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Syed Saddiq goes in hard on HARDtalk

Jan 23, 2019

The government has come up with a plan to reduce the unemployment rate among youths. 

In an interview with BBC's Hardtalk, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq believes this issue will be resolved in the next few years.

"We need to start looking into the big economy, we need to start looking into the fourth industrial revolution, where jobs will slowly be replaced with automation. But I believe the future lies in vocational education. Under my Ministry there are 22 vocational institutions ,and the rate of employment is at 94 per cent much higher than graduates of universities." 

Syed Saddiq also feels that there should be a revamp in the subjects being taught in our universities.

"I believe as long as we update the subjects, try our best to shorten the time, to ensure the subjects which we teach continously get updated. So, the good thing is the Ministry of Education Dr Maszlee is looking to phase out unnecessary subjects and to always update the curriculum."

When asked about talent who have moved overseas because they can't find a job in Malaysia, Syed Saddiq says re-skilling and up-skilling through vocational education, is needed.

"This is where the government subsidises a significant amount and puts our young graduates through a skill-based process, so that even though they might start out with a phased-out job, in the end, they can be re-skilled futher."

Separately, Syed Saddiq also stood firm with the country's decision to ban Israeli participation at World Para Swimming Championships slated for Kuching, Sarawak in July.

"If hosting an international event is more important than safeguarding the interest of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, that means we have lost our moral conscience. My stance is N am against the atrocities committed, especially by the Netanyahu government. It is the actions which I stand firmly against, not the race of the person but their actions."

He also touched on lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, saying that it will cement youth power for the next few decades.

"If you reduce the voting age to 18-years-old, that means there will be an additional of 5 million new voters from 18 to 21. Now there's about 2.6. But let's not forget that the election will come in 2022, which means those who are 15 today will be allowed to vote, and about 50 per cent of those on the electoral role will be from young people."

Syed Saddiq said in GE14, there was about 41 per cent of youth voters, who determined the outcome of the election.