Dennis commends Lepo Gah-Dikan Association for uniting Kenyah community
MIRI: Activities organised by associations and organisations are a good platform to bring people together and foster unity.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said this at the 17th Family Day of the Lepo GahDikan Association Miri.
He commended the association for never failing to organise the Family Day and other activities for the Kenyah community.
“Although a big number of members of the community who are educated and intellectuals are living and working in Miri and elsewhere in the state including in Peninsular Malaysia and overseas it is commendable that the association has been organising activities as a platform to bring members together and unite the community,” he said at the Family Day at a resort in Bakam here recently. In this context, the assemblyman mooted a mass gathering of Orang Ulu and other communities from Telang Usan in Miri to serve as reminder of their roots.
“For their survival, the younger generation who are educated and intellectuals and those seeking greener pastures have to leave their villages and longhouses in the interior to look for jobs. They have no choice but to live and work in urban areas,” said Dennis.
Dennis, however, cautioned on the negative impact of rural-urban migration, saying there was a tendency among the younger generation to lose their identity due to modern lifestyle.
“It is sad to see the younger generations of the Orang Ulu community losing their roots and identity, especially in culture and heritage which is something special and unique. They might not know and recognise their relatives,” said Dennis. Present were the association advisor Penghulu Anthony Kule Lalo and chairman Jerome Wan Bilong.