Dennis (12th left), Ting (10th left) and Kijan between the two jointly lead the cake-cutting ceremony.
MIRI: The Orang Ulu community should not see themselves as ‘visitors’ here as they are already part of the city and have contributed, in one way or another, to make it what it is today.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau says no matter how small their contributions are, the community’s efforts are parts of what makes Miri vibrant and beautiful.
According to him, there are only about 300,000 Orang Ulus out of a total of over 30 million Malaysians, who comprise 2.7 million Sarawakians.
The assemblyman made these remarks when speaking at the ‘Pre-Christmas Get Together Dinner 2018’ hosted by the Orang Ulu Ladies Group at a hotel here on Friday.
“Miri is unofficially known as the ‘Orang Ulu City’, so you are part of this beautiful city. You may feel small, but if we all work together, we can help make this city much more vibrant and progressive,” he said.
Dennis also advised Orang Ulus here to not forget their roots and to regularly visit their villages or longhouses. If regular visits are not possible, they should do it at least once or twice a year, so that they could always be close to their place of origin, he added.
The event also hosted Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting and former political secretary Kijan Toynbee.
On the dinner, Dennis praised the organising committee headed by Kijan for providing the avenue to bring together Orang Ulus from various backgrounds.
He hoped that the organising committee would conduct future dinner events on a bigger scale to bring together more Orang Ulus not only to celebrate Christmas, but also to foster closer ties among them.
“Actually, it is not the number of guests that matters, but the spirit of togetherness that brings everyone here this evening,” he said.
At the function, Dennis announced a RM3,000 grant from himself and another RM3,000 from Ting to fund similar gatherings in the future.