| Rokiah Mahmud |
FOUR teams under the Young Executive Programme (YEP) – MhIND (Mental Health Initiatives and Drive), Assalamualaikum, Youth Bepassion and Foosion – delivered their community service module presentations at the Civil Service Institute (IPA) in Rimba yesterday, after completing six weeks of community service which ran from September 10 to October 20.
The guest of honour was Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Mokti bin Haji Mohd Daud.
MhIND leader Awangku Haji Muhammad Nadhir A’qil bin Pengiran Mohd Anuar explained that their project aims to raise awareness and relay information on mental health, as well as to fight stigma against it.
He added that the team has carried out several initiatives to further promote their project, such as organising video competitions, mental health support groups in collaboration with a number of higher education institutions, as well as a mental health awareness campaign held at Laksamana College of Business (LCB), Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) and Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB).
“We were able to provide information, show them all different mental health management tools and coping skills, and provide them with the opportunity to meet and talk with invited psychologists from Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital and other medical specialist centres,” he said.
“We found that there is still an endemic mental health stigma problem in Brunei. Some people still hesitate to discuss mental health issues, and treat it like it is not a serious matter. For us, there is a still a long way to go in terms of public acceptance of the problem.”
Foosion’s team member Muhd Khairun Hazim bin Haji Mat Sani explained that their project, a cook-off activity, aims to promote local food and ingredients of Brunei among the younger generation.
“Through this cook-off, we believe Eco Ponies Garden is able to raise the name of the Tutong District as an attractive place for visitors, both local and foreign,” he said.
The YEP is one of the programmes coordinated by the Civil Service Institute to train selected civil servants. The current batch of participants comprises 24 new officers that have been working with the government for less than three years.
For this year, the programme is running for seven months from May 10 till November 17.
