Dr Zaliha (on stage, seventh from right) and Khairul Rizam (on stage, eighth from right) with winners of the National Youth Premier Awards 2024. —Photos: ART CHEN/The Star
Federal Territories (FT) Ministry will be forking out RM500,000 to support the operations of FT Youth Council.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa said her ministry would become the council’s long-term sponsor.
“I urge the FT Youth Council to use this opportunity to shape and produce more youths with high leadership quality.
“Together, let’s raise Malaysia,” she said when launching the Kuala Lumpur FT-level National Youth Day 2024 celebration at Kompleks Rakan Muda Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur.
The celebration, which took place over two days, featured some 40 youth-centric activities such as a motorcycle exhibition, youth barber, dodgeball competition and esports activities such as the Mobile Legend challenge.
With the theme “Yakin Boleh”, the celebration aimed to leverage patriotism among Malaysian youths to encourage them to continue contributing to the progress of society and the country.
Zaliha said the theme was simple but meaningful as it represented the need for youths to have a high level of self-confidence to achieve their dreams.
“Since 1964, National Youth Day has been a symbolic occasion for the government to portray a sense of togetherness with the youths.
Youths with Dr Zaliha (second row, seventh from left) and Khairul Nizam (second row, third from right) at Kompleks Rakan Muda Bukit Kiara.
“The government always recognised youths as important assets driving the development of the nation,” she added.
Meanwhile, FT Youth Council president Khairul Rizam Datuk Abu Samah said National Youth Day was not a mere celebration but also a manifestation of youths’ role in economic and cultural development.
“Being the backbone of the country, youths nowadays are facing increasingly fierce competition in various aspects.
“The FT Youth Council will continue its efforts in coming up with holistic programmes to produce more capable youths who can contribute to the development of Malaysia.
“I am confident that our youths can flourish and help build harmony in the country,” he said in his welcome speech.
Alongside the ceremony, youths who had contributed to the advancement of the nation were presented with the National Youth Premier Award 2024.
The award is divided into three categories, namely male individual, female individual and youth association.
Champions of the male and female individual categories received a trophy, and a mock cheque of RM3,000 while the champion of the youth association category received a trophy, and a mock cheque of RM10,000.
