The youth should be given the leadership of Sarawak

KUCHING, Sept. 15: Youths need to be given opportunities and space to lead so that they can build experience, confidence and leadership skills early on.

Sarawak Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneurship Development, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the group played an important role in determining the future direction of the state, country and society.

"When we talk about youth, we're actually talking about the future of our country, but I don't want us to just look at youth as heirs. I want us to see youth as our country's development partner at this time.

"So we don't have to wait for young people to be leaders to give them space. We need to give them space now so they can learn to lead, make decisions, solve problems and take responsibility", he said.

He said this while addressing the Sarawak State Level Youth Consultative Council (MPBN) for its Second Session, 35th Session, 2025-2026, here today.

According to Abdul Karim, the government can provide policies, facilities and opportunities for youth, but the success of the youth development agenda depends on the formation of a young generation with knowledge, skills, character, confidence and courage to seize those opportunities.

He said that youth development is an area included in the Concurrent List, which gives Sarawak space to manage its own purchasing affairs through state ordinances, besides there are acts at national level to regulate related matters.

"It means that Sarawak has the power to take care of their own youth through their own ordinances, while at a national level, there are their own acts to regulate these matters", he said.

Abdul Karim said the changes do not only involve change in terms of numbers, but also carry a bigger message in strengthening the process of rejuvenation, sustainability and development of new generation leadership.

In this regard, he wants the youth organizations in Sarawak to be a platform for young people to learn aspects of leadership, organizational management, discipline, teamwork and community service.

He said that the success of a youth organisation should not be measured only by the number of members, but also by its ability to produce new leaders who can continue to lead in the future.

"A good organization is not just measured by its membership, but how many new leaders are born", he explains.