BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The inaugural Youth Policy Platform (YPP) 2026 concluded with a Youth Policy Council Session, marking the completion of a four-phase programme aimed at providing young people with an understanding of governance, policy discussion, and public deliberation in Brunei with Legislative Council (LegCo) member Chong Chin Yee in her closing remarks stressing “the purpose of the platform was never to tell you what to think.”
“It was to encourage participants to think deeper – about the issues affecting our communities, the choices behind public policy and the roles each of us can play in Brunei’s future,” she said.
The platform was an idea developed under Uniting Youth Voices (UYV), a broader youth engagement initiative established by LegCo members Chong Chin Yee and Abdul Aziz Hamdan.
Building on UYV’s efforts to create more focused avenues for youth participation, YPP seeks to develop young people who are prepared to listen, research, deliberate and contribute responsibly.
The programme began with participants observing the Second Meeting of the 22nd Session of the LegCo, followed by two phases of briefings, policy discussions and simulation preparations at Brunei History Centre on August 17-18.
The final phase, at the LegCo building, translated the acquired knowledge into practice through a simulated assembly known as the Youth Policy Council Session (Majlis Mesyuarat Belia).
The session involved main activities such as Question Time and debating a motion on youth-related issues, offering participants the opportunity to present questions, responses and discuss recommendations while considering evidence, feasibility and differing perspective.
Among the ideas raised was for greater youth participation at the community level, including collaboration with penghulu, village heads, and mukim and village consultative councils, encouraging youth to be active partners in community development.
Beyond public speaking, YPP sought to strengthen critical thinking, evidence-based reasoning, respectful disagreement and policy literacy, while fostering an appreciation of the responsibilities involved in representing the views of others.
It is hoped that YPP will continue to grow as an avenue for civic and policy learning.
The longer-term aspiration is to encourage youth to play an active part in national development and for youth voices to become increasingly institutionalised – moving beyond one-off engagements towards more structured avenues for young people to contribute to conversations on the country’s future.
The programme was supported by Jabatan Majlis Mesyuarat, Majlis Belia Brunei, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, and the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies, alongside facilitators and partners who contributed throughout the four phases. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
