Major Gen (Rtd) Mohd Zin Bidin
KUCHING (July 3): Sarawak has vast potential in becoming a Sea Scouts Centre of Excellence, says Scouts Association of Malaysia acting chief Major Gen (Rtd) Prof Dato Dr Mohd Zin Bidin.
“The state’s coastline is 1,035km long, and its coastal marine habitats consist of sandy beaches, mudflats and rocky shores.
“Sarawak, one of the world’s megadiversity regions, would enable scouts to acquire the necessary knowledge, understanding and experience of maintaining coastal marine habitats and marine parks,” he said at Sarawak’s 1st Rover Moot in the Kuching Waterfront here yesterday.
Mohd Zin said the state also had a good environment to establish community-based scouting, as there are many different areas that require assistance and services at many different levels of society, and this would involve scouts of young adults, also known as Rover Scouts.
“This is because the association is currently promoting community-based scouting where it is not only confined to schools and learning institutions, but also in the community such as in residential areas, offices, villages, new townships and longhouses.
“It is necessary to help the poor, the homeless and the under-priviledged. In helping others, Rover Scouts may benefit from a wide range of learning opportunities. This is where scouting is relevant and appealing to young people who have the willingness and passion to provide assistance to others,” he added.
Mohd Zin said the objective of Rover Scouts is to enable the growth and development of young adults as they are expected to make informed decisions and healthy meaningful choices in life.
He added that Rover Scouts training focuses on the development of good citizenship based on the Scout Promise and the Scout Law.
“Rover Scouts, whose motto is service are supervised and trained to acquire knowledge, skills, experience, leadership ability and competence to be responsible members of the community.
“They will have access to a wide variety of training, which include the Baden-Powell Scout Award Scheme, Duke of Edinburgh International Award, adult training, and specialist training including professional training,” he added.
Sarawak 1st Rover Moot aims to provide safe, exciting, challenging and meaningful learning opportunities and educational activities geared towards responsible leadership, service to community and the protection and conservation of the environment and natural resources.
It also attracted the participation of Rover Scouts from Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Brunei and Indonesia.