PENAMPANG: Youths will be occupying Dataran Datuk Peter Mojuntin in Donggongon town for six days to commemorate the Kadazan leader as well as to enlighten youths and members of the public through a series of sessions, in what is known as Occupy DPM.
Coordinated by a group of young activists, the event kicked off yesterday and starts from 6pm to 10pm daily until March 3, as a way of showing appreciation of the monument of the late Datuk Peter Mojuntin, a Kadazan leader who perished in the 666 tragedy, and is hoped to be able to create awareness on Mojuntin’s contributions as one of the founding fathers of Malaysia.
One of its coordinators, Andrew Ambrose, disclosed that Occupy DPM is not an assembly, but merely a group of people occupying a public space for leisure purposes. However, he said prior notification had been submitted to the Penampang police on February 16 for security reasons.
He added that Occupy DPM is a continuation of youth activities since their last ‘occupy’ activity at the Double Six memorial site and Sembulan Riverside held last year, which were attended by a significant number of people.
“Occupy DPM will be a series of positive activities for the youths and we look to encourage more youths to appreciate public monuments.
Besides, the DPM memorial square had always been associated with illegal cigarette peddlers, so it’s about time that we put such a space to good use by encouraging youths to occupy it while sharing ideas and discussing current issues. Occupying a public space had never been illegal.”
He added further that the pressing issues of the Lahad Datu intrusion as well as Royal Commission of Inquiry, had led youths to vent their anger and dissatisfaction through social media.
“Why not we talk about it in public?” he suggested.