3rd Note

by Sim Ah Hua

A local Yang Berhormat, YB in her Facebook recently lamented on our youth – males and females, getting “high” in broad daylight at the Kuching Waterfront. Her posting received many comments and concerns, some of which mentioned that it is not a recent problem but that it has been happening for some time.  A number queried why the authorities have not done anything, while others replied that the authorities have tried but that the problem seems to persist.

In a State Anti-Narcotics report last Saturday, it was stated that a total of 119 students (mainly urban) in Sarawak have been arrested for involvement in drug abuse up till November this year, compared to only 68 for last year.  The type of drugs abused showed a leaning towards ‘harder’ drugs such as ketamine, Erimin 5, and cannabis.  The police are worried and have appealed to parents to monitor their children’s activities.

In institutions of learning and schools, and through the media, we have many anti-drugs campaigns, posters everywhere – screaming the dangers of drugs, and yet our youth do not seem to hear or see.  What has gone wrong?  Have we failed to understand our youth?  Have our many youth seminars and workshops that came up with strategies to arrest social ills among our youth been a waste of time and money?

What we seem to lack is an in-depth understanding of the myriad issues that ‘force’ or trap our youth into such situations.  There have been researches undertaken but many have just skim the surface of the issues and have not proposed effective solutions and strategies to curb the problems.  Most of our researches have involved respondents other than the youth themselves in trying to identify the roots of the social ills/problems among youth. A qualitative research among youth offenders who have been detained would provide useful information which can help us plan better and more effective programmes.  That information could also provide us links to undertake further research into related issues to give us a holistic and comprehensive perspective of the problems.

Apart from research, another area that is sadly lacking is dialogue with our young people.  We have taken them very much for granted and think we know what is best for them as we have ‘more exposure and are more experienced’.  Their exposure and experience today is so different from ours that there is a great need for us to listen and learn from them as well. Personally, the challenges and pressure that face our youth today that could lead them astray are greater than the ones we face in the 70s and 80s.  Advancement in technology, a borderless world and the demands of an affluent society have brought about so much changes in family life, school life and societal life that strong and positive values which we hold dear are threatened and have broken down.  Our youth have to learn how to cope in the midst of all these challenges.  We need to extend that helping hand.

Government agencies, corporate bodies and NGOs alike have also organised countless programmes for youth, but the youth that end up participating in these programmes are usually the ‘good’ ones that are not so much in need of our attention. It is high time that we re-look our strategies and ensure that our programmes target the right youth and are tailored to bring about the change that we want to see in our young people.  We need to work with community leaders to identify ‘problem’ youth from specific residential areas and plan programmes with the right content that would interest, attract, motivate and empower them to take action to change their lives.

An example of an empowering youth programme is the “YES! Programme” that AZAM has started which aims to empower youth to serve our society through community projects.  Getting youth involved to think for themselves, see opportunities and not obstacles in challenges, to work as a team and to set goals in life, would provide them with a good foundation to face the challenges ahead of them.

Let us then open our doors to the youth through more dialogues. To quote someone, “True dialogue is the one thing that should energise us and lead us to new consensus on what we have to do”.

Sim Ah Hua is General Manager of Sarawak Development Institute (SDI). 3^rd Voice is published fortnightly and was initiated by AZAM and SDI. Feedback can be channelled to deborah@azam.org.my or (please add AZAM Facebook group link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=94051436143)