(Advertorial)
Bibi (left) and Fayaneh.
A youth writing down her aspiraton at the TN50 Community Dialogue.
KOTA KINABALU: Despite receiving a backlash from a recent viral incident, the public are still confident with the TN50 Community Dialogue and they still believe that it is vital for the future of the country.
There was a brief commotion involving two local celebrities at a TN50 Community Dialogue in Putrajaya last month.
Although the matter has been solved long ago, it is safe to say that the unfortunate incident has
tainted the reputation of the TN50 Community Dialogue programme, thus raising doubts on the integrity of the programme.
However, during Thursday’s community dialogue in Kota Kinabalu, the confidence of the public in the TN50 programme was clearly exemplified.
Thursday’s dialogue featured 300 participants from all over the state and some of them had taken centre stage to voice their suggestions for the betterment of their beloved country.
One of the participants, Dg Munira Muin said that the questions and issues raised during the dialogue were without a doubt, relevant.
“The issues that were brought were really relevant, especially to us Sabahans. It touched a lot on the economical issues Sabah has been facing.
“It also touched on the needs and the voices of Sabahans. This has opened up the eyes of our ministers and it has given them an idea on how they can solve these problems.
“We, the Sabahans, hope that both the federal and state ministers will find a way to solve this problem, thus improving the lives of Sabahans,” the Giat Mara student said.
However, the 27-year-old is of the opinion that there is still room for improvements, especially in how the event is conducted.
She said that the participants should be given ample time to ask questions and that they should not be rushed to do so.
Commenting on whether the TN50 forums are still relevant, Munira said that all the public can do now is to wait and see.
However, she did acknowledge the fact that these forums had been receiving tremendous response from the youth.
Local businessman Abdullah Otong shared the same opinion with Munira as he also thinks that the dialogue is really beneficial to the youths.
“The ideas taken from this youth may be implemented by the government. One of it could be the rural transformation in Sabah.
“Many of these youths want to see more job opportunities being given to them. TN50 is indeed a good initiative since it is a long-term plan that could potentially reap benefits,” said the 47-year-old. He also echoed Munira’s contention, in which he said that these youths should be given more time to think and articulate their ideas on stage.
However, Abdullah admitted that some of the youths had wasted precious time asking irrelevant questions and thus he hoped that something could be done about this issue.
“The ministers will surely know how this TN50 initiative will play out. Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri had already announced that these ideas would be brought to the Parliament and the Prime Minister himself.
“We hope that the youths will be able to enjoy the fruits of TN50. Whether or not the TN50 forums are still relevant should not be an issue as the ministers can always improve these forums,” Abdullah added.
He had expressed his hope, in which he urged the youths to change their mindset and keep themselves away from all the unhealthy activities lurking out there.
Nursery teachers, Bibi Anfah Khan and Fayaneh Jilang had also weighed in their opinions on the competency of the TN50 forum.
“The forum started at 2.30pm. Perhaps, it could have started earlier so we would not have to rush things, especially considering the fact that we are in the Ramadan month.
“Thus, for the next instalment, the TN50 will be timed properly,” said 29-year-old Fayaneh.
Fayaneh also suggested that the participants write down their ideas prior to presenting them on stage as this will prevent them from wasting time trying to formulate their words on stage.
Bibi is of the opinion that some of the questions posed were slightly off-topic.
“The TN50 forum is supposed to talk about things that will take place in the next 30 years. However, some of the questions that were posed were short-term plans, which are actually irrelevant in this forum,” said Bibi.
The duo thinks that the TN50 forum will stay relevant as long as the government will follow up with all the aspirations raised.