ONLY a few Dayaks are in big business. Quite a number of them are small timers while some are just doing part-time buying and selling.

DATO SRI CELESTINE UJANG JILAN: To be successful, the Dayaks must be involved in business one way or another.

But one certainty is that the Dayaks are slowly changing their mindset — they now not only want to become office workers but also entrepreneurs.

Business at one time was quite alien to them because traditionally, the Dayak community were agriculture-based. Due to the rural-urban migration drift some 30 years ago, the Dayaks now reside in towns and cities in search of knowledge and better job prospects.

Today, they realise their living standards can only improve if they get into some form of business — big or small.

Most agree monthly pay checks are not enough to support their livelihood, especially with the rising costs of living.

Hence, the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry encourages the community to venture into business — part time or otherwise.

Its deputy president Dato Sri Celestine Ujang Jilan said the Dayaks are slowly building themselves up in business so that they can enjoy a greater share of the national economy.

With more and more young educated and professional Dayaks venturing into business, he foresees the Chamber succeeding in guiding them towards success.

Ujang is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dayak Cultural Foundation, the deputy chairman of the Bintulu Development Authority and a member of the Council of Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus.

He is also former Speaker of the State Legislature and has had headed the Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry, the Housing Ministry and the Land Development Ministry.

Here are extracts from a Quick Chat Ujang had with thesundaypost.

Q: Why was the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry formed?

A: The Chamber was formed after a certain Minority/Bumiputera Congress in Kuala Lumpur and a function organised by the Sarawak Dayak Graduates’ Association and the Kadazan-Dusun Chamber of Commerce where the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was guest-of-honour about six years ago.

Datuk Amar Leonard Linggi Jugah was the first president followed by Tan Sri Datuk Amar Leo Moggie who is also the present Tenaga Nasional Berhad chairman.

I was once one of its advisors.

Each person can only hold the presidency for two terms of three years each. The Chamber now has nine portfolio committees to oversee the various sectors or industries.

They are Finance and Investment; Oil and Gas; Public Works; Agro-Business; Retail Trade and Manufacturing; Tourism and Music; Business Development; Manpower Development and Women Entrepreneur Development.

Q: Who are members?

A: Today, some Dayak members are Class A contractors. The Chamber now has 450 members, of whom 80 per cent are Class F contractors. Members are either companies or individuals. To be a member, one has to have a business or companies.

Q: What is the future like for budding Dayak entrepreneurs?

A: More and more Dayaks are entering the business world. Some are involved in big ventures while others in small projects. One way or another, most of us have to be in business to raise our living standards and personal development.

Then, we also need to develop our own community. We have to be in business partly because of the rural-urban migration, causing us to reside in towns. We have to do business to improve our income level.

The Chamber hopes to play a more relevant role to support and guide the budding entrepreneurs.

Q: What are the Chamber’s roles in society?

A: Some people think it’s a symbol of Dayak entrepreneurship equivalent to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. If it’s a symbol, then this is the very reason the Dayak community must support it.

A long time ago, we never talked about business and many of us thought it was a taboo because we were just simple padi planters and farmers. Very few of us made it in business back then.

But today, to be successful, the Dayaks must be involved in business one way or another. We must make business our culture but first, we must change our mindset.

Today, how many of us do farming? How many of our children go back to the village and farm? In fact, many of us will stay in towns after school.

As our incomes (from ordinary jobs) are not sufficient, we have to do some kind of business no matter how small.

Of course, in any business, there are risks which other communities are facing as well. We must discard the fear of failure after seeing a few have fallen. We must perservere and learn as much as possible from other successful businessmen. There are no short cuts to success in business.

Q: What are the Chamber’s strategies to help members succeed?

A: Our Chamber is purely business and we want members to be successful businessmen. We make sure they are given as many business opportunities — big or small — as possible … as well as contracts made available by the government.

We must ensure small contractors also get business from local councils. For example, most of our Class F contractors have jobs like grass cutting and so on from the councils.

We also want to ensure they are well-briefed on banking facilities and government assistance for bumiputera contractors and businessmen.

We will impart useful knowledge to them through seminars and talks. In fact, we have good communication with members. They have many enquiries and we have officers to help them.

Q: What does the Chamber think of the New Economic Policy (NEP) now?

A: Most of our supreme council members, even our past presidents and the present one, have expressed our concern over the NEP. We strongly feel the government must continue with the spirit of the NEP so that it can further benefit the Bumiputera, especially the Dayaks.

We do have a lot of catching up to do. Unless the government is ready to assist us, we will never catch up with the other races like the Chinese or Malay in business.

There are already success stories among the Malays as they are talking about having 18 per cent equity in the Malaysian economy. As for the Dayaks, the equity cake is not even close to one per cent.

In the context of Sarawak, the number of Dayaks in business is still minimal. But we cannot blame others for this. Instead, we must now discipline ourselves and show commitment, determination, perseverance and do some good business with others.

The Dayaks are lagging behind others in business. And they should be given opportunities — that is the spirit of the NEP.

The community’s biggest challenges are the lack of knowledge in trade and commerce as well as business networking.

Q: What opportunities and changes do you think the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) and the Second Wave of Development will bring for the community?

A: The Second Wave of Development is the continuation of the concept of the politics of development which involves human capital development to cope with bigger development.

The SCORE involves the development of our energy resources as well as other massive development projects over 10 to 20 years.

This means more than one million jobs will be created. This is good news for our school-going children because there will be ample jobs available to them in the future — provided they do well in school and at the tertiary level.

They must now know what’s best for them as far as the SCORE is concerned. They must acquire education and skills to compete within the SCORE.

The Dayak community in Sarawak should see the SCORE as provider of golden opportunities in business. I believe the SCORE will help upgrade the socio-economic standings of the Dayaks.

The SCORE, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Bintulu, is apt and timely as the people of Sarawak will soon be enjoying the second wave of the politics of development initiated by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud.

I’m confident the SCORE will bring greater development and progress to the people and I also see it provide investments and businesses apart from jobs.

Q: What are the prospects of the Chamber’s investment fund?

A: The Chamber is making money. We have set up the finance and investment sub-committee. And we have set up Permodalan Dayak Berhad, a crucial investment arm of the Chamber. This company is having a fund of slightly over RM2 million invested in companies or portfolios expected to bring good returns. The first dividend payout is expected at the end of 2009.

Presently, the shareholders are limited only to those interested because the idea is for the very few of us to prove that this investment is indeed a success. Only then can we tell others with money to join our investment.

The sub-committee, headed by Datuk Amar Leonard Linggi Jugah, will look into how our fund can generate money or income. We’re quite confident in this investment despite the less favourable current economic situation. There is now a bit of uncertainty in the business world.

The investment portfolios are shares, blue chips and good companies.

Q: As chairman of the Tourism and Music committee within the Chamber, what have you done to get the Dayaks active in the tourism industry?

A: I have to do one thing at a time. As you all know, I was very much involved with the Dayak Music Award (Dama) 2008 aimed at boosting the Dayak music industry.

But we also know the tourism industry can generate much income for the Dayaks. I have yet to talk to those in the Tourism Ministry, the Sarawak Tourism Board and the Sarawak Tourism Federation to find out how and where the Dayaks can participate in the sector.

Q: How do you help the Dayak music industry?

A: The Chamber is helping Dayak artistes, composers, lyricists and musicians — we want to see them in a position to determine the future of the industry.

This can be done if they have a duly registered association and they must be able to come together to chart their future.

I think they shouldn’t look at the traditional market alone but also beyond the border where there are seven or eight million Dayaks listening to Dayak music.

In Malaysia alone, the Dayaks make up 1.34 million of the total population. There is a total of about eight million Dayaks in Borneo alone. There are many others around the globe. So there is, in fact, a big untapped market for their products.

Q: What are the opportunities for the Dayaks in the oil and gas Industry?

A: We have formed the oil and gas industry committee because there are many Dayaks either working or becoming contractors in the sector. Many are doing quite well and earning big income in offshore works.

Recently, we held talks with a major oil and gas firm — Petra Resources — as we plan to work with them.

However, a lot of our people still cannot find work offshore because they lack training. Acquiring the relevant skills will be very expensive … like RM2,000 to RM6,000. And safety training is a pre-requisite. Before they can apply for jobs, they must have the necessary certificates. The training aspect is where the Chamber can help.

Petra has agreed to form a consortium of companies and will come up with a fund of around RM5 million to facilitate training and help Dayak trainees get offshore jobs, locally or abroad.

Details like recruitment will be made known soon. The Chamber will help recruit Dayak workers, known for their bravery among the foreign firms. We even have people who can do abseiling — and sandblasting and painting at oil rigs or platforms.

Those Dayaks from Bintulu who work overseas do bring back RM30,000 to RM50,000 or more after a single trip.

Q: What do you think of the National Budget 2009?

A: Like I said before, Chamber members think the National Budget 2009 appears to sideline property developers and contractors badly hit by the spiralling costs of building materials following global oil price hikes.

Even though the budget is people-friendly, especially to the poor, it does not mention anything about lessening the burden of property players despite they being hard hit by the current unfavourable economic situation.

It doesn’t seem to address the hardships of contractors, especially now that price of building materials has increased drastically. This spells more difficulties for more bumiputera and Dayak contractors whose welfare and interests the Chamber is trying to protect.

For instance, the price of iron per tonne before the major global oil price surge was RM1,800. Now, it has gone up to RM4,600 per tonne. That’s more than 60 per cent increase. This will cause further hardships to players, especially the Dayaks, in the sector.

Q: How is the Chamber’s relationship with other chambers and non-governmental organisation (NGOs), especially the Dayak-related ones?

A: We are open good ralationships with anybody. This is one way to survive — by being able to network with them. We have no problems with other NGOs or associations as long as we can exchange ideas and knowledge. We are doing our best to be good with everybody.

Q: When the Chamber was formed, some quarters said it was not apolitical?

A: That’s just the perception of only a few people. It is a normal thing (perception) that affects any newly-formed association.

When an association was formed especially by the Dayaks, people would start to feel jittery. But we were as honest and responsible then as we are now. We don’t want to be involved in politics as the Chamber is a purely business entity. If we want to do politics, we do it through our respective political parties.

As the Chamber is only opened to a small number of people, we cannot afford any politics inside the organisation. On the other hand, we cannot tell members to get out just because they are from the opposition camp.

What we did was to tell them “okay, you may join us but keep quiet. Do not drag the Chamber along with your politics.” The Chamber is, in fact, above politics.