Taib (standing centre) in a group photo with participants of YPS’ Camp United in Lundu last year.
IF there’s one thing to be proud of as a Sarawakian whenever we celebrate Sarawak Day on July 22, it is the fact that our beloved state is now known as a model of unity and harmony in diversity.
Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak (YPS) chief executive Datu Aloysius Dris is among those who rightly feel proud of this fact.
It is the reason why he agreed to helm the non-profit organisation shortly after he retired as chief executive officer of Angkatan Zaman Mansang (Azam) Sarawak and Sarawak Development Institute (SDI) early this year.
YPS was established on May 16, 1994 by then chief minister and now Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, with the mission of nurturing and sustaining unity, harmony and peace among communities in Sarawak.
Taib remains the chairman of the board of YPS.
YPS has organised activities that seek to highlight the factors that strengthen the spirit of unity and harmony among the people of Sarawak.
Dris explained that the spirit of unity has always been an integral part of being a Sarawakian.
“It is just who we are as far as our community life goes. As kids, we may have grown up in our respective homes as a Malay, Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, Melanau, Chinese, or Indian, but we were always fully mindful that the other kids in our communities, who were not of the same race, were part of our lives as next of kin or friends.
“And that there is no wedge that separates or divides us,” he said.
As YPS chief executive, Dris is strongly committed to further strengthening the spirit of unity among Sarawakians.
“We will continue to build upon what we have attained. In the past activities we organised on our own, as well as in collaboration with other organisations, which share the same goals as ours, we have focused mainly on building a sense of understanding and appreciation of our respective cultural heritage.
“As a result, we have transformed from a society who accepts, or at the very least tolerated, the differences among us to the kind of society that truly appreciates each other’s differences and celebrates our common history and heritage,” he said.
YPS plans to collaborate and work with other organisations such as Azam, SDI, 1Malaysia Foundation, as well as all the associations representing each ethnic group in Sarawak, and other institutions to ensure that Sarawakians will continue to hold onto and celebrate the qualities, values, and features of their respective communities that they share in common with those of other communities.
As an example, Dris cited the Rukun Negara principles.
“As far back as I can remember, which is a very long time since I am now in my 70s, we have been practising the Rukun Negara principles. As a boy, I played with those from other ethnic groups in our neighbourhoods.
“We went to school, in my case a mission school, where I learned to respect the different faiths of my classmates and teachers.
“And when Malaysia was formed by Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, and shortly after that, the federal government articulated the Rukun Negara principles, it was natural for me to believe in and practise those principles because they have always been part of who I am as a Sarawakian,” he said.
These are what Dris considers common values that we all share not only as Sarawakians but as Malaysians.
“As Sarawakians, these are second nature to us. This is what we want to highlight in all activities that we are planning for YPS.
“We will be working closely with communities and neighbourhoods and other civic organisations to highlight the values that each and every community in Sarawak upholds and are willing to work together in unity to preserve and sustain in our midst,” he added.