Rural folk asked to master English language
SERIAN: Rural folk have been called on to master the English language as a means to move forward and break out of poverty.
Bukit Semuja assemblyman John Ilus said many rural folk, including those from the Bidayuh community, still think the English language is for the ‘upper classes’.
He pointed out that this mindset has led to a low proficiency in English, especially among the younger generation, which affects their chances of getting good jobs.
“The lack of English proficiency is one of the disadvantages affecting the rural folk.
“With English now becoming more important in the globalised world that we live in, having a good command of English will make us more competitive.
“When someone speaks English, some of us would rebuke that person by saying, ‘sanda lawa’ (arrogant). We should stop this kind of attitude, and instead we should encourage our people to practise and communicate in English,” he said when opening the Serian Education and Career Guidance Fair 2019 yesterday.
John advised those with poor academic results to pursue skills training certification.
“Technical skills are also important as our country now enters the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Even a developed country like Singapore has one of the highest skilled workforces in the world at 54.7 per cent.
“In Malaysia, the skilled workforce percentage is 28 per cent but efforts are now being made to increase it to 35 per cent by 2020 and 45 per cent by 2030,” he said.
The fair organised by the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) Serian and Bung Sadong branches was one of four held simultaneously at four Bidayuh-majority areas – Serian, Siburan, Bau and Lundu – by nine DBNA branches.
Initiated by the DBNA joint education committee and Bidayuh Graduates Association (BGA), it aimed to disseminate education and career-related information to school leavers from rural areas.