Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
SIBU: The young generation are poised to play bigger roles in the present and future development of the country.
Assistant Minister of Youth Development Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah in saying this added Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had recently said the young people had an important role to play in helping the government to formulate policies, strategies and programmes to create the nation’s development agendas.
Karim described Muhyiddin’s view as reflecting how the BN government saw the important role of youths in the present and future development of the nation.
“We want to see youths playing a role in charting the direction to where we are leading as it is the present youth who would be inheriting the leadership in the future,” Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, told The Borneo Post through an SMS.
He also felt the move reflects the government’s effort in strengthening the role of the youths.
He was asked on Muhyiddin’s call for the younger generation to help the government formulate policies and strategies for national development.
Muhyiddin was quoted to have said the government had always wanted to understand the aspirations of the young people in Malaysia, their thoughts about national issues and their views on how to better manage the country’s economy.
The Deputy Prime Minister was reported to have called for an engagement process to become the platform for youths to draft and implement something that would bring about mutual benefits to everyone.
Karim concurred the initiative would provide an avenue for youths to voice their feedbacks and suggestions pertaining to policies and so on.
Early this month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced several special incentives for youths in the country.
According to Bernama, a special fund or ‘Dana Sukarelawan 1Malaysia’ (DRe1M) would be set up with an allocation of RM100 million to benefit youth organisations, non-governmental organisations and youth groups who are not members of any organisations, to carry out beneficial programmes.
Najib had said the fund was meant for the youths to carry out voluntary activities like ‘gotong-royong’, cleaning up beaches, and so on.