KALAKA Assemblyman, Mohamad Duri, admitted to feeling nervous during his first few speeches but has since grown more confident with experience.
In this light and engaging interview with Sarawak Tribune, he shared some behind-the-scenes moments from his time in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN).
Time management has become a key habit for him due to his busy schedule.
Sarawak Tribune: What is something funny or unexpected that had happened to you in the DUN building?
Mohamad Duri: Sometimes our question didn’t get to be broadcast live.
For example, we were hoping to get all our questions including supplementary questions to be broadcast live but because of time constraint, they didn’t make the cut.
So, I guess that was quite unexpected and a little funny to me.
Do you still get nervous before giving your speech or question? Or is it second nature by now?
For the first time, I do get nervous. It would be a lie to say that I didn’t feel nervous at all, but only during the starting of my speech.
Now, it’s my seventh time already so I can speak in a calm voice. Just that in my previous speeches, I always run out of time because the time allocated was only 20 minutes.
So now I can decide what issue I should raise and which to raise in the November sitting. Alhamdulillah, so far, it’s all good.
Tell us one habit you’ve developed since becoming an assemblyperson?
I have to attend lots of programmes, so I have learned to be punctual.
For example, if my morning programme is at 9:00 am but I have another programme at 2:00 pm, and the morning programme drags on, I would be late for my afternoon programme.
Also, it would be great if I was informed about the programmes earlier.
So, time management is one habit that I have developed.
If you could have lunch with any historical figure – local or global – who would it be?
I want to dine with our Premier because there are lots of things that I learned from him, especially his agenda about free education.
It reminds me of the olden times in my village; parents willingly sell their lands to pay for their children’s education.
Lands are one of the most important assets, but solely to support their children’s education, parents made the sacrifice to sell their land.
If your constituency had a mascot, what would it be? And why?
In Saratok, labang fish is very popular and expensive at the moment. This fish can be found anywhere, such as in Simunjan River or Kapit, any freshwater river. But Saratok’s labang fish is different in taste, so I want it to be my constituency’s mascot.
Do you prefer smartwatch or classic timepiece?
I prefer a smartwatch.
