Dicky Shanor
KUCHING: Malaysia and the United States of America share the universal need of finding ways to motivate the youth not to take their rights for granted, said Cheyenne City Council president Dicky Shanor.
Shanor, who arrived here early this week to learn about the best practices in governance and local government of Sarawak, said just like Malaysia, the US faces similar challenges in terms of getting young people to care about their government and circumstance.
“There is always a sort of apathy among the youth to get engaged. I think a big challenge facing us all is the rapidly changing economy and the unknowns for us, including the younger generation. All of our systems, particularly our education system, are all set up for what we know now.
“To make sure that our youth are being prepared for what’s coming, which we all kind of know of, that technology, automation and artificial intelligence are going to change the world dramatically. I think probably one of the biggest challenges is to get the youth engaged now,” he told The Borneo Post when met on Tuesday.
Shanor was accompanied by a fellow of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Dr Kelvin Yii, whom he hosted in Cheyenne, Wyoming during his professional exchange last spring.
Shanor, who is also Wyoming Department of Education chief of staff, believes that the government can assist to prepare youths for the future through actions or policies, reform in the education system, and maintaining links to industries.
“I have really been able to see that even though we are worlds apart in some ways, a lot the challenges that you’re facing in Malaysia are some of the very things we are facing in my state and country.”
Shanor said he enjoyed learning about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) because despite the diversity of the member countries, each nation put their differences aside to work together to leverage for better trade and economic opportunities for its people.
“I think that is a really cool thing that I didn’t really know much about until I came here.”
On his trip to Sarawak, Shanor said he first learned about the state from Dr Yii during the exchange trip. Besides Sarawak, Shanor also visited Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and will be in Myanmar for a similar visit.
“When I got here, we had meetings with government officials, higher education officials, and did some cultural activities as well. I was not only able to get a big picture of the government in Sarawak, but also spent some time in the capital (Kuala Lumpur) as well earlier in the week.”
During his visit to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Shanor said among others, they talked about the strategic plan that the Higher Education Ministry is working on and how that would affect Unimas and its students.
“I also talked with local Kuching South City Council (MBKS) councillors on local government issues and how the local government works. I also talked to Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang, where we talked about how the state and local governments work together here.”
He also met with senior native customary rights lawyer Baru Bian, where both discussed Baru’s works involving native land rights issues.
“We have, in my state, (similar land issues) because we have Native American reservations as well.”
Apart from that, Shanor said he also had a discussion with Rise of Sarawak Efforts (ROSE) leader Ann Teo on democracy initiatives and voting awareness that the latter is doing in Sarawak.
“I had the opportunity to visit the Kuching Festival too and tried some tribal food.
“That was great and fun. I also went to see orangutan and visited the beautiful State Legislative Assembly.”
Shanor expressed his gratitude for the hospitality of the people he met in Malaysia, especially in Sarawak, who had not only been very hospitable, but also very willing to engage in discussions during his visit.