Dayak: Going Forward Objectively
Written by: gkm2020
Going Forward
To go forward, Dayak Community empowerment must go well beyond political or legal permission to participate in the national political system. It includes capacity to do things that community members want to do. The dimension would include “Up-Down”, “Down-Up” and “External Surrounding” approaches. You are either going forward or you are not.
To achieve our mission, we must analyze all theoretical factors such as Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities; and Threats (SWOT) and Political; Economic; Social; Technological; Legal; and Environmental (PESTLE) including Gender Training Community of Practice (GTCP) and Code of Practice (CP). Dayak Communities must find and build elements of strength and superiority to win, progress and prosper.
Unity of Command
One of the most important principles of war i.e. to fight and win the battle is the Unity of Command. If there’s lack of quality and/or capable leaders, low morale, disunity, disoriented, untrained and unequipped (skill includes tactic, technique, intelligence and technology), the battle would be lost! To win the battle, to progress and moving forward objectively, Dayak Communities must and/or needs to build, re-engineer, re-invent, explore new ideas, re-modernize, re-mobilize and be trained with at least sixteen (16) elements of capacity, strength and/or empowerment.
What Are These Elements?
Empowerment includes capacity building and strengthening in various dimensions. Here are sixteen (16) elements of a community that change as the community gets stronger:
The proportion of, and degree to which, individuals are ready to sacrifice benefits to themselves for the benefit of the community as a whole (reflected in degrees of generosity, individual humility, communal pride, mutual supportiveness, loyalty, concern, camaraderie, sister/brotherhood).
As a community develops more altruism, it develops more capacity. (Where individuals, families or factions are allowed to be greedy and selfish at the expense of the community, this weakens the community).
The degree to which members of the community share values, especially the idea that they belong to a common entity that supersedes the interest of members within it is to think beyond the many possibilities.
The more those community members share, or at least understand and tolerate, each others values and attitudes, the stronger their community will be. (Racism, prejudice and bigotry weaken a community or organization).
Human settlements facilities and services (such as roads, markets, potable water, access to education, health services), their upkeep (dependable maintenance and repair), sustainability, and the degree to which all community members have access to them.
The more those members have access to needed communal facilities, the greater their empowerment. (In measuring capacity of organizations, this includes office equipment, tools, supplies, access to toilets and other personal staff facilities, working facilities, physical plant).
Within a community, and between itself and outside, communication includes roads, electronic (ICT) methods (e.g. telephone, radio, TV, Internet), printed media (newspapers, magazines, books), networks, mutually understandable languages, literacy and the willingness and ability to communicate (which implies tact, diplomacy, willingness to listen as well as to talk) in general.
As a community gets better communication, it gets stronger. (For an organization, this is the communication equipment, methods and practices available to staff). Poor communication means a weak organization or community.
While expressed in individuals, how much confidence is shared among the community as a whole? Example: an understanding that the community can achieve what ever it wishes to do.
Positive attitudes, willingness, self motivation, enthusiasm, optimism, self-reliant rather than dependency attitudes, willingness to fight for its rights, avoidance of apathy and fatalism, a vision of what is possible. Increased strength includes increased confidence.
6. Context/Policy (Political and Administrative):
A community will be stronger, more able to get stronger and sustain its strength more, the more it exists in an environment that supports that strengthening. This environment includes:
- Political (including the values and attitudes of the national leaders, laws and legislation). The political agenda. and;
- Administrative (attitudes of civil servants and technicians, as well as Governmental regulations and procedures) elements. The legal environment.
When politicians, leaders, technocrats and civil servants, as well as their laws and regulations, take a provision approach, the community is weak, while if they take an enabling approach to the community acting on a self-help basis, the community will be stronger. Communities can be stronger when they exist within a more enabling context.
More than just having or receiving unprocessed information, the strength of the community depends upon the ability to process and analyze that information, the level of awareness, knowledge and wisdom found among key individuals and within the group as a whole.
When information is more effective and more useful, not just more in volume, the community will have more strength. (Note that this is related to, but differs from, the communication element listed above). Intelligence gathering bring good information.
What is the extent and effectiveness of animation (mobilizing, management training, awareness rising, and stimulation) aimed at strengthening the community? Do outside or internal sources of charity increase the level of dependency and weaken the community, or do they challenge the community to act and therefore become stronger?
Is the intervention sustainable or does it depends upon decisions by outside donors who have different goals and agendas than the community itself? When a community has more sources of stimulation to develop, it has more strength.
Leaders have quality, power, influence, reliability, capability and the ability to move the community forward and objectively. The more effective its leadership, the more stronger a community would become. While this is not the place to argue ideologically between democratic or participatory leadership, in contrast to totalitarian, authoritarian, imperialistic, dynastic and dictatorial styles, the most effective and sustainable leadership (for strengthening the community, not just strengthening the leaders) is one that operates so as to follow the decisions and desires of the community as a whole, to take an enabling and facilitating role.
Leaders must possess skills, willingness, readiness, ability and some charisma. The more effective the leadership, the more capacity has the community or organization. (Lack of good leadership weakens it yet divides the community further). Leaders must shoulder responsibility, stay focus, openness, committed and deliver, continuously maintain good morale, leadership-in-command, build initiative, have foresight and ready to execute the “Executive Order”.
It is not just “what you know,” but also “who you know” that can be a source of strength. (As is often joked, not only “know-how,” but also “know-who” gets jobs). What is the extent to which community members, especially leaders, know persons (and their agencies or organizations) who can provide useful resources that will strengthen the community as a whole?
The useful linkages, potential and realized, that exists within the community and with others outside it. The more effective the network, the stronger the community or organization would become (Living inside the box, stereotype, too bureaucratic and isolation produces weakness).
The degree to which different members of the community see themselves as each having a role in supporting the whole (in contrast to being a mere collection of separate individuals), including (in the sociological sense) organizational integrity, structure, procedures, decision making processes, effectiveness, division of labor and complementarity’s of roles and functions.
The more organized, or more effectively organized, is a community or organization, the more capacity or strength it has. Bad organization lead to failure, sink and kaput.
These require a degree to which the community can participate in national or federal level and regional or state and/or district decision making. Just as individuals have varying power within a community, so communities have varying power and influence within the district and nation.
The more political power and influence that a community or organization can exercise, the higher level of capacity it has. Political power mean build more constituencies and cooperation and/or political alliance.
The ability, manifested in individuals, that will contribute to the organization of the community and the ability of it to get things done that it wants to get done, tactical and technical skills, management skills, organizational skills, mobilization skills, logistics skills and intelligence skills.
The more skills (group or individual) that a community or organization can obtain and use, the more empowered is that community or organization. Empower skill, you create talent.
The degree to which members of the community trust each other, especially their leaders and community servants, which in turn is a reflection of the degree of integrity (honesty, dependability, openness, transparency, trustworthiness) within the community.
More trust and dependability within a community reflects its increased capacity. (Dishonesty, corruption, embezzlement and diversion of community resources all contribute to community or organizational weakness). Build trust, we build loyalty.
A shared sense of belonging to a known entity (i.e. the group composing the community), although every community has divisions or schisms (religious, class, status, income, age, gender, ethnicity, clans), the degree to which community members are willing to tolerate the differences and variations among each other and are willing to cooperate and work together, a sense of a common purpose or vision, shared values.
When a community or organization is more unified, it is stronger. (Unity does not mean that everyone is the same, but that everyone tolerates each others’ differences, and works for the common good). Unity is Oneness and Oneness is One Voice.
The degree to which the community as a whole (in contrast to individuals within it) has control over actual and potential resources, and the production, yields and distribution of scarce and useful goods and services, monetary and non-monetary (including donated labor, land, equipment, supplies, knowledge, skills).
The wealthier a community, the stronger it is. (When there is the presence of negative bacteria and/or virus or parasite of greedy individuals, families or factions accrue wealth at the expense of the community or the organization as a whole, that weakens the community or organization). Maintain equability and mutual benefits.
The more any community or organization has of each of the above elements, the stronger it is, the more capacity it has, and the more empowered it is.
A community is a social entity; it does not become stronger simply by adding a few more facilities. Dayak Community strengthening or capacity building involves both social and cultural change – development – and that, in turn, involves all sixteen (16) of the above elements of strength. Guess it’s too lengthy; I would like to add on some more and would rather leave this forum open for you to think and give your kind comment(s) for our own good. Thank you.
Auk….leka ka nganka tu dulu meh randau kitai…ila kitai betemu baru. Ni api tu alu bedau mau agi deh….enda mantu aku kitai kaban betungung ka api tu?…Maju Dayak, Maju Bangsa!
To progress, we must do more research, maintain the learning process and think beyond reality!
“Gong Xi Fa Cai”
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8 Responses to “Dayak: Going Forward Objectively”
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Inspirational word from gkm2020
Manah amat penemu bakatu. Ngarapka bala ketuai dayak ulih belajar ari penemu tu.
Kami raban ke biak tu ukai enggai ninga penemu kita ke tuai, tang penemu kita mayuh udah out dated.
Update diri empu mih tuai…
Bisi kualiti baka ke dirintai datas nya sida ketuai kitai bansa, Uchak?
Bisi meh sida ngembuan kualiti dia alai sida nya udah bulih mayuh duit nyadi kaya raya, duit enda alah dempa sampai ke ichit uwit, uchak.
Hi Sulong Enjop,
What do you mean by “Penemu Kita Mayuh Udah Out dated”? If so, why don’t you “raban ke biak tu ukai enggai ninga penemu kita ke tuai” share your ideas and knowledge for the benefit of the masses, ie, Dayak Baru. Don’t comment if you have nothing to share! It’s a cynical statement and that doesn’t benefit anybody but belittling the dayak baru effort to have a change for the better. I hope you should contribute if think you are good. Be positive rather than putting that is nonsense at all. Learn how to appreciate and no being arrogance. Dayak Baru need “raban ke biak” to bring change.
Excellent and brilliant article. Feed us with more and the next time of Elements of “Power”.
Good job there Dr John Brian.
Hai Gideon,
You know, Mr Sulong is as outdated as Mr Jang Manchal or Aya Bebendai Belah or Aya Ulih Manggai or Uchak Jegak, just to name a few for your comparison. If you want to know about his ideas, you may read what those guys mentioned above had written in this blog. If you don’t agree, yeah, Mr Sulong is talking nonsense.
I hope to hear some of your ideas for comparison with these guys – Mr Jang Manchal or Aya Bebendai Belah or Aya Ulih Manggai or Uchak Jegak.
Thank you and cheers to you and family.
Have a good morning. Anang mayuh ngirup ayi bir sida Ch*bai saritu, unggal.
Jang
[...] Of course, you do remember this saying: With time, you’ll be there… So, should an opportunity arises, just grab it quickly. Yup, grab it after you’ve made your final decision based on SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). Avoid procrastination! For details, read it here. [...]
I must applaud such caring attitudes and listing down the dos/don’ts – about own community. I believe most of us would want to help our own people if we have the chance to do so. The only problem is that many of us are still struggling to help ourselves. It may be quite fair to say that you should help yourself first before you are able to help others.
Help ourselves, we must. The community is made up of people. The more successful people from that community, the better of that community is. Since it is the people who have to be successful first, then it should be the individuals. Individual success contributes to the community success much more than what the Government could do.
What are the focus toward success or the effort toward overcoming the hindrances? I guess the answers to these, esp the hindrances boil down to all the bads habits, inabilities, failures,
lack of effort, etc.
Take alcoholism for instance – how many Dayaks able to control themselves from drinking and recognising that excessive drinking is a hindrance to personal success? How would an alcoholic be able to be successful and thereby contribute to the success of his community? hmm..sadly alcohol is a way of life for Dayaks.
A person who continously bruting about his own poor status & continously asking help from others but spend very little effort himself has less chance of being successful – don’t you agree? Lets look at beggars – how would it be possible for beggars to become rich? Impossible. My point is nothing could beat your own hard cold sweat, not even the goodies which the Government might give you one fine day.
Ba penemu aku, enti bala Dayak deka maju ba pengidup, bala anak dayak rebak baru patut dilatih, diiri, diseridika enggau penemu ke tau ngemansangka bansa ambi ke chunto:
Sida ke udah mujur dalam pengawa pelajar tauka pengawa ti ngasuh bansa kitai tampak nama enggau rita patut bendar dikemesaika lebuh Hari Gawai Dayak tikas menua Sarawak (State level) baka ti meri award tauka anugerah nitihka kategori ari kitai ke semina ngatur pekit pemajik gamal ti nadai tentu meri penguntung ke menuku ngagai bansa kitai.Nyangka mih bala kumang tu dilatih ngemeranka pengawa modelling, ulih ga ngelaku product kitai Iban baka pua kumbu sereta identiti Dayak ke bukai.Ari ke meri award baka nya dijangka aku nya ulih motivate anak dayak besemekih kuat agi ngemajuka bansa diri laban bisi orang ngelala ( appreciation).Enti patut anak Dayak enda begerak enda engkasak.
Idup Dayak.