The beautiful seaside — or is it?

HAVE you been near the seaside lately? I have.

One fine day last month, I was taken for a ride – in the real sense of the term – by family members from New Zealand on holiday in Kuching.

We stopped at a village by the name ‘Pasir Panjang’ (Long Beach), which is within a 30-minute-drive from Kuching City.

This is a fine Malay village by the sea, an ideal picnic spot for the family over the weekend.

All sorts of food are available there.

At the time of my visit a couple of weeks ago, there was even a group of musicians who were rendering popular contemporary songs.

Those visitors who were missing the music provided by the Police Band at the Museum Ground on a Sunday afternoon in the past, would find the modern songs just as much fun.

Live music of any variety is good for the soul of a city dweller.

For a visitor from overseas, it is a real treat to be surprised by a concert of sorts.

For a seafood freak, there are food stalls catering for his fancy seafood.

For a workaholic writer, it will be a real change from books and newspapers.

I have the habit of leaving the crowd to be all by myself, breathing the fresh air and flinging my arms and punching into the air.

As I wandered off to the beach, I saw plastics at various spots, looking like they had been washed ashore by the waves; or those looking fresh, left by the picnickers the previous day.

There was not a single rubbish bin within sight; one could be somewhere.

Sorry to say, the sight of rubbish ruined my enjoyment of the seaside!

The trash should have been collected and properly disposed of.

This sight of dirty plastics and food wrappers spoiled that beautiful beach at the time that I was there.

Perhaps, it was the wrong time; the rubbish truck had not arrived by the time I happened to be there.

Someone must ensure that this place must be environmentally clean at all times.

Both the village security and development committee (JKKK) and the local authority should see to it that the environmental cleanliness of any beach should be part of their job.

In Sarawak, there is a state law called Community Chiefs and Headmen Ordinance 2004.

One of the functions of these leaders is provided for in this law – to assist generally all officers of the government in looking after the welfare of the community.

A community must maintain the image of one believing in the relevance of the saying, ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’.

The young people in each village should shoulder the responsibility to look after the environment.

In the past, the youths in several districts had formed themselves into function groups for the purpose of helping the elders of the community to look after the welfare of the community.

For this, Sarawak United National Youth Organisation (Saberkas) was formed in the 1970s.

Over the years, it has established branches in almost all districts in Sarawak.

What happened to these? I have not heard about their activities from the print media, or from the social media channels.

What’s happening? Where have all the young men and women gone?

Is their gaze focused on the handphone screen to the exclusion of all else?

The activities of youth organisations are good for the community.

For instance, a ‘Dollar-A-Job’ carried out by the Boy Scouts during my time (1950s) was a useful activity for the community.

The boys belonging to the Scout Movement looking for funds for their social activities were inculcated in the spirit of self-reliance, not relying on the government for funds or begging from other charitable organisations.

The philosophy was that it was necessary to work for money.

Washing a car for a dollar would be a job.

We competed among ourselves as to whose group would be able to get the highest number of cars washed.

We did not get money from the government. We would consider that as being ‘sissy’.

The motto ‘Be Prepared’ of the Scout Movement is good in all places and at all times.

During our time, in the 1950s, the young people were told to develop the habit of being prepared for any eventuality.

Young men and women formed clubs catering for interest groups.

Nowadays, I seldom hear about their activities – of those that are still active.

Truly, I am out of date – just an old man’s lamentation looking for the irreversible ‘good old days’.

Deploy the young people to pick up trash from the beaches from time to time.

The youngsters nowadays are almost fully-occupied gadgets in the pursuit of education, staying mostly at home focusing on the computers and the handphones.

They have no time or the inclination to venture into the jungle, going up the Santubong Mountain, or the Matang, or the Serambu.

Don’t they know that there was a bungalow built by James Brooke called ‘Peninjow’?

From up there on a fine day, one can see the sea, Kuching City and its suburbs with the naked eye.

Go up there and use a drone to take pictures of the surrounding areas.

Incidentally, what’s happened to the great plan to develop the Serambu mountain for a tourism project?