Archive for March, 2009

KUCHING:  Penan graduates have been asked to consider joining the Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) before attempting to form their own association.

"Because they are still very small in number, about 22 of them, it would be better for them join SDGA first," said SDGA deputy prsident Dr Elli Luhat. "Being an Orang Ulu, I am quite close to the Penan. They have a lot of thing to catch upon," he added.

Elli said SDGA members are the cream of Dayak intellectuals and as such Penan graduates would learn a lot from Iban, Orang Ulu and Bidayuh professionals in various fields.

"In fact, I have received a lot of calls from other smaller indigenous groups of the Orang Ulu like the Kajang or Punan, which comprise sub-groups like the Lahanan, Sekapan, Tanjong and Sihan, asking me to send them the membership forms to join the SDGA. "I hope the Penan graduates will also join us for the benefit of the community at large," he said.

Elli was responding to Penan graduate Zain Rocky’s call for graduates from his community to form an association. Zain, the first Penan to have a tertiary education, is currently an administrative officer with the Miri Resident’s Office. He graduated from Universiti Utara Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

Elli said SDGA’s main task is to promote both formal and informal education among the Dayaks. Under informal education, he said, SDGA will emphasise smart farming through training, workshops and seminars.

He said members would receive a five per cent discount on the fees for any workshop, seminar or training organised by SDGA on smart farming. All Dayak graduates who wish to know more about SDGA or obtain membership forms can contact Elli at 013-8289795 or logon www.drluhatechnology.com

Taken from the Borneo Post, 27 March 2009

KUCHING : Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) is considering setting up an online registration system to recruit new members.

Its president Dr Dusit Jaul said this was one of the ways to get more Dayak graduates, especially the young ones, to come forward and support the association as members. "The association needs every Dayak graduate out there to join it. I strongly believe that if the association get the right number, it will be more effective in serving the Dayak community.

"At the same time too, this is one way Dayak graduates can give back to society," he said in a press statement issued here yesterday. Dusit also said SDGA held its second executive committee meeting at its office at the Panovel Commercial Centre, Jalan Simpang Tiga here last Friday.

In the meeting, SDGA made several of its office-bearers coordinators for the different regions of Sarawak. Its deputy president Dr Elli Luhat and deputy secretary general Jona Kerani are in charge of Kapit, exco member Elly Lawai (Sibu), Dr Thomas Buan (Sri Aman and Betong), Dr Alex Sayok (Miri) and Edmund Daging (Bintulu).

An official handling over of duty from SDGA immediate past president Dr Joseph Jawa Kendawang to Dusit also took place before the meeting. Dusit, a senior programme coordinator at the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan), was elected as SDGA new president for the term 2009-2011 on Feb 21.

On a related development, Dusit said SDGA’s programmes for 2009 and 2010 will be discussed and finalised at the end of this month. According to hiim, the immediate priority of the association now is to strengthen the association’s financial strength and widen its membership base.

He said once these objectives are achieved, the association will be able to carry out its ‘people-building’ activities more effectively. He also appealed to Dayak graduates to contact the newly-appointed coordinators in Sri Aman, Betong, Sibu, Kapit, Miri and Limbang to get further information on SDGA. Dayak graduates, at least diploma holders, wishing to join as members of SDGA only need to pay registration and membership fees of RM30 annually.

The contact numbers for the coordinators are - Elly Lawai (01338016464), Dr Thomas Buan (0163242525), Dr Alex Sayok (0198280614), and Dr Elli Luhat (0138289795) or Jona Kerani (0198887420).

Source:  The Borneo Post, 18 March 2009

KUCHING : Dayak students who sat for 2008 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)  are eligible to apply for the Overseas Degree Programme. The Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) said this in a press release yesterday that the programme would be sponsored by the Public Service Department (PSD) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA).

SDGA president Dr Dusit Jaul reminded the Dayak students not to miss this opportunity to pursue their dreams of higher education.  According to him, the Dayak students always missed this opportunity in the past, either because they were not aware of this programme (Program Ijazah Luar Negara) or even if they knew, they acted too late.

"This is especially so among the rural students. Once they left school and go back to their respective villages, they have very little access to the Internet, or for that matter, even newspapers," said Dusit who is also an education trainer by profession.

He said PSD had released a press statement on this programme recently and applications can be made online. More details such as the general and specific requirements can be obtained by accessing the PSD and MARA websites at: www.jpa.gov.my and www.mara.gov.my.

Both PSD and MARA have also provided dedicated lines for students in the event they encounter technical problems while filling in the online application form.

PSD phone line is at 03-88853892 (10 lines) while MARA is at 03-88853550 or 03-88853559. The PSD line is open on working days from 8am to 5pm while MARA is open daily from 8am to 10pm from the date of the official announcement of the SPM results on March 12.

Dusit urges all Dayak students to treat education as a matter of utmost priority. "Through education, students acquire knowledge. In a knowledge-based economy, it is a very powerful tool for self empowerment," he stressed.

News from the Borneo Post, 11 March 2009