Archive for category Youth

Call on the youths of Penang to emulate para swimmer Zy Kher Lee and transform Malaysia into a world-class nation which is capable to producing world champions

(Versi BM)

I met Penang para swimmer Zy Kher Lee for breakfast today and heard his story of grit and determination.

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Call on the youths of Penang to lead a movement for Malaysian transformation to be a world-class nation which is capable of producing world champions and be a role model to the world of inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance, and harmony

(Versi BM)

I am quite excited tonight as I see hundreds of youthful faces — and that was how DAP started some six decades ago, a youthful party with leaders and members among young Malaysians dedicated to the Malaysian Dream to make Malaysia a better, more just, more progressive, and more prosperous nation for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age or gender.

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Malaysia depends on youths to save it from continuing its national decline, to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to again become world champions and a world-class nation in excellence and achievements in various fields of human endeavour

I attended the launching of DAP State Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya Michelle Ng’s book, “Beneath Calm Waters” by DAP Secretary-General and Minister for Transport, Anthony Loke at Sunway yesterday.

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Agrees with Azalina that the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 should be stood down so that Parliamentary Select Committees on Women, Children and Social Development and on Fundamental Liberty and Constitutional Right can give their views

(Versi BM)

I agree with Azalina Othman Said, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women, Children and Social Development that the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 should be stood down and referred to her Select Committee to determine whether the proposed Bill is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Health, Science and Technology has thrown its support behind the proposed Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 but its Chairman Dr. Kelvin Yii has called for a delay in its implementation. Read the rest of this entry »

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Why I declined to be in the Pakatan Harapan Cabinet

(Versi BM)

There is at present an aggressive demonization campaign to make Malaysians believe that the 22-month Pakatan Harapan Government was responsible for all the woes and crisis of the country.

But is this so. Read the rest of this entry »

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Ahmad Faizal Azumu should be removed as Youth and Sports Minister for his outrageous question to national diver Pendelela Rinong

(Versi BM)

Ahmad Faizal Azumu should be removed as Youth and Sports Minister for his outrageous question to national diver Pandelela Rinong,

Pendelela has answered Ahmad Faizal very well – she said she had shared her experience of sexual harassment involving her former coach in order to offer support and embolden other victims to speak up.

She said she wanted to encourage future victims to “be brave when I wasn’t”. Read the rest of this entry »

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Ismail Sabri’s tweet “Nobody is above the law” reinforced confidence that the new Prime Minister will uphold the rule of law and good governance principles as well as brightened prospects of confidence-supply-reform agreement between the government and opposition

The new Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri’s tweet that “Nobody is above the law” reinforced confidence that the new Prime Minister will uphold the rule of law and good governance principles as well as brightened the prospects of a confidence-supply-reform agreement between the government and opposition.

Ismail’s tweet was in reply to DAP MP for Ipoh Barat, M.Kula Segaran and thanking the former Minister for his concern over the death of security guard, Thava Sagayam, who was assaulted at a condominium in Ipoh last December for refusing to allow the use of the condominium’s swimming pool, which was closed. Read the rest of this entry »

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#kerajaangagal44 – Greatest disappointment in the National Youth Day today is the absence of reference to Ain Husniza’s case in Muhyiddin’s message, with assurance of change of school culture and environment to make education safe for everyone

The greatest disappointment in the National Youth Day today is the absence of reference to Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam’s case in the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s message, with assurance of change of school culture and environment to make education safe for everyone

I find it most shocking that there are plans afoot to expel Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam from her school, SMK Puncak Alam. If this is allowed, it would be to the infamy and ignominy of the Education Minister, Radzi Jidin and the Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin. Read the rest of this entry »

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#kerajaangagal36 – I would have suggested that Form V student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam should be nominated Senator to articulate the voice of youths in Senate if this is not barred by the Malaysian Constitution which requires a Senator to be at least 30 years old

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

I would have suggested that Form V student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam should be nominated Senator to articulate the voice of youths in Senate if this is not barred by the Malaysian Constitution which requires a Senator to be at least 30 years old.

The Malaysian Constitution in this regard needs to be amended to keep abreast with changing times but this is another story.

It is indeed shocking that there are plans afoot to expel Ain Husniza from her school, SMK Puncak Alam. If this is allowed, it would be to the infamy and ignominy of the Education Minister, Radzi Jidin and the Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin. Read the rest of this entry »

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#kerajaangagal30 – How to translate Pandelela and other Malaysians’ individual talents, brain power, resources and skills also into making Malaysia a world-class great nation?

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

I support the idea of the national diver and gold medallist Pandelela Rina being conferred a “Datuk” title and would further suggest that she should also be honoured by the Federal government.

She has brought plaudits and fame not only to Sarawak but also to Malaysia.
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Mahathir will not be Prime Minister for a third time but Malaysia has reached an unprecedented political situation where there is no one person who can command majority support of Members of Parliament

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin is the first Prime Minister in Malaysia who cannot command majority support in Parliament.

This is why Parliament is suspended and emergency declared to allegedly combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysia is already some fifty years behind the developed world – do we want to continue to regress and go backwards or are Malaysians to make another supreme effort for the country to become a world-class great nation?

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Malaysia is already some fifty years behind the developed world – do we want to continue to regress and go backwards or are Malaysians to make another supreme effort for the country to become a world-class great nation?

I first raised the issue of reducing the voting age to 18 years in Parliament fifty years ago on Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, 1971.
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Abdullah Ghani Salleh should resign as Election Commission Chairman and give way to a new Chairman who can fulfil Parliament’s mandate to ensure Malaysians over the age of 18 can vote in the next general election

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Abdullah Ghani Salleh should resign as Election Commission Chairman and give way to a new Chairman who can fulfil Parliament’s mandate to ensure Malaysians over the age of 18 can vote in the next general election.

The Election Commission announcement yesterday that Malaysians between 18 – 21 years will likely not be able to vote in the next general election is a fundamental breach of Parliament’s mandate which unanimously amended the Constitution in July 2019 to allow Malaysians above 18 years to vote, as well to allow for automatic voter registration.
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Its time to have more young Malaysians in leadership positions as they have most at stake about the future

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has survived the confidence test with the passage of the 2021 Budget, a most ordinary budget in extraordinary times created by the “one-in-a-century” Covid-19 pandemic, but he has not demonstrated that he was won the confidence of Members of Parliament, Malaysians and the world as illustrated by the Fitch Ratings downgrade on Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating, Malaysia’s overtaking of China today in total cumulative Covid-19 cases and the joint press conference by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh on Monday evening.

This is one of the abnormal situations where Muhyiddin had survived the confidence test but not regained public confidence in his government. Read the rest of this entry »

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Let Veveonah Mosibin be Malaysia’s Greta Thunberg to inspire youths in Malaysia and the world to spearhead change to eliminate digital poverty — time to empower the millennials in Malaysia

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

I had suggested that the Federal and Sabah state governments should set up a task force headed by Veveonah Mosibin to immediately conduct a survey in Sabah to ensure that having to spend 24 hours on a tree top or causing the collapse of suspension bridge in the Sabah interior for youths to get better Internet access for their education would be a thing of the past.

I said Malaysia will make world news if the RM81.5 million earmarked for revival of the propaganda unit known as the Special Affairs Department (JASA) in the 2021 Budget is switched to fund the Federal-State Government Task Force headed by 18-year-old Veveonah Mosibin to resolve the kinks in Internet access in all the remote kampungs in Sabah interior to facilitate online education during the Covid-19 epidemic. Read the rest of this entry »

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Special message to youths of Sarawak on their three-fold challenge – be pioneers of Malaysian youth movement of change to save the country from (i) racial and religious intolerance and extremism, (ii) corruption and (iii)to show the world that Malaysia is show-case of success of Alliance of Civilizations instead of a failure from Clash of Civilisations

Pesanan khas buat anak muda Sarawak berhubung tiga cabaran yang perlu ditempuhi mereka – menjadi perintis gerakan perubahan anak muda Malaysia bagi menyelamatkan Malaysia daripada (1) sikap tidak toleransi kaum dan agama serta ekstremisme (2) rasuah (3) untuk menunjukkan kepada dunia bahawa Malaysia adalah wadah kejayaan Perikatan Peradaban dan bukannya gagal dek kerana Konflik Peradaban

Saya ada pesanan khas buat anak muda Sarawak, khususnya buat anak muda yang berusia antara 16 hingga 25 tahun, berhubung tiga cabaran yang akan ditempuhi mereka, pada penghujung kunjungan saya ke Kapit dan Sibu.

Pilihan Raya Negeri (PRN) Sarawak ke-12 dijangka akan dilaksanakan tahun depan atau pada tahun 2021, dan PRN ini akan menjadi pilihan raya pertama yang akan terkesan dengan pindaan perlembagaan menurunkan umur mengundi dari 21 ke 18 tahun.

Presiden Indonesia, Sukarno pernah berkata: “Berikan aku 10 pemuda, maka akan kugoncang dunia”. Bolehkah anak muda Sarawak “menggoncang” Malaysia?

Benar, anak muda Sarawak, khususnya yang berusia 16 hingga 25 tahun yang layak untuk mengundi pada PRN Sarawak ke-12 nanti harus “mengoncang” Malaysia dengan menunjukkan jalan kepada seluruh anak muda di Malaysia — sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 (PRU15) — sebuah daya positif yang mampu menyelamatkan Malaysia daripada terjerumus menjadi sebuah negara penyangak, kleptokratik dan gagal.

Mungkin akan timbul persoalan, bukankah Malaysia sudah diselamatkan daripada nasib sedemikian dalam PRU-14 yang penuh bersejarah dan menakjubkan pada 9 Mei tahun lalu? Mengapa perlu diselamatkan sebuah negara yang bernama Malaysia ini sekali lagi? Read the rest of this entry »

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Fourth Challenge to Malaysian Youths – Be in the frontline to fight corruption and to achieve the objective for Malaysia to be among world’s top 30 countries in integrity by year 2030

For the third time in ten days, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah reminded all Malaysians about the fundamentals of nation-building in a plural Malaysia as spelt out by the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukunegara.

Speaking at the investiture ceremony of federal awards and honours at Istana Negara yesterday held in conjunction with his official birthday celebration, he reminded all Malaysians not to play up sensitive issues in the interests of any party.

He said that every citizen has been promised rights and freedoms in accordance with the Federal Constitution, but that freedom must not go beyond the values that are fundamental to national unity.

He said: “So as in politics. There must be a line and limit that should not be crossed. If political polemics were left prolonged, sooner or later it will start taking its toll on the people.

“Believe me, the unity, peace and harmony that have been built over these 62 years, if we ever lose them, will be very difficult to get back.

“My advice is, let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget past disputes so that the broken relationship can be fixed and restored.”

In the past ten days, the Sultans of Perak and Selangor have also expressed similar concerns when they spoke on the importance of national unity and the dangers of uncontrolled spread of fake news and hate speech to destroy inter-racial and inter-religious understanding, tolerance and harmony in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »

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Third challenge to youths in Malaysia – to promote social media literacy among youths so that they could be informed citizens and critical thinkers to detect lies, half-truths and falsehoods

The Yang di Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s message on his official birthday celebration today has reinforced my challenge yesterday to Malaysian youths to prove to the world that Malaysia is a successful example of Alliance of Civilisations and not an example of failure from Clash of Civilisations.

In his message, the King has called on Malaysians to stand tall as a nation that transcends all differences to create lasting unity and togetherness.

His Majesty said to create such an atmosphere, the people and leaders at all levels should not just do nothing and yet dream of achieving success.

On the contrary concerted efforts should be taken to break down elements that would hinder the unity.

The King said: “The fact is that it is not an easy task to manage the divisions and differences that exist in a country. This is due to the fact that every single thing will tend to be viewed and interpreted from different angles.”

As such, ever since taking his oath as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 31, the Yang di Pertuan Agong has travelled to every corner of the country to stay close to all Malaysians regardless of differences. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Challenges to Youths in Malaysia – spearhead a national campaign to clean up the Malaysia social media by combating fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious suspicion, fear and hatred and to prove to the world that Malaysia is a successful example of Alliance of Civilisations and not an example of failure from Clash of Civilisations

Two things struck me last night when I attended the first series of the Parliamentary Debaton 2019 Youth in Parliament by 46 youths in the 16 – 25 year-old age group – firstly, empowering Malaysians youths and inspiring them to transform Malaysia into a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity; and secondly, harnessing the energies of youth for the country’s reform and the reset of nation building policies to build a New Malaysia.

I was impressed with the seriousness, intensity and passion of the young debators last night on a subject, ‘Precariat Workers in the Gig Economy’, which few Malaysians are familiar with – reinforcing the hope and belief that Malaysians must depend on the youths of today to take the country to greater national heights in the coming years and decades.

Young Malaysians must dare to dream big and have great vision for the country. When the DAP MPs were first elected to Parliament in 1969, we had three DAP MPs who were in their twenties – Fan Yew Teng (Kampar), Lim Cho Hock (Batu Gajah) and myself (Bandar Malacca).

The Pakatan Harapan Government has taken the rights steps to re-set nation building efforts, including the Constitutional amendment to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 year-olds; the appointment of the youngest Youth Minister in the history of 18 Youth Ministers in the history of the country, Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman who was 25 when he appointed to the Cabinet (despite his various faux pas); the Parliamentary Debaton 2019 Youth and the historic event last Friday where after more than 40 years, the University of Malaya Students’ Union (UMSU) revived its tradition of holding a convoy during the university’s orientation week.
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Youths must dare to have big dreams to achieve greatness for the country and to right the wrongs and injustices in society

The Pakatan Harapan Government achieved a great feat in the recent meeting of Parliament when it successful amended the Malaysian Constitution to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years, and allowed the introduction of compulsory registration of voters.

There are those who think the Pakatan Harapan Government was committing political suicide and paving the way for its defeat in the next 15th General Election sometime in 2023, as youths tend to be anti-establishment and anti-government.

This is why in the past six decades, the previous government had not lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years as is the practice in most countries of the world.

In fact, I had raised this proposal in Parliament as far back as in 1971 but we have to wait for 48 years before the Constitution is amended.

This is a case where the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya is prepared to do what is right and good for the country, although there are people who say this may not be right and good for Pakatan Harapan.

But this should be taken as a challenge by Pakatan Harapan, for I do not think youths are so much anti-establishment and anti-government as they are more idealistic and visionary as they have not yet come into contact with the ups and downs of real life. Read the rest of this entry »

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