Become good role models for young Muslim girls, PPIM members told
KUCHING: The Pergerakan Puteri Islam Malaysia (PPIM) can help in curbing social ills among today’s youngsters by reaching out to and getting Muslim girls to become its members.
The movement is a nongovernment organisation (NGO) operating as a uniform body at both primary and secondary schools under the purview of the Education Department.
According to Assistant Minister for Early Childhood Education and Family Development Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali, PPIM has the capability to play a major role in addressing social issues involving Muslim girls, noting that 90 per cent of the population in Petra Jaya and 89 per cent of those in Samarahan are Muslims – half of whom are teenagers.
“The statistics show that many cases relating to social ills such as drug addiction are focused in Petra Jaya and Samarahan. So the role of PPIM is to help curb social problems that involve youths. The members of PPIM can lead by example and get their peers to join the movement.
“This will make the movement’s membership grow; thus, enabling it to hold programmes meant to address social ills like teenage pregnancy, drug addiction and having multiple sex partners,” she said at PPIM Sarawak’s 15th annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday.
Sharifah Hasidah, who is Samariang assemblywoman, said the future of the state would depend on today’s younger generation. In this regard, she said the state had many plans towards realising not only its target to become a high-income economy by 2030 but also for it to have a quality population comprising highly-educated and morallyconscious individuals.
“So we want our teenage girls to have their own identity instead of blindly following Western trends and lifestyles. It is our hope that they would be individuals with good ethics and character who can contribute to the mission and vision of 2030.”
Sharifah Hasidah was confident that through cooperation, hard work and willingness to go down to the grassroots, the PPIM would continue to reap success and produce great individuals who would signify the pride and honour of Islam.
Later, the assistant minister announced a grant of RM10,000 for PPIM Sarawak, which was represented by its vicechairperson Salbiah Seman.
The event yesterday hosted 250 students and teachers from Kuching and Samarahan divisions.