Lau (second from left) speaking to participants of the AMS programme. With him are (from left) Mohd Imran, Rajiv and Mohd Kamri. — KK SHAM/The Star
THE Selangor government’s “Selangor Young Assemblymen” (Adun Muda Selangor or AMS) programme has gained interest among youths over the years.
AMS is an annual programme to train the next generation of leaders to voice their opinions, understand issues and learn valuable debating skills.
It was first introduced in 2013.
“Selangor’s AMS programme has seen much interest among youths in their 20s.
“We received more than 250 applications that met the programme’s conditions,” said Selangor state assembly Speaker Lau Weng San.
“Applicants must be Selangorians aged between 18 to 35 and are fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and English. A total of 56 applicants were selected for the two-day programme.”
Lau said participants’ background, political affiliation and religion were not factors in the selection criteria.
He also said the committee was open to suggestions to add value to the programme.
“AMS is a platform that exposes youths to aspects of research, debate, public speaking and teamwork. It allows the participants to gain an insight into democracy and governance in an actual setting,” he said at the launch of the AMS programme.
It was last held virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic period.
“Being part of this programme allows youths to gain knowledge on the workings of being an assemblyman and learn how to debate on proposals tabled during the state legislative assembly sitting,” said Lau.
He said AMS also aimed to be a catalyst for youths to sharpen their debating skills in bringing up issues and problems faced by local communities.
“Participants are given the opportunity to initiate proposals and debate on them during the sessions held at the state assembly building in Shah Alam.
“These sessions are presided over by myself and Deputy Speaker Mohd Kamri Kamaruddin,” he said, adding that such experiences left a better impact on participants.
Lau said the programme included group training as well as a mentor-mentee session with a state assemblyman.
“The mentor-mentee session gives participants an opportunity to interact and get to know the Selangor assemblymen, which gives them a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of an assemblyman,” he said.
“The proposals that the youths would debate on are interesting, as they focus on everyday things that affect the public, such as education, jobs, public transport, housing, flood mitigation and misuse of trading licences,” Lau added.
Also present were Mohd Kamri, Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran and Selangor Youth Council president Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin.
AMS was first organised by former state speaker Hannah Yeoh and was later overseen by her successor Datuk Ng Suee Lim during his tenure.
