SRI AMAN: A community programme recently was held at Rumah Panjang Selepong Lop. It focused on helping local communities to manage daily expenses and savings through proper financial and accounting strategies.
Programme leader and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) economist Jerome Kueh emphasised the importance of financial and environmental literacy for sustainable communities.
“Empowering financial and environmental literacy is an essential aspect of developing a sustainable community,” Kueh said.
The two-day sessions on April 1 and 2 involved 20 participants across different age groups including children.
The programme was designed with two objectives – financial literacy and environmental literacy, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as quality education, climate change, good health and well-being.
Another objective was promoting environmental awareness, including best practices in waste management like the 3R approach namely Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Longhouse chief Tuai Rumah Aling Jagak expressed appreciation for the faculty team’s presence and knowledge-sharing efforts during the two-day programme.
“We are glad to have the faculty team with us to share financial and environmental knowledge, and we look forward to continuous community outreach programmes with them in the near future,” Aling said. Other participants mentioned enjoying and benefiting from the knowledge-sharing sessions.
By the end of the programme, local communities had improved their understanding of personal finance management, proper bookkeeping and environmental aspects of waste management.
The ‘Empowering Financial and Environmental Literacy’ knowledge-sharing programme, organised by the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at UNIMAS, spans two years.
The first year focuses on knowledge-sharing activities, followed by a follow-up visit to the community in the second year.
The University Sustainability Centre, UNIMAS, supports the project through ‘Dana Lestari’ funding. Introduced in 2021, the programme is led by Jerome Kueh, advised by Associate Professor Michael Tinggi, and supported by team members Josephine Yau Tan Hwang, Audrey Liwan, Joanne Shaza Janang, Sin Kit Yeng, and Hairullizam Azemi.
