James Kon
Forty young men and women are on a four-district road trip to improve leadership skills with the Youth Bus programme, which is held in conjunction with the 17th National Youth Day celebration.
The participants, aged 15 to 22, began their trip on Tuesday and will travel the four districts until September 3. The Youth Bus programme was on a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Permanent Secretary (Youth) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Haji Zakaria bin Haji Serudin said the programme’s objective is to help participants reach their potential by increasing knowledge and skills towards self-development, leadership and understanding.
The programme also hopes to expose participants to life in communities as well as the customs, tradition and socio-community culture in all four districts.
The permanent secretary urged the participants to completely focus in the programme’s activities which include aspects of dance, food and language dialects, some of which may be new to the participants.
“This is In line with the theme of of the National Youth Day celebration Belia Siaga Masa Depan, to prepare the next generation with knowledge, skills and positive attitude to face the increasingly tougher challenges today.”
In an interview, participants Faten Sajedah binti Muhamaddun and Dayangku Asqina Nur Aiman binti Pengiran Mohamad Aminuddin said they hoped to learn more about each district, and “to be more independent and foster friendship with the other participants”.
Yesterday, the participants visited the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Defence Academy to learn about the military career and the academy.
Participants also visited the Malay Kedayan Association for exposure to ethnic Kedayan culture, food and language.
