KUALA LUMPUR — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has pledged to speak with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and other ministers, including Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo, about visiting the MySkills Foundation campus in Kalumpang, Hulu Selangor.
At the foundation’s achievement day today, Yeoh praised the success of its Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) programme for underprivileged youths, particularly for persevering through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When you walk into this room, without hearing any speeches, just seeing the youth and understanding the success of this programme, especially during the Covid period, it’s already deserving of my applause,” said the Segambut MP.
Yeoh emphasised the need to focus on the 90% of youth who are often overlooked, rather than just the top 10% who benefit from leadership programmes.
She highlighted the importance of expanding support to underprivileged youth to prevent them from ending up in detention centres.
“When we talk about youth empowerment in Malaysia, we must ensure that our underprivileged youth don’t end up in detention centres, but instead are given opportunities to earn a decent living.
“For decades, the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has focused on leadership programmes aimed at the top 10% of youth. However, today, we want to focus on the 90% because running leadership programmes for the top 10% is the easiest thing to do. The KPIs are almost 100% successful and foolproof.
“But it’s the 90% that really matters, and that’s why we’ve started going to prisons. Today, we have Rakan Muda in prisons because that’s our target group,” Yeoh added.
She thanked HSBC Malaysia for its six-year partnership, which has transformed the lives of over 650 youths, with a total funding of RM2.23 million to date.
Yeoh also emphasised the need for greater ministry involvement in supporting foundations like MySkills.
“I would like the prime minister to visit MySkills’ facility. I will be speaking to him about this and to other ministers, like Gobind, because they are focusing heavily on digitalisation and AI (artificial intelligence).
“I think it would be very beneficial for these kids to be exposed to that.”
Yeoh also plans to discuss with the National Sports Council (NSC) the potential of sending national coaches to scout for talent among the youths, suggesting they may excel in sports like athletics and hockey.
“In the past, people used to say that only doctors, lawyers, and engineers were successful. Today, I have an intern who is a social media influencer earning RM15,000 for a single TikTok post. When I saw how many posts she had, she probably earned more than the Prime Minister.
“Times have changed, and we need to give our youth the right skills. It’s not that they lack talent, but perhaps they need different skills to set them on the right path,” Yeoh explained.
The event, ‘125 Youths Charging Up for a Greener Tomorrow with Solar PV and EV Training,’ highlighted MySkills Foundation’s partnership with HSBC Malaysia in equipping underserved youths with skills for high-demand green jobs.
Also in attendance were MySkills Foundation’s co-founder and director Pasupathi Sithamparam and HSBC Bank Malaysia CEO Datuk Omar Siddiq. — September 19, 2024