A group of people were seen gathered at the old Welfare Department office here at about 7pm on Saturday to pay tribute to Norikoh who died on Nov 25, 2012.
The two-hour vigil prayer, organised by Solidariti Rakyat Sabah (SORAK), saw members and several political leaders lit candles and brought flowers in memory of her.
The 16-year-old's body was discovered by passers-by near Kg Ranau, about 2km from Kota Marudu town, just hours after she went to the town in search for a job together with an older sibling and a relative.
Organising Chairwoman Liza Ayusai said the memorial for Norikoh was not just a symbol representing a poor girl but a general picture of youths in rural areas who venture out to the city in search of better opportunities.
"Poverty,lack of education,poor infrastructure and high cost of living are among factors which lead to their migration to the city to look for better jobs and education," she said, adding that it is also disturbing that the presence of foreigners has reduced their job opportunities.
"We hope what happened to Norikoh would act as a reminder to everyone to double efforts to prevent similar incidents from taking place again," she said.
She also expressed regret that there are certain quarters who are more concerned with issues related to training and providing documents to street children, when there are still many rural children in need of the opportunity to training and education.
Meanwhile, Sorak Chairman Jamain Sarudin said many youths from rural areas start migrating to the city in search of job opportunities, some of whom may succeed while others may end up falling into social ills.
"I propose the government provide a training centre to facilitate education,skills training and opportunities that can be engaging and productive to local youths, particularly those from the rural afeas,"he said.
Also present was Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Yong Teck Lee who came to support the memorial.
"The memorial for Norikoh is organised by NGOs, but we support them because Norikoh is a symbol representing the young and the poor in Sabah who are vulnerable.
"Norikoh went out to look for a job and along the way, she lost her life in circumstances, the facts of which are still being disputed, but we know it is tragic, we know she is a victim of poverty and what happened to her should not happen to any young Sabahans in Sabah,"he said.
A Black Sunday 4.0 was also organised by Sorak in nemory of Norikoh at the same venue on Sunday.
By Sherell Ann Jeffrey
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