Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s young people need greater opportunities to experience the State’s key industries first-hand to better understand career and entrepreneurial prospects beyond the classroom.
To help bridge this gap, Ideas Playground 2026, themed “Connecting Today’s Curiosity with Tomorrow’s Opportunities”, will be held on Nov 7 and 8 at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC).
Organising Chairperson Precilla Fong said the two-day event would bring together players from the tourism, agriculture, oil and gas, and creative industries to give students direct exposure to the sectors.
“Sabah’s young people may know the names of the State’s major industries, but how many have actually had the opportunity to experience them up close?“This is the gap Ideas Playground 2026 hopes to address by creating an accessible platform where students can meet industry practitioners, take part in hands-on activities and discover opportunities beyond the classroom,” she told the Daily Express recently.
Precilla said the organising committee had recently paid a courtesy visit to the Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry (Kepkas) to share its vision for the initiative.
She said Kepkas had been supportive of the programme, particularly its efforts to extend opportunities to students from rural communities.
“This will give more young Sabahans exposure to industries and career possibilities that they may otherwise rarely encounter.
“The event will also have a national dimension with the inclusion of the Junior Innovate National Competition organised by Chumbaka, which will bring young innovators from across Malaysia to Sabah,” she said.
Precilla said the platform could not be developed by a single organisation and called for greater participation from industry players, educators and the wider community.
“If we want our young people to understand the opportunities available to them, industry, educators and the wider community need to come together and show them what is possible,” she said.
She said Ideas Playground 2026 was open to competition organisers, education providers, associations, industry players and youth organisations to bring their own competitions, activities and learning experiences to the event.
“The goal is to turn SICC into a two-day playground of ideas, discovery and opportunities for Sabah’s next generation,” she said.
