Youth leader to be appointed to Dewan Negara, says PM

Ismail Sabri waving to the crowd upon his arrival at the National Youth Day celebrations in Tuaran on Saturday.

KOTA KINABALU: A youth leader will be appointed as a Dewan Negara senator, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic).

“I will be appointing one youth as senator soon. I believe when the time comes, when we have appointed a youth senator, that person will be able to bring a stronger youth voice in the government,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said this when officiating the National Youth Day celebrations in Tuaran on Saturday (July 16).

He also announced a RM1mil additional allocation for the Malaysian Youth Council to help its various programmes.

In his opening speech, he said the National Youth Day was the government’s acknowledgement of youth’s efforts and success in helping with nation building, as well as in keeping unity strong.

“Almost 21% of the total population are youth aged between 15 and 30 while there are some 15 million youth aged 15 to 40 at present,” Ismail Sabri said.

He said these numbers are significant and can greatly affect every plan and every programme by the government.

“It is why the aspirations, thoughts and views of youth in Malaysia are important as we steer the nation towards a better future,” he said.

Ismail Sabri added that what is planned today will be passed down and taken over by the younger generations as youth are the future “generators of revolution”.

He urged youth to be more active in participating in the various programmes including career, education, entrepreneurship, creative industry, science and technology so as to prepare themselves better to contribute in nation building.