STEMMING the frustrations of Malaysian youth increasingly impatient with Pakatan Harapan’s failure to address their problems is Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s top priority and it continues to be so in the near future.

The youth and sports minister said Malaysian youth are less interested in politics than they are with a government working to meet their needs in the areas of jobs and cost of living.

“It is clear, they want quality of life to improve. The decline of their support is something that we are aware of,” Syed Saddiq said recently to mark PH’s first year in power.

Putrajaya is taking seriously recent surveys showing declining support for the government from the younger generation, he said, adding that his ministry held the main responsibility of addressing and correcting the troubles faced by the youth.

One of the government’s main priorities is creating jobs for the youth and that Putrajaya has set a goal of creating one million jobs in the next 10 years, Syed Saddiq said.

“This means that we have to create 100,000 new jobs each year,” he said.

However, he said that a lot needs to be done for this to materialise and that the effort should not rest on the shoulders of the government alone.

“We need involvement from various stakeholders so issues like static wages can be solved,” he said, urging the corporate sector to step up.

Syed Saddiq also alluded to a “big announcement” that will be made in July by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for first home buyers which will help in the issue of housing for youth.

“This is high on our priority to provide affordable housing for the youth,” he said, adding that his ministry has been working together with the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

“We will just have to wait. But affordable housing for the youth is very important, and we hope we can deliver on this.”

Grooming future leaders

When asked what he saw as his biggest achievement, the youngest cabinet member said it was the setting up of the Malaysian Future Leaders School (MFLS).

Based on the Japanese Future Leaders School module, the MFLS replaces Biro Tata Negara (BTN) and the National Service training programme (PLKN).

The MFLS selects 200 pupils aged 15 to 17 to train as future leaders under a detailed programme.

Syed Saddiq has allocated RM70 million to implement MFLS through open tender.

The ministry is also striving hard to cut the cost by threefold compared to the National Service programme.

According to him, the MFLS holds a special place in the heart of Dr Mahathir, who stressed its importance to Syed Saddiq.

“He has taken a special interest in this initiative, every time I see him or speak to him, he always asks about this.”

The initiative was formed to give rise to visionary and trustworthy future leaders who will train in six camps across the country.

Syed Saddiq said another important issue close to his heart is lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, as the cabinet has agreed for the law amendment to be debated in the next parliamentary sitting in June.

He remains confident that he will get opposition parties behind him to support this move.

“So far Umno and PAS seem agreeable to it, when this was announced Umno also wanted to lower the age of its members to 18.

“So I’m confident PAS and Umno will support this as well.”

He said that the move would change the political landscape and the youth would not be neglected any more. – April 25, 2019.