The launch of the Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud last weekend is seen as a move to bring in all Dayak leaders and intellectuals together o­n a non-partisan platform to discuss policies and issues affecting the community.

It is also seen as a bridge across the political divide among the Dayak community, recognised as a minority group in Malaysia, to address the problems facing the community in joining the mainstream of economic development.

The association, whose president is Professor Dr Dimbab Ngibang of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, has received overwhelming response from Dayak intellectuals representing the various groups such as Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.

In Sarawak, the Dayak form the largest single racial group, followed by the Chinese, Malays and Melanaus.

In his paper delivered at a SDGA-organised forum o­n the social transformation of the Dayak, Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Multimedia Leo Moggie - who is also Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) president - highlighted some of the difficulties facing the Dayaks today.