BEIJING, Sept 27 — The Malaysian Youth Parliament initiative will be revamped as a measure to improve the programme after it is placed under the Parliament next year, says Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
He said the Youth Parliament should serve as an ‘incubator’ in producing a generation of quality leaders not only in politics and administration but in various sectors such as economics, agriculture and technology.
According to Johari, the programme which is currently being coordinated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, will be placed directly under the Parliament, and among the changes that will be made include lowering the membership age limit to 16.
“The youth are tired of cheap politics with the country’s bitter experience (political crisis) in the last five years….that’s why we are taking the opportunity to invite the younger generation to be interested again and take steps to become leaders.
“We want to provide ample opportunities for local youth to be trained to become future leaders, be it as representatives of the people, or other fields,” he said in a special interview with Bernama in conjunction with his official visit to Beijing, China.
Johari, who is leading the Malaysian Parliament delegation, ended his official visit to the republic, at the invitation of his counterpart, China’s 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) standing committee chairman Zhao Leji, today.
During the visit which kicked off on Sept 23, Johari held a bilateral meeting with Zhao, with Wang Huning who is the chairman of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the President of China, Xi Jinping, in addition to attending the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games.
He also visited several major Chinese companies operating in the fields of technology, renewable energy, agriculture and artificial intelligence (AI).
In the meantime, Johari said the Malaysian Parliament, through the discussion of the Special Select Committee on Security, intends to restore programmes such as the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) and the National Civics Bureau (BTN) which were previously abolished, with the aim of instilling the spirit of patriotism in the people.
He said it was important to prepare the younger generation with leadership qualities so that the country was prepared and able to move forward in line with the economic growth in the ASEAN region.
