Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING (May 25): The Ministry of Youth, Sport and Entrepreneur Development (Mysed) plans to hold the state-level Youth Day in October this year, said its Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abdul Karim said the state-level Youth Day celebration is being held annually to give recognition and appreciation to youth who have contributed towards the society and to the development of the state.
“The prime highlight of the celebration is the presentation of ‘Anugerah Belia Negeri’ to honour the outstanding individuals and youth associations that have been immensely involved in community development and nation-building.
“Fifteen exceptional recipients have been awarded as Sarawak Youth Icons since 2017,” he said in his ministerial winding up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
In addition, Abdul Karim said the ministry will continue to organise international events this year to benefit the youth.
He said the ministry had organised the South-East Asian Youth Mental Health Conference on July 31, last year, which was aimed at educating and increasing awareness of the importance of the services of professional psychologists, counsellors and psychiatrists for youth.
“The event was organised with the cooperation of Social Community Programmes Urban Society (Scopurs) Malaysia and themed ‘Breaking the Mental Health Issues, Stigma in Asean Amid the Pandemic’.
“It was conducted via Zoom webinar. The speakers were from Singapore, The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The conference involved 550 participants aged 18 to 40 from Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Indonesia.
“The closing of the programme was graced by the Heath director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah,” he said, adding that the ministry will also conduct a Youth Mental Health Study in the future.
Abdul Karim said to ensure all planned development programmes can be effectively implemented and provide the best impact to the target groups, the ministry had launched the Mysed Calendar of Programmes (COP) 2022 in February this year.
“With the Mysed COP motto “#Tiada Minggu Tanpa Program”, the ministry is committed in ensuring 40 main programmes covering youth, sports and entrepreneurship to be implemented throughout the state, both national and international level.
“My ministry will continue to collaborate with relevant government departments and agencies, communities, youth and sport associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to evaluate, plan, implement and monitor activities that are deemed beneficial, holistic and inclusive in line with the government policies, aspirations and expectations,” he said.