The Voices Of Almost 2 Million Young Malaysians Will Be Used To Guide Government Policies
This report will be presented to the Prime Minister on 28 February 2018.
By Esther Chung — 28 Feb 2018, 03:58 PM
TN50, Malaysia's new 30-year transformation plan, was first announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak during the 2017 Budget tabling
As 2020 approaches, the government has initiated national conversations to begin planning for the decades ahead. Spearheaded by Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, the Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) Youth Initiative was introduced as a means to reach out and listen to the genuine aspirations of the rakyat about the future. This bottom-up approach to national planning was the first effort of its kind.
Over the span of a year, the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) reached out to almost 2 million young Malaysians to compile their aspirations and ideas to achieve TN50's goals under the TN50 Youth Initiative
As Malaysia’s future will largely be shaped by the hopes and ambitions of the citizens, KBS was given the task to speak to young Malaysians and gather their thoughts and wishes for the country.
The ministry has connected with nearly 2 million rakyat through more than 135 KBS-led dialogues as well as workshops and online platforms, including social media.
1. Dialogue Series were held across the country to allow youths to interact with the country's leaders
The first dialogue for TN50 was held in Dewan Tunku Canselor at Universiti Malaya, moderated by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin. A dialogue was then organised in each state to make sure the ministry was able to gather ideas by Malaysians of different backgrounds across the country.
Some of the issues raised by the youths include the need for Malaysians to think like global citizens and be more innovative, and sustainable in terms of how we manage our natural resources, unity in diversity, and more.
2. The ministry also collaborated with government and non-governmental bodies to host a series of TN50x dialogues
Organisations like Guru Muda 1 Malaysia, Khazanah, and the Malaysian Students' Council of Australia have collaborated with the ministry to host TN50x dialogues which discussed issues relating to our current education system, the workforce and economy, as well as the possibility of a cashless future.
3. The TN50 Circles of the Future was set up to go through the list of aspirations gathered from young Malaysians
More than 200 TN50 Ambassadors, youths, and subject matter experts were invited to come together to delve deeper into the list of aspirations collected from the nationwide engagement exercises. These people formed the TN50 Circles of the Future, which are five special groups responsible for analysing aspirations. From this, they will identify initiatives that could potentially be implemented to achieve the goals set for TN50.
The Circles of the Future were each assigned to a different topic:
- Economy and workforce
- Life and wellbeing
- Administration
- Society
- Lifestyle
4. The ministry has also started collaborating with companies like Sime Darby Property and Digi who have already begun to take steps to future-proof the nation
There are a few Malaysian companies that have already gotten the ball rolling with initiatives that respond to the aspirations of Malaysian youth. These include Touch 'n Go, Prasarana, Petronas, UEM Sunrise, MRCB, IGB Corporation, CIMB, Khazanah, Celcom, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia, Sime Darby Property, Microsoft, MyKasih Foundation, and Digi.
Here are some of the programmes that are already in place in collaboration with the TN50 Youth Initiative:
- Sime Darby Property's development, the City of Elmina is an effort in maximising the use of green space and sustainable living, while making home ownership more affordable.
- Digi introduced vcash, an eWallet app that allows you to pay with your phone. This is a step towards transforming Malaysia into a cashless society. KBS has adopted vcash for payments at its F&B outlets and gyms.
- Celcom organised a campaign to raise awareness about cyber safety for children. Titled 'Parents Unite For Online Safety', this campaign is aimed at educating parents on ways to protect their children from cyberbullying and online predators.
With the combined contributions of nearly 2 million young Malaysians, KBS is ready to present the final TN50 youth report called the TN50 Youth Canvas to the Prime Minister on 28 February 2018
The TN50 Youth Canvas is a document that summarises, illustrates, and reports the aspirations of youths during the TN50 Youth Initiative outreach by KBS throughout the country over the past year.
This Youth Canvas report and its findings will be presented to the Prime Minister on 28 February, and will serve as an important foundation in the future of policy-making beginning this year and onwards.
