KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Parliamentary Opposition chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the government to pay more attention to job-seeking youth and the worrying unemployment rate in the country during the recovery movement control order (RCMO).
He said that a government that appears to only prioritise giving positions in government-linked companies (GLC) to Members of Parliament (MP) will not be able to guide the country out of its pandemic-hit economic doldrums.
Anwar said that what the unemployed and youth need now is a total economic recalibration by helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to reopen their businesses and organising technical skills courses for affected workers, things which he said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government should focus on.
“Almost 800,000 have lost their jobs, and most of them are youths.
“I know that the prime minister is busy, but he is busy giving jobs to MPs in GLCs. We need to realign the economy and provide jobs to the 800,000 people.
“Investors will not be convinced to invest in this country if you only give the wealth to politicians,” he said during his Facebook Live event today.
In the event, Anwar spent about half an hour speaking to four youths — Arief Izuandi, Amir Asyrani, Aqil Zulkifli and Mirza Mahmud — who have had difficulties finding jobs during this time.
All of them, however, said they are surviving by doing jobs that did not suit their qualifications to make ends meet.
Anwar summed up the discussion by slamming the myth often perpetuated by “elder leaders” that youth, especially Malays, are lazy and picky about jobs.
“They are willing to work. University graduates are willing to be Kafa (fardhu ain class) teachers, sell corn syrup, become petty traders. This dispels the notion that Malay youth are lazy.
“This accusation by old leaders causes psychological barriers among youth and makes them disappointed,” he said.
Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahdin today reported that with all the initiatives and policies taken to cushion the impact of Covid-19 and to speed up recovery, what matters most would be to maintain the rakyat’s livelihood and increase the number of jobs with satisfactory wages.
“This can only be done with close monitoring and implementation of all the initiatives to ensure what has been planned will reach the intended people and businesses,” he said during the release of the Malaysia Economic Statistics Review (MESR) volume 2/2020 report.
