Rise above politics like Saberkas, Karim advises youth

KUCHING: The youth of Sarawak today need to set aside any differences in political ideology to ensure continuity in development and to maintain harmony in the state. 

Sarawak United National Youth Organisation (Saberkas) president Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the youth, who will be future leaders, must have a mindset to bring the state or country to greater heights. 

“In Saberkas, it is unique. It rises above politics. There are among us those who are party members of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), but there are also those from other parties. 

“Apart from that, there are also people from all walks of life, religion and races in Saberkas. Thus, this youth organisation is a platform for us to ensure how we are going to manage the state in the future and also to further strengthen the harmony that we have,” he said. 

Abdul Karim, who is also Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts said this at the opening of Saberkas’ 17th Triennial General Assembly (TGM) here on Tuesday (Dec 5). 

He said it cannot be denied that there are different ideologies in political parties but that in Saberkas there is one common direction – to unite the people and ensure harmony in the state continues to be preserved.

“Be it in Saberkas, at the ministries level, or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), whatever we do, we must look beyond and not only from a political perspective. 

“This is important as it contributes to development, progress and prosperity of a state and the country. And we also need to ensure our young people, who are future leaders of Sarawak, have a good identity and put aside any form of extremism,” he said. 

On a related note, despite Saberkas having reached its golden jubilee, Abdul Karim said it is still relevant as a youth organisation because it carries out policies according to current needs. 

“For instance, we used to focus on agriculture, sports and entrepreneurship programmes, but in line with the times, we also provide programmes based on technology and of interest to young people today. 

“Saberkas also works closely with various agencies and ministries. In addition, it always goes to the field to better understand the aspirations of the youth,” he said. 

He added that Saberkas has also implemented more than 700 community, welfare, social, economic and educational programmes this year.

Such efforts, he said, will continue next year involving various new activities and programmes.