to the people for their votes and support, and not the other way round as some parties would think.

In his current portfolio as Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications, he said he did his best to ensure the people enjoy better infrastructure such as roads, bridges and others.

He cited the recent f lood in Kampung Taee itself as example, when he and divisional engineers from Public Works Department (JKR) and Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) assessed the damage and eventually came out with a solution to replace a damaged bridge with a new bailey bridge soon.

“By working together, we can get a lot of things done,” he said.

On another note, Manyin hoped to see the Bidayuh community produce more people of quality in the next 20 years.

Although 80 per cent of Bidayuhs still live in rural areas, he said the Bidayuh community can progress further and compete with others if they maintain the spirit of unity of purpose.

To achieve this, he said the Bidayuh community must not only invest in education, but also give priority to skills training and be bold in showcasing their talents be it in arts or sports.

“Some of us in my generation still managed to become successful despite us not having the infrastructure and amenities now enjoyed by the current generation. But now you have good roads, treated water, electricity and Internet access, so I see no reason for us not able to capitalise on this to succeed and compete with others,” he said.

Meanwhile, the dinner was held to launch the centenary celebration of St John’s Taee Parish.

Manyin earlier opened and toured the new building blocks for SK St John Taee and held a dialogue with the villagers, school and church leaders.

He also announced an allocation of RM100,000 to the St John’s Taee Parish.

The organising chairman Bati Juram in his speech spoke about the history of the church and the school, which actually started in 1875 in the old settlement called Muggu Babbi.

This enabled the people in Taee and surrounding areas to embrace the Anglican Christian faith and they were among the first to receive education, he added.

Touching on Manyin’s renomination, he called on the people in Taee to give their full support to Manyin so that he (Manyin) can successfully defend the Tebedu seat.

Also present were political secretary to the chief minister John David Nyauh, Serian district officer Sinde Muling, Serian education officer Yunus Apok and Serian JKR engineer Chiresly Francis Kureng.