Abdul Karim (left) and Samarahan Youth and Sport Officer Syed Zyed Wan Asnawi during the TN50 Dialogue held at UiTM last Wednesday night.
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Youths’ aspirations are important in formulating the National Transformation 2050 (TN50).
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this during the Samarahan District-level TN50 Dialogue at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak last Wednesday night.
“We want to hear aspirations from youths. We want to know their feedback so the government can plan what is up for the next 30 years.
“We are now raising awareness on TN50, especially among youths. Youths will inherit TN50 as you are the future government of this country,” Abdul Karim told some 700 undergraduate students who attended the session.
Their input will go into formulating a policy which will map out Malaysia’s development plan for the next 30 years after 2020.
He pointed out that TN50 is not a replacement for Vision 2020 but a part of Malaysia’s road to development.
According to Abdul Karim, the country had come a long way since the 20-year New Economic Policy (NEP) ended in 1990.
“We have seen rapid development in the economy and human capital. We are the products of NEP and we are lucky because we have all these plans laid out for us.”
Abdul Karim who is also Asajaya assemblyman said: “Now that we are approaching year 2020, it’s time to ask ourselves ‘What’s next?”
“We need to have a continuous target that will not end.”
He noted that the process of discussion, planning and articulating TN50 is important to ensure Malaysia is prepared beyond 2020.
The dialogue was jointly hosted by the Samarahan Youth and Sports Office, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Solidarity, Samarahan Resident’s Office and UiTM.
Also present were Youth and Sports Assistant Minister Snowdan Lawan, Kota Samarahan MP Rubiah Wang, Tupong assemblyman Fazruddin Abdul Rahman, Simunjan assemblyman Awla Idris, Sadong Jaya assemblyman Aidel Lariwoo and UiTM Sarawak rector Prof Dato Dr Jamil Hamali.